Review
“The book reflects the author’s love of globe-trotting adventure and describes how she built her whole life around it by getting a job in which she effectively got paid to travel. Her recollections take readers to many places around the world, from Southeast Asia to the Galápagos Islands to the American West, as she trekked for business and pleasure. These stories are also, in some ways, about the passage of time, reflecting on how travel has changed, for better and worse, over the decades.”
―Kirkus Reviews
“Travel Mania is a godsend. It’s the perfect way to imagine I’m a seasoned traveler, without having to leave the comfort of my living room couch. Gershowitz who responds to the suggestion ‘let's go’ by packing her bags, hasn’t quite turned me into a travel junkie, but she has hooked me on reading about a woman who just can't sit still.”
―Charles Salzberg, two-time Shamus Award nominee and author of Second Story Man
“I loved the vignettes of Gershowitz’s life in far-flung places: Cairo, Singapore, a rodeo in Wyoming, climbing Kilimanjaro, on an elephant in Thailand. I was there with her, as she struggled with misadventures, found unexpected friends, or tested herself in places so utterly foreign that she needed to find something new within her to survive and thrive. That’s what I valued most of all about this book: Gershowitz is a wonderful companion and excellent storyteller. Travel Mania will help you appreciate how traveling the world is one of the best ways to find out who you really are.”
―Sergio Troncoso, author of A Peculiar Kind of Immigrant’s Son and Nobody’s Pilgrims
“Prepare to be swept around the world in the capable and enthusiastic company of KG. You will climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, ‘poli-poli’, eat the famous-for-its-revolting-smell durian in Malaysia, trek through a scirocco in the Sahara, watch bribes being passed on Moscow sidewalks, ride a felucca on the Nile, and spend New Year’s Eve in Saigon. Wherever she goes, Karen is an astute observer and willing experimenter. You are in for a treat.”
―Christine Lehner, author of What to Wear to See the Pope and Absent a Miracle
“No ‘guided’ tour here. The only fitting description is: page-turner. Karen gives us wondrous―whether white-knuckled or resplendent―nuggets. Her own growth as a global citizen winds through the decades and essays and leaves me wishing I might have trailed along at least a few times. I’m already looking forward to dipping in repeatedly, and without booking a single flight.”
―Carolyn Lieberg, author of West with Hopeless and Calling the Midwest Home
“Karen Gershowitz suffers from the only traveler’s disease that’s fun to have and be around: the compulsion toward travel itself. This book is full of terrific stories, revealing with richness and particularity not just places and people, but the traveler herself―complicated and often conflicted, comforted by certain traveling companions and people met on the road, driven to distraction by others, but never daunted, never able to resist the pull of another journey. This book was a delight to me during these times of shutdown and is an inspiration for the times to come.”
―Lon Otto, author of A Nest of Hooks, Cover Me, and A Man in Trouble
“Alone or in the company of others, Gershowitz navigates the world with an open heart and a sense of adventure. This collection covers impressive ground, and whether she’s rocking out with Moroccans to the Blind Boys of Alabama, struggling up the slopes of Kilimanjaro, or doing business in Asia, her sharp eye brings the wonders of the world in focus.”
―Marilyn Johnson, author of Lives in Ruins and This Book Is Overdue!
“A witty, insightful romp through a lifetime of travel that reads like a sit-down with a friend. You’ll want to curl up and greedily gulp down Travel Mania in a single sitting―then read it again and feel like you are catching up with a dear old friend. If you like your wisdom laced with humor, look no further than this collection of tales from a traveler who has visited over ninety countries.”
―Amanda Burgess, Editor, JourneyWoman Magazine
“As a travel-industry professional, I’ve watched the world shrink as access has grown. Gershowitz’s lovely travel memoir is a look back at a time when faraway places really were far away, distant cultures were very different, single women travelling alone were an unusual sight, and travelers with open hearts had extraordinary experiences. Travel Mania made me appreciate current travel opportunities even more.”
―Sue Shapiro, former President of NY Skal, former President and CEO of GIANTS consortium
“Buckle up! Travel Mania is pure adventure and passion, circling and crisscrossing our exotic globe, ever eager for the next horizon. From those pre safety-belt days in the back seat of a DeSoto to the uncertain risks of traveling during our present-day pandemic, each leg of Karen Gershowitz’ life-long voyage is fueled with insights and intimacy, humor and poignancy. This is no mere itinerary or travelogue, but an inside passage.”
―Marc Nieson, author of Schoolhouse: Lessons on Love & Landscape
“The author's depictions of exotic, international locations and experiences are spot-on! Reading Travel Mania really made me feel like I was right back in these destinations that I too have visited. It's a very fun read with a great message. Anyone reading will certainly get in touch with their adventurous side and be inspired to see the world for themselves!”
―Dr. Evan Antin, author of World Wild Vetand host of Animal Planet’s “Evan Goes Wild”
“Karen Gershowitz is to be applauded for her sheer verve, which is on delightful display in this rollicking travelogue: Travel Mania. From the beginning one senses that Gershowitz is experiencing a kind of undeniable, enthralling need―the near-manic need to go somewhere else then somewhere else again. We―as safer, armchair travelers―get the unexpected benefits of that addiction, learning so much more than if we had just stayed home.”
―Tim Bascom, author of Chameleon Days and Running to the Fire
About the Author
Karen Gershowitz grew up in Manhattan. During her long career as a marketing researcher, she crisscrossed the globe, conducting thousands of focus groups and interviews. While traveling, she used her interview skills in ordinary conversations to get strangers to open up and connect with her. Her work received an honorable mention at the 2018 Oregon Writer’s Conference. Travel Mania is her first book. She lives in New York, New York.
