Wanderlust: Extraordinary People, Quirky Places, and Curious Cuisine

(Paperback)

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Description

Karen Gershowitz is officially a travel addictone with more than ninety countries under her belt. In these engaging stories, she brings readers along as her companions as she explores, laughs, and marvels at the richness of other cultures. Whether shes picking through the worst meal ever in the wilds of Tanzania, eating a transcendent strudel in Vienna, meeting the locals in an isolated opal mining hamlet in Australias outback, or learning to make noodles in a Chinese village, she invites you to share in her experiences.

Whatever kind of traveler you are, novice or experienced, or even if you prefer sitting in your armchair, these stories will transport you deep into other ways of living in the worldand, hopefully, inspire you to set out on your own journeys!

Reviews

Praise for Travel Mania:

The book reflects the authors love of globe-trotting adventure and describes how she built her whole life around it by getting a job in which she effectively got paid to travel. Her recollections take readers to many places around the world, from Southeast Asia to the Galpagos Islands to the American West, as she trekked for business and pleasure. These stories are also, in some ways, about the passage of time, reflecting on how travel has changed, for better and worse, over the decades.
Kirkus Reviews

Travel Mania is a godsend. Its the perfect way to imagine Im a seasoned traveler, without having to leave the comfort of my living room couch. Gershowitz who responds to the suggestion let's go by packing her bags, hasnt quite turned me into a travel junkie, but she has hooked me on reading about a woman who just can't sit still.
Charles Salzberg, two-time Shamus Award nominee and author of Second Story Man

I loved the vignettes of Gershowitzs life in far-flung places: Cairo, Singapore, a rodeo in Wyoming, climbing Kilimanjaro, on an elephant in Thailand. I was there with her, as she struggled with misadventures, found unexpected friends, or tested herself in places so utterly foreign that she needed to find something new within her to survive and thrive. Thats what I valued most of all about this book: Gershowitz is a wonderful companion and excellent storyteller. Travel Mania will help you appreciate how traveling the world is one of the best ways to find out who you really are.
Sergio Troncoso, author of A Peculiar Kind of Immigrants Son and Nobodys Pilgrims

Prepare to be swept around the world in the capable and enthusiastic company of KG. You will climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, poli-poli, eat the famous-for-its-revolting-smell durian in Malaysia, trek through a scirocco in the Sahara, watch bribes being passed on Moscow sidewalks, ride a felucca on the Nile, and spend New Years Eve in Saigon. Wherever she goes, Karen is an astute observer and willing experimenter. You are in for a treat.
Christine Lehner, author of What to Wear to See the Pope and Absent a Miracle

No guided tour here. The only fitting description is: page-turner. Karen gives us wondrouswhether white-knuckled or resplendentnuggets. Her own growth as a global citizen winds through the decades and essays and leaves me wishing I might have trailed along at least a few times. Im already looking forward to dipping in repeatedly, and without booking a single flight.
Carolyn Lieberg, author of West with Hopeless and Calling the Midwest Home

Karen Gershowitz suffers from the only travelers disease thats fun to have and be around: the compulsion toward travel itself. This book is full of terrific stories, revealing with richness and particularity not just places and people, but the traveler herselfcomplicated and often conflicted, comforted by certain traveling companions and people met on the road, driven to distraction by others, but never daunted, never able to resist the pull of another journey. This book was a delight to me during these times of shutdown and is an inspiration for the times to come.
Lon Otto, author of A Nest of Hooks, Cover Me, and A Man in Trouble

Alone or in the company of others, Gershowitz navigates the world with an open heart and a sense of adventure. This collection covers impressive ground, and whether shes rocking out with Moroccans to the Blind Boys of Alabama, struggling up the slopes of Kilimanjaro, or doing business in Asia, her sharp eye brings the wonders of the world in focus.
Marilyn Johnson, author of Lives in Ruins and This Book Is Overdue!

A witty, insightful romp through a lifetime of travel that reads like a sit-down with a friend. Youll want to curl up and greedily gulp down Travel Mania in a single sittingthen read it again and feel like you are catching up with a dear old friend. If you like your wisdom laced with humor, look no further than this collection of tales from a traveler who has visited over ninety countries.
Amanda Burgess, Editor, JourneyWoman Magazine

As a travel-industry professional, Ive watched the world shrink as access has grown. Gershowitzs lovely travel memoir is a look back at a time when faraway places really were far away, distant cultures were very different, single women travelling alone were an unusual sight, and travelers with open hearts had extraordinary experiences. Travel Mania made me appreciate current travel opportunities even more.
Sue Shapiro, former President of NY Skal, former President and CEO of GIANTS consortium

Buckle up! Travel Mania is pure adventure and passion, circling and crisscrossing our exotic globe, ever eager for the next horizon. From those pre safety-belt days in the back seat of a DeSoto to the uncertain risks of traveling during our present-day pandemic, each leg of Karen Gershowitz life-long voyage is fueled with insights and intimacy, humor and poignancy. This is no mere itinerary or travelogue, but an inside passage.
Marc Nieson, author of Schoolhouse: Lessons on Love & Landscape

The author's depictions of exotic, international locations and experiences are spot-on! Reading Travel Mania really made me feel like I was right back in these destinations that I too have visited. It's a very fun read with a great message. Anyone reading will certainly get in touch with their adventurous side and be inspired to see the world for themselves!
Dr. Evan Antin, author of World Wild Vet and host of Animal Planets Evan Goes Wild

Karen Gershowitz is to be applauded for her sheer verve, which is on delightful display in this rollicking travelogue: Travel Mania. From the beginning one senses that Gershowitz is experiencing a kind of undeniable, enthralling needthe near-manic need to go somewhere else then somewhere else again. Weas safer, armchair travelersget the unexpected benefits of that addiction, learning so much more than if we had just stayed home.
Tim Bascom, author of Chameleon Days and Running to the Fire

Author Bio

Karen Gershowitz has been traveling solo since age seventeen, when she flew to Europe and didnt return to the US for three years. In her career as a marketing strategist and researcher she traveled the world conducting thousands of meetings, focus groups and interviews. When traveling for pleasure, those same skills helped her to draw out peoples stories. She learned about their lives, as well as local customs and fashions and what makes them laugh. Her first book of travel stories, Travel Mania, explores the confluence of travel and life events and how travel has changed her beliefs and life direction. Wanderlust continues those stories, addressing issues readers have asked to hear more aboutmemorable food, people, and places she experienced in her travels. She hopes these stories tickle the travel bug in readers and set them off on their own adventures. Karen lives in New York City.