Author: Lavinia Spalding | August 26th, 2009 Writing Away - The Book
The amazing Moleskine myDetour project will be in San Francisco Sept. 10-October 1.
From www.moleskine.com: “With previous stops in New York, Paris, Berlin, Milan and Istanbul, myDetour brings along- together with the drop boxes – a collection of sketches, writings and drawings created by visual artists, writers, designers, creative people of all sorts from past myDetour editions around the world. The San Francisco edition follows the creative theme of District of You, a tribute to the familiar places, an invitation to find the extraordinary side of your ordinary surroundings.”
For more details, go here.
Author: Lavinia Spalding | May 18th, 2009 Writing Away - The Book
USE YOUR WORDS.
Join the Journaling Travelers of Writing Away!
I haven’t watched the water go down the drain the wrong way yet, but we did look at the stars last night and Orion’s belt was upside down. Could that be right or were we just drunk?
Jen Castle in Mona Vale, NSW, Australia
Hot, sweaty, manual labor—but rewarding. There is excitement in the camp. I’ve been told they flood the paddies tomorrow, that and we dine on “rice rats?”
Keli Rivers in Guangzhou, China
Our host killed a seal last night. I feel the same intrigue and distaste as when a hunter offered me the horn of a narwhal as a gift or another man told me that the great snowy owl was some of the best meat.
Kasha Rigby at Clyde River, Baffin Island, preparing for a month north on the Arctic.
After sinking in a speedboat with a Toyota engine on the back that had us hurling ourselves down the Mekong River at 60 mph, I think I have the right to be miserable.
Erin Melcher in Luang Prabang, Laos
The ticket taker lifts the lever for the door…and PUSHES us off the train as it is pulling away from the station! Never thought I’d have to jump from a moving train.
Alison Stephan in Cinque Terre, Italy
Next thing we knew, she was waving a dead chicken at me, screaming. The person passing us told us we had just been cursed.
Erica Hilton in Arequipa, Peru
Add your favorite (short) one-or-two liner from your travel journal here, along with your name and the location of where you were when you wrote it, and you’ll be entered into a random drawing to win a signed copy of Writing Away!
Author: Lavinia Spalding | April 23rd, 2009 Writing Away - The Book
“Whenever we travel, all that we experience vanishes far too easily, a victim of flawed memory. In WRITING AWAY, Lavinia Spalding has given travelers a witty, profound, and accessible exploration of the hows and whys of keeping a journal. Novices and veterans alike will find inspiration and fresh ideas on every page, along with practical suggestions to bring out the best writer in anyone. Spalding seems to have read everybody who set pen to paper while on the move, and her narrative is laced with their wisdom and her own hardheaded yet searching advice. Best of all, she knows that the “memoir” has grown ever more diverse wings. At once a worthy addition to the literature of travel and the psychology of writing, it is also a handy, encouraging toolbox. Buy two copies—one to meditate on at home, and another to dogear, underline, and carry alongside your own journal en route.”
— Anthony Weller, author of The Siege of Salt Cove and Days and Nights on the Grand Trunk Road: Calcutta to Khyber
“Spalding doesn’t just give you ideas for keeping a travel journal—she makes a convincing case for why keeping a travel journal is important, and how this personal writing ritual can deepen your journey in unexpected ways. Recommended for anyone who endeavors to travel mindfully.”
— Rolf Potts, author of Vagabonding and Marco Polo Didn’t Go There
“Writing is a sacred and an irreverent art. As such, Spalding reminds us to journey conscientiously, to arrive awakened and to write with all our hearts. This is a beautifully vital antidote to the frenetic buzz of blogging and texting, to be savored and shared.”
— Alexandra Fuller, author of Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight and The Legend of Colton H. Bryant
