BOOKMONGER
Reconsidering travel
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With vaccination rates climbing, Ameri-
cans are beginning to travel again. I’m taking
baby steps with a hiking trip in Eastern Ore-
gon next week. Two new books about travel
have whet my appetite for more.
Now based in Seattle, Pam Mandel was an
aimless California kid just out of high school
in the early 1980s when her dad sent her to
spend the summer working on a kibbutz in
Israel.
“The Same River Twice” is her memoir
of an adolescence impacted by her parents’
divorce and her bumpy coming of age as she
wanders through the Mediterranean, hitch-
hikes across Europe, and eventually winds
up traveling through Pakistan and India.
“It did not matter so much where I was;
the important thing was where I was not,”
she wrote.
She was not at her dad’s house, buff eted
by the fi nancial and legal chaos that would
eventually land him in prison. She was not
working in the stock room of a clothing
store at the mall in her beige California
suburb. She was not in college, which she
thought she might want to get to someday
but was not yet ready to take on.
In addition to writing about her trav-
els, Mandel wrote about her journey.
The former revolves around the meals;
the street life; the archaeology; muse-
ums; and sunsets. The latter refl ects on
the work she performed; the mistakes
she made; and the abusive boyfriend
she continued to tolerate until fi nally,
one day, she didn’t anymore.
You’ve likely heard that saying,
“Growing old ain’t for sissies?” Nei-
ther is coming of age. This is a heart-pierc-
ing book.
I’d also like to call your attention to a new
guidebook called “Hidden Travel.”
Stephen W. Brock is writer and photog-
rapher who has traveled to over 50 coun-
tries in his work for National Geographic and
other publications. He is based in Auburn,
Washington.
This wise guide doesn’t emphasize the
what and the where of travel. Instead, it helps
you think about the why and the how.
I don’t think I’m alone in wishing for a
post-pandemic society that is willing to rein-
vent itself for the better. In its quiet way,
“Hidden Travel” seems to address that yearn-
ing. Yes, Brock off ers fresh perspectives on
planning and packing — but more than that,
he delves into many diff erent ways you might
This week’s books
‘The Same River Twice’ by Pam Mandel
Skyhorse Publishing — 240 pages — $24.99
‘Hidden Travel’ by Stephen W. Brock
Sublimity Press — 300 pages — $15.99
transform your travels from a conventional
“been there, seen that” checklist to a soul-re-
plenishing sojourn.
The lovely thing about it is you can as eas-
ily apply these lessons to your trip to the gro-
cery store as to your trip overseas.
Brock spices this book with vignettes from
his own and others’ travel experiences, along
with thought-provoking homilies from a
range of folks who have traveled through time
before us (St. Augustine, A.A. Milne, etc.) He
shares dozens of photos from his trips to off -
the-beaten track places all across the globe.
You’ll want to get out your duff el and start
packing immediately. But before you do, pick
up this book.
The Bookmonger is Barbara Lloyd McMi-
chael, who writes this weekly column focus-
ing on the books, authors and publishers of
the Pacifi c Northwest. Contact her at bar-
baralmcm@gmail.com.