A Woman's Path: Women's Best Spiritual Travel Writing (Travelers' Tales Guides) [Paperback]

Lucy McCauley (Editor), Amy Greimann Carlson (Editor), Jennifer L. Leo (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 5, 2003 | Series: Travelers' Tales Guides

A Buddhist nun goes AWOL to roam the French countryside and discovers a wild spirituality. A hellish trip through the mountains of Peru turns mystical and offers a vision. More than just adventure, the writing in A Woman's Path shares the unforgettable moments when a journey opens a traveler's eyes and profoundly alters who she is. Around the globe and across all religions, these tales of discovery offer an uncommon look at personal transformation, whether by the trials of stolen luggage and harrowing rides or the joys of seeking out extraordinary people, places, and experiences. Inspiring and insightful, this illustrated collection invites all women to step outside their everyday lives and welcome an awakening. Contributors include Anne Lamott, Maya Angelou, Linda Ellerbee, Kim Chernin, and Natalie Goldberg, among others.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The "Travelers' Tales" series continues to excel in informative and exciting writing, taking readers on adventurous armchair journeys. In addition to focusing on food, humor, countries, etc., the collection contains numerous titles written solely from a female perspective. Joining the shelves with Gutsy Women, A Women's World, and Women in the Wild, to name a few, this book is a sensitive exploration of women's lives that have been unexpectedly and spiritually touched by travel experiences. From over 30 narratives, readers develop a bond with writers who share intimate and moving experiences from their lives. Through such activities as kayaking, trekking, solo journeys, and urban exploration these women discover independence, peace, and better self-understanding. The reader will vicariously journey on a pilgrimage in Spain, observe a sense of enlightenment in India, and be introduced to a wandering yogi. Heavily supported with enjoyable sidebars, a trademark of "Travelers' Tales" books, this work is highly recommended for its significant and unique approach to the sharing of women's travels.
-Jo-Anne Mary Benson, Ontario, Canada
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"A thought-provoking collection of essays brimming with soul."

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Travelers' Tales; 1st edition (August 5, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932361006
• ISBN-13: 978-1932361001
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #92,767 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jen Leo is a natural self-promoter, has a talent for creative publicity, and has built her platform through word-of-mouth marketing. She has risen to the top of the travel writing industry and has six books to her credit including the bestselling SAND IN MY BRA, and the award-winning travel humor series that followed. Her travel writing has also appeared in her book, NIGHT + DAY LAS VEGAS (Pulse Guides 2006), TIME, STUDENT TRAVELER,and BREAK Magazine, among others. In 2005, Jen jumped genres and built her second niche as a poker writer. She is the gossip columnist for BLUFF, writes the "Men of Poker" column for WOMAN POKER PLAYER, and has also written for AUDREY, PokerPages.com, and CardSquad.com. She is currently at work on the GIRLFRIEND'S GUIDE TO DATING A POKER PLAYER, a humorous look at card-slinging men from the women's point of view.

Jen is also known as a professional blogger.WrittenRoad.com, an online resource for travel writers was named one of Writers Digest's 101 Best Websites for Writers, and was noted as one of Frommer's favorite Travel Blogs. She has also written for HotelChatter.com, Weblogs Inc, and started a new blog for those traveling to Sin City called VivaLasVegasBlog.com.

Currently based in Los Angeles, CA, Jen makes frequent visits to Las Vegas and San Francisco. You can catch her teaching travel writing at the New York Times Travel Show and the Book Passage Travel Writers and Photographers Conference, She loves public speaking, and is great as a motivational speaker for writers.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An incredible collection of women's spiritual writing!, July 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A Woman's Path: Best Women's Spiritual Travel Writing (Travelers' Tales) (Paperback)

I was very impressed by the stories included here--Anne Lamott, Maya Angelou, Natalie Goldberg, Kim Chernin...etc. These are not dry stories about spirituality--but rather transformative tales about how these women writers are changed by their travel experiences. Very inspirational and illuminating-read this book.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An inspiring and exciting read..., July 12, 2000

By 

"cecelyc" - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Woman's Path: Best Women's Spiritual Travel Writing (Travelers' Tales) (Paperback)

While looking for information, inspiration (and even a little soothing) in the travel section of the bookstore a few days ago, I picked up this book. Taking you through the highs and lows of life and traveling, it is especially wonderful for anyone who is planning to do a bit of exploring on their own. The stories speak in many different voices from many different places, but all with one strangely similar and strong spirit. It has been so enjoyable that I after I finish this review, I'm going to buy another book in the series. A beautiful collection - buy it, read it, and travel!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Path to the Inner Realm, August 26, 2005

By 

Zinta Aistars "Writer & Editor" (Portage, MI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Woman's Path: Women's Best Spiritual Travel Writing (Travelers' Tales Guides) (Paperback)

Appropriately, "A Woman's Path," a collection of women's spiritual travel writing, was a Mother's Day gift from my daughter. I am a writer, too, frequently writing about my journeys across physical geography but equally spiritual terrain. Nothing explores us as much as our exploring of the world around us. Travel means a stretching of our personal comfort zones, as we leave our homes and our routines far behind.

In the more than 30 essays in this collection, women of a wide array of backgrounds perceive the world around them with uniquely feminine perspectives. Authors as known and respected as Anne Lammott, Maya Angelou, Natalie Goldberg, Diane Ackerman, and many others tell of their journeys, inner and outer ones, as they deal with joy, grief, discomfort, sickness, achievement, healing, and enlightenment. Destinations are as varied as Peru, India, France, Ireland, Greece, New York City, Niger, Poland, the Appalachian Trail, and others. These are women undergoing a spiritual transformation, and their travel essays take us along, to be transformed by their accounts. They take on their journeys as women and only women do, coping with societal expectations and prejudices, dealing with the fears of being a woman in the wild, finding courage when all falls down around them. As women do.

I have always believed the best training for life is to travel. Travel teaches us to stretch ourselves. Travel reveals the differences between us and everybody else, instilling understanding of the cultures varied from our own, and then again, travel soothes with the discovery of how alike we all are in our bonds of humanity, crossing all boundaries of class, culture, religion, ethnicity. Travel builds courage, as we are inevitably faced with our fears, only to overcome them. Travel connects - the traveler with the world and its inhabitants, with nature and spirit, with the divine in ourselves and outside of ourselves. The world is surely the best classroom.

If I have only one "wince" about this collection, it is the sidebar boxes interspersed throughout the essays. Each box has a clip by some other author than the one of the essay, the themes often disconnected from the main story. They drew my eye away just when I was immersed in someone's journey. I would suggest deleting them, or transforming them into epigrams prior to each essay.

"A Woman's Path," edited by Lucy McCauley, Amy G. Carlson, and Jennifer Leo, is a pilgrimage to be enjoyed by every woman who reads it, whether on the road herself, or from her armchair, traveling in spirit.