Make New Friends and Travel Vicariously: The Travel Book Club
Join our Travel Book Club and meet other adventurous women. Photo by Sincerely Media.
By Regina Winkle-Bryan
I recently started a book club for bold women. I have a degree in English Literature, so I’ve always enjoyed reading. This group is a little different from your standard club in that we only read stories about travel, and we focus on women authors. Even if you’re stuck at home, you can still travel to exotic locales through the pages of a good book. This, my friends, is the magic of literature.
Right now, I host the book club online via Zoom, so anyone anywhere can join. Eventually, we will meet in person, once social distancing restrictions have been lifted here in Seattle.
Our April 2020 book was Love with a Chance of Drowning, and everyone in the group thoroughly enjoyed it. It is the true tale of how author Torre DeRoche met a charming man in a bar and then jumped on his sailboat to explore the world for two years. The catch is that DeRoche was afraid of water and violently seasick when she began the journey. Was she crazy? Just bold? You’ll be the judge as you follow their exploits and day-to-day life at sea.
We may not be able to travel right now, but we can “visit” new places through literature. Photo by Nguyen Thu Hoai.
We are immersed in DeRoche’s love story as she and her lover sail the open ocean and along the remote islands of the South Pacific. You will absolutely want to visit the remote Marquesas Islands by the end of the memoir.
What’s it like to live 24/7 with your sweetie in an extremely small space under challenging circumstances? Some of you may be experiencing this scenario right now, without the boat. DeRoche gets into these personal details and gives us a glimpse of the alternative lifestyle that is residing permanently on a sailboat or yacht.
Generally, Love with a Chance of Drowning was a light, happy read. I don’t know about you, but light and happy is what I need right now.
In Love with a Chance of Drowning, De Roche and her lover sail across the Pacific Ocean. Photo by Bobby Burch.
In May, our book will be The Year of Living Danishly about author Helen Russell’s move to the “world’s happiest country.” Fun fact: Bold Spirit Travel tour facilitator Mary Jane Cuyler lived in Denmark for quite a while and reports that this book is very accurate. I’ve visited Denmark twice—once as a journalist covering a story about community bike-sharing (Danes love to bike) and another time for a conference. I’m eager to learn more about this small Scandinavian country.
In May we read The Year of Living Danishly about Helen Russell’s move to Denmark. Nab the book and join us! Photo by Nick Karvounis.
If you’re interested in reading The Year of Living Danishly, I encourage you to order it online from Powell’s, our favorite indie bookstore in Portland, or from Elliot Bay Book Company here in Seattle. It’s so important to support our independent bookstores during the pandemic when all small businesses are getting hit hard.
To join the travel book club, just send me an email or sign up online via Meetup here. It’s absolutely free to participate.
Incidentally, the Travel Book Club is part of a larger Meetup group I created a few months ago called Bold Women of Washington: Social and Travel Meetups. I began this group as a way to bring together adventurous women here in Seattle. We have all sorts of fun in-person events in the works but unfortunately, they are on hold right now due to COVID-19.
For example, we are planning a Travel Talk Brunch at the Ballard-based eatery Sawyer, where we can share a meal and discuss our travel plans. We are hoping to do this at the end of May, contingent upon the lifting of stay-at-home orders and the progress of COVID-19. Check out all the details on Meetup, or send me an email and I can tell you more.
The Travel Book Club is a way for us to connect during isolation, continue to travel vicariously, and add to our adventure bucket list while we’re sheltering in place. It’s also an opportunity to learn about new authors you’ve never heard of and share books you love with others. If you have any book recommendations, please send them my way!
I hope you will join us.