Guest post by Willa Goodfellow

I have traveled the world in different ways over the years: the standard tourist thing in Tuscany, camping in the desert wilderness of Utah, out of my depth in Managua city streets, working a summer job in Liechtenstein, chasing Halley’s comet to Australia, finally becoming an immigrant by packing up and moving to Ireland. My travel memoir, A Gritty Little Tourist Town: Bar Tales from Costa Rica, recounts fifteen years of living off and on in a fishing village on the edge of the Pacific.

Willa and her wife travel to a Costa Rican fishing village expecting a simple family visit, but instead find themselves immersed in a quirky expat community centered around a lively local bar. Through colorful characters and humorous, thought-provoking stories, Willa explores life abroad, cultural connection, and the challenges of a changing community. Ultimately, the experience reveals unexpected bonds and a deeper sense of belonging.

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There are many ways to see the world. The following memoirs are a sampling of those ways. I list them as encouragement—no matter what your interest or capacity—to pack your bags and go!

Diary of a Tuscan Bookshop, Alba Donati

The memoir of the author is intimately entwined with the diary of this Tuscan bookshop, Sopra La Pen. Located in Lucignana, a remote mountain village of 180 people in Italy, the shop survived COVID and a fire because it brought together a community of joy and generosity. Fifty pages into the Kindle version of Diary of a Tuscan Bookshop, I rushed to my local bookstore to buy a hard copy. Another fifty pages and I was back to the internet to find out how to visit. Evidently, I am not the only one to respond in this way. Admission to this gem of a bookstore is by reservation only.

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Pinch Me, Barbara Boyle

Most tourists in Italy hit the big spots: Tuscany, Rome, maybe Venice. Boyle was enticed to travel further afield to Piedmonte in Northern Italy. And then to stay, nestled in the Alps, embraced by long-time residents, discovering new foods, ancient celebrations, and a saner way of life. I love a story of a woman who follows her bliss! How many of us have gone on vacation and just wanted to stay? It’s not easy. It doesn’t have to be a fantasy. Boyle did it. Life is too short to play it safe. I plan to visit.

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Happier Than a Billionaire, Nadine Hays Pisani

There are lots of reasons to visit Costa Rica, the gem of Central America. Hays Pisani gives you reason to move there. The process of building and opening her boutique hotel was fraught with hysterically funny adventures, demonstrating the resilience and imagination that it takes to run a business in Central America. It’s all about embracing the Pura Vida lifestyle—Pure Life!

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Notes from a Small Island, Bill Bryson

Like Italy, England offers its tourist highlights: Canterbury Cathedral, the Tower of London, the changing of the guard. Bryson’s journey introduces me to a whole island filled with tracks, trails, and terrifying landladies. After twenty years in England, he prepared to return to the United States by touring the country, revisiting old haunts and exploring all those places he never got around to. This memoir provides a guide to the places off the beaten track that you don’t want to miss, if for no other reason than so you can find out—are the Brits really that quirky?

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I’ll Push You, Patrick Gray and Justin Skeesuck

The adventure of a lifetime—two lifelong friends do the Camino de Santiago, one pushing the other in a wheelchair for five hundred miles across northern Spain. Along the way Justin and Paddy conquered the Pyrenees, took wrong turns, ran with the bulls, did a lot of heavy lifting, explored the depths of their hearts, and made the kind of friends who have shared one of life’s deepest adventures. The book also gives a detailed report of the surfaces they covered—the Camino was not designed for wheelchair access! Lots of memoirs about walking the Camino make me think, “Gee, I’d like to do that, but…” This memoir makes me think, “If they can do it, so can I.”

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Tales of a Female Nomad, Rita Golden Gelman

Rita’s marriage was on the rocks. A trail separation turned into a new way of living, as she moved around the world: Central America, Israel, Galápagos Island, Indonesia, the US, Canada, New Zealand, Thailand, and back to the US. Rita tells us what it is like to dive in. Instead of becoming acquainted with hotels around the world, she plunged into the lives of families, with longer stays remote from major cities. It’s a different way to travel. Whether you want to follow the author’s example or use the book to explore the cultures of potential destinations, Tales of a Female Nomad opens the world to the reader.

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Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle, Dervla Murphy

Dervla Murphy began her travel memoir with a quote: “Epictetus put it in a nutshell when he said, ‘For it is not death or hardship that is a fearful thing, but fear of death or hardship.’” In 1963, Murphy rode her bicycle named Roz three thousand miles across Europe and Asia, beginning in Dunkirk, lingering in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and ending in New Delhi. No, I am not going to recommend that you follow Murphy’s trail across what is now a very different political scene, including a war zone, beautiful as those lands and peoples may be. But be inspired by her best learning: Things and people are not dangerous just because they are uncomfortable or unfamiliar.

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Travel changes us. So pack your bags and go!