My road came to an unexpected halt on November 9, 2010.

I was bicycling to work that morning when a garbage truck drove into a Philadelphia bike lane. I was in that bike lane.

Trauma surgeons saved my life, but they had to amputate my left leg above the knee. The accident changed my body and health forever.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.

For more than a decade, that journey has become my way of moving through the world.

I am a person with ability and disability. I travel in the space between. These are my postcards.

Wednesday, January 8, 2025

Travel through Books: Read Around the World 2024!

Yes, I know it's 2025, but it just occurred to me that maybe -- in these cold days of January -- the best way to travel is to park myself safely on the couch under a fleece blanket!

My legs (one real, one prosthetic) crossed, with navy socks that say "Peace" on a green couch with two pillows and a window in the background.
Maybe you feel the same way??

Seems like the perfect time to bring out a reading list I compiled for our Adaptive Travel Summit last September. 

Fiction.  Nonfiction.  Memoir.  Travel guides.  Photography.  

They're just a sprinkling of all the great books out there, but they represent some of my favorite "places to go" through the years!

So grab a blanket.  
Pour some tea.  
Prepare for take-off...

REBECCA'S RECS:  
READ AROUND THE WORLD 2024!

Travel and disability: Easy Beauty by Chloé Cooper Jones

Train travel: Around the World in 80 Trains by Monisha Rajesh  (Loved the audiobook!)

Travel meditations & wanderlust: The Vagabond’s Way by Rolf Potts

Outdoor adventure & photography: Stories Behind the Images by Corey Rich

Go local: A Guide to the Great Gardens of the Philadelphia Region by Adam Levine

France and food: Chocolat by Joanne Harris  (It’s also a movie!)

Denmark, winter, and happiness: The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking

Spain (by an 80’s star turned travel writer!): Walking with Sam by Andrew McCarthy 

Nigeria and humor: My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

Japan and time travel: Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi  (It's the first in a series!)  

India, Australia, and search for family: A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley  (It’s also a movie called Lion!) 

Where possible, I've linked to Bookshop.org which supports independent booksellers, but most of these are available everywhere, including the public library.  Several make fantastic audiobooks too!

A coffee mug that reads "Go away, I'm reading!" on a wooden table in front of a window with snow outside.
My favorite reading mug from
Bear Pond Books in Montpelier, VT:
"Go Away. I'm Reading."

Do you travel through books?  
What are you reading -- or listening to -- these days?

Got recommendations?  Leave a comment!

I'm working on 2025's list -- and always looking for the next book to carry me away!

Read on,
Rebecca

Mile Marker 13,270

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3 comments:

  1. Jarad BJanuary 11, 2025 at 5:42 AM

    oooooo some good choices there! Thanks! I've been wanting to re-read my favorite book, "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" by Jules Verne (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/164/164-h/164-h.htm). "The human mind delights in grand conceptions of supernatural beings. And the sea is precisely their best vehicle"

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousApril 28, 2025 at 11:45 AM

    A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Percel

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMay 28, 2025 at 10:50 PM

    Jonesy Put Your Head Down and Skate by Keith Jones (yes, THAT Keith Jones)

    ReplyDelete

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