Destination Insights

I went foraging recently—for food—on the California coast with Caitlin Wild of Mountain Soul Adventures.  We said hello to two dozen plant-friends like mushrooms, wild  strawberry and western hazelnut. Afterward we talked about what we mean  when we say something is “edible,” what medicinal plants do, how to  harvest and eat foraged plants, and how to stay safe when foraging for  food.

Caitlin has a few surprises, like a plant that indigenous Americans  used to carry embers from place to place, and another plant that came to  her rescue once—and may have even saved her life. Caitlin also  discusses connectedness, gratitude, eco-therapy, community and the  profound awakening she experienced in her early 30s, when she was called  onto be a bridge to the wild world. We talk about the way plants can  remind us of our connectedness to the rest of the living world, and  powerful ways plants and the Earth can help heal us.

Linda Watanabe McFerrin is a travel writer, novelist, poet, and contributor to many newspapers, magazines and anthologies. Here we discuss some of the more subtle aspects of travel writing: crossing boundaries, the idea of place as a character, why we should not try to fit in when we travel, and how to get risk onto the page.

McFerrin’s new book, Navigating the Divide, from Alan Squire Publishing’s “Legacy Series” of writers with cross-genre works, is a Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist.

What do travel writing and Buddhism have in common? How can a “travel  writer’s mindset” extend your vacation and make it more enjoyable? Why does a professional travel writer recommend modeling after the  masters—and stealing freely? And what did Perry Garfinkel steal from Woody Allen?

Learn all this and more from Garfinkel, a New York Times contributor, travel writing teacher and author of Buddha or Bust: In Search of Truth, Meaning, Happiness, and the Man Who Found Them All and Travel Writing for Profit and Pleasure.

Writer, photographer, performer and activist Jeff Greenwald is a co-founder of Ethical Traveler and has published six travel books. He tells us about the  creation of the Ethical Traveler — inspired by Nobel Laureate Aung San  Suu Kyi — and its impact on issues ranging from the Tasmanian logging  industry to the Cambodian sex-slave trade.

Greenwald also talks about the world’s best ethical travel destinations  and offers ideas for ways individual travelers can be more attuned to  sustainability. We hear how Jeff chooses his book topics, the ways in  which his love for science fiction has influenced his travel writing,  and his most recent assignment — a road trip on a high-performance  all-electric motorcycle (a great trip except for Jeff’s accidentally  amputated fingertip). Jeff’s bestselling book, Shopping for Buddhas, was recently re-released in a 25th anniversary edition.

David Farley, travel writer and author of An Irreverent Curiosity: In Search of the Church’s Strangest Relic in Italy’s Oddest Town, is an instructor at the Book Passage Travel Writers and Photographers conference (as well as at NYU and Columbia University). Farley tells us how  he researched his book — the true story of his search for a unique holy  relic, the foreskin of Jesus, which went missing from an Italian church under mysterious circumstances. (Check out the National Geographic special about Farley and his search for the holy foreskin.) 

Farley also considers what makes good travel writing, ways to use a quest, and how to approach writing story leads. And he seduces us with  visions of his extensive collection of 19th-century wooden legs.

We hear about the surprising and deeply moving experiences Catherine has had photographing victims of Agent Orange in Vietnam. She also tells us about her photoworkshops in Italy and Vietnam — which sound like a blast, with lots of opportunities for interacting with locals, as well as ready-made photoshoot set-ups, great food, and Catherine’s expert instruction. Check out her beautiful book, Vietnam: 25 Years Documenting a Changing Country.

When Marianne Bohr was 55 she took time off work to have a “Senior Year Abroad” with her husband, Joe. The two had planned their trip for 30 years, ever since backpacking together in Europe after college. Marianne not only traveled  the world, she also wrote a book about it, called Gap Year Girl: A Baby Boomer Adventure Across 21 Countries. The  book reads like a personal travel narrative, with details about the  places Marianne and Joe saw. By the end I was not only  informed and inspired — I was ready to take my own gap year.

Find out how Marianne planned for such a dramatic change and what her advice is for people who have a dream of traveling extensively. We discuss packing essentials, traveling in countries where you don’t speak the language, readjusting when you return home, and much more.