I often ask myself what kind of travel writer I want to be: what types of places do I want to cover? How do I want to tell a story? Which devices do I want to use to convey my experience?
eat, pray, love by Elizabeth Gilbert
After many persuasive recommendations by friends, I finally went out and picked myself up the book, “eat, pray, love” by Elizabeth Gilbert. I knew I would love her work when I read this paragraph about her ambivalence on having a baby:
“I saw the joy on her face [after finding out she was pregnant] and I recognized it. This was the exact joy my own face had radiated last spring, the day I discovered that the magazine I worked for was going to send me on assignment to New Zealand… And I thought, ‘Until I can feel as ecstatic about have a baby as [that], I cannot have a baby.’”
From there Elizabeth delves into her divorce, pain and search for self while revealing a personal side to Italy, India and Indonesia. Her tales weave together an incredibly personal story while providing delicious travel fodder.
eat, pray, love is a gorgeous reminiscence on life through the practical wonder of new cultures. Travel writing is so good when it has this poignant narrative.
Unfortunately, the trend is going in the opposite direction, and in a hurry. As newspapers cut travel editorial budgets and get their content from newswires, as magazines fold from declining ad sales, as service round ups replace first person narratives, how can we afford to keep writing tales like this?
Lori Henry is a freelance Travel, Health and Hockey writer based in Vancouver, Canada.
