The Mindful Traveler: A Guide to Journaling and Transformative Travel [Paperback]

Jim Currie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 2000

For Jim Currie, a weekend getaway, extended vacation, or business trip can be more than diversion or duty. In The Mindful Traveler, he helps the reader structure journal writing - and the journey - around eight Buddhist archetypes that offer specific skills for problem solving and spiritual progress. Topics include everything from organizing the journal to choosing the appropriate "spiritual touchstones" for the trip.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Using Buddhism as the basis, this unusual travel guide teaches the reader how to keep a travel journal. Currie, a well-traveled environmental scientist, believes that keeping a journal while traveling leads one to self-discovery and life contemplations and helps one to relive vacation memories more vividly when returning home. Currie begins by discussing the necessity of keeping a travel journal, the process for selecting a journal, and "the method" or suggested format for journal writing. Then, in a light-hearted and funny tone, Currie provides tips on travel dos and don'ts based on his own experiences. Touchstones or inspirational quotes taken from literature, Buddha, and even rock stars such as the Beatles are used to connect the chapters, while charts, tables, and cartoons help to illustrate Currie's main points in more detail. This insightful and comical book is a joy to read and should be added to all travel collections.DStephanie Papa, Baltimore Cty. Circuit Court Law Lib., MD
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

A masterful guide for anyone craving meaningful adventure. Poetic yet practical.... -- Sonia Choquette, author of True Balance

A powerful passport to magical and meaningful travel. -- Satish Kumar, author of Path Without Destination

Chock-full of reminders to those who may want to follow in the footsteps of pious travelers walking to Jerusalem, Bodh Gaya, or Basho's Far Province... -- Phil Cousineau, author of The Art of the Pilgrimage

This insightful and comical book is a joy to read and should be added to all travel collections. -- Booklist

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Open Court (September 30, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081269421X
• ISBN-13: 978-0812694215
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #343,835 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book'll be one of the most prized tools in my backpack, August 6, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Mindful Traveler: A Guide to Journaling and Transformative Travel (Paperback)

I read The Mindful Traveler during my subway commute to Manhattan. Last week, on my way home to Brooklyn from the office, I finished it. I was struck by how much it has spoken to me and opened up new ways of thinking and approaching... well, everything.

I bought the book at Barnes & Noble in Union Square one Friday night when I'd just finished deciding that I was going to shed most of my possessions and obligations and go traveling. It was a crisis of sorts, and I'd really reached a point of no return in terms of wanting to transform my life. I bought this book because it offered exactly what I was looking for: a travel guide for the inner-self, drawing on respected eastern philosophy but laced with humor and playfulness, practical tips, and a pretty doable-looking methodology. Something I needed right away, to begin my journey many months before I even started packing.

The book delivered exactly what it promised, and was delightful to read. I couldn't wait to get on the subway every morning! Let me tell you, the commute hasn't been the same since. Now, as I continue to plan my open-ended wandering of the South Pacific and leave everything behind (I'm often pretty freaked about about the idea -- there's that fear of letting everything go, because there might not be anything left), the book this author has shared with us provides me with inspiration and a structured way of turning this life-adventure into a truly meaningful -- and dare I say powerful -- one. I'm [...] excited! Yikes!

This book'll be one of the most prized tools I carry in my backpack.

- HT, Media Producer (soon to be former rat), New York City

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Travel for your soul, March 3, 2001

By 

Liam Quirk (Bucks County, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mindful Traveler: A Guide to Journaling and Transformative Travel (Paperback)

This is a timely book, full of wonderful insights and practical advice. Jim Currie does his reader a service with his journal organization system and other down-to-earth time and hassle savers. What I like most of all, however, is the whole concept of the book, the truth that all of our travels are opportunities to expand the spirit and grow out of our accumulated baggage. Jim Currie has written a great guide to truly wise travel, getting to the heart of what makes taking a journey such a universal metaphor for living a conscious life--and he does so with wit and candor.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For Those Who Wish For a Deeper Travel Experience, May 3, 2005

By 

L. Young "palmtree2000" (West Orange, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mindful Traveler: A Guide to Journaling and Transformative Travel (Paperback)

Currie has developed a journaling technique that is sure to bring a deeper, richer and more insightful texture to one's travel experiences. Written as a journaling technique this book is useful even to those who don't keep a journal while traveling as it is full of thought-provoking questions. He advises us to think about our spiritual touchstones - those core beliefs that guide us through life experiences. He then tells us to consider our intentions and objectives in chosing a travel destination. With touchstones and objectives in mind we spend time each day writing about our travel experiences. How are they in keeping with those touchstones, intentions and objections, how are they not in keeping and why? In such self-evaluation, in looking at how we deal with the vagaries of travel we gain many insights into ourselves, and in the end this is why we travel. Currie suggests a debriefing period at the end of our trip - a time for reflection upon what we have learned about ourselves and how to apply it to our life at home. The book is written with a liberal dose of Buddhist philosophy, but is worthwhile even for those who are not on the path of the dharma. In addition there are many practical tips for preparing for a trip as well as dealing with the ups and down of traveling.