Literary Journeys

In preparation for a trip to the Amazon, I begin my ritual “literary journey.”

December snow is falling outside of my Chicago window, but I am deep in the Ecuadorian rain forest with Luis Sepúlveda’s main character, an old man who reads love stories. I am almost drowning in the perpetual downpour.

… headed into the jungle. There the rain was less forceful but water gushed down in heavy streams. The rain couldn’t penetrate the forest canopy. It accumulated on the leaves, and when the branches gave under the weight it poured down, bearing scents of every kind.

I take a note: When is rainy season in Ecuador?

I take a sip of my steamy, warm drink as the snow falls harder.

A world unfolds on every page of a literary journey. (Book Trees made by January Ward)

Just before midday it stopped raining, and this worried him. The rain had to continue. Otherwise the wetness would start to evaporate, and the jungle would sink into a thick mist that would impede his breathing and prevent him from seeing beyond the end of his nose.

I take another note: How deep into the jungle does the tour go? Take contacts, not glasses.

I set aside my cup of cocoa and get a glass of cold water.

Suddenly, millions of silvery needles pierced the jungle canopy, casting a brilliant light wherever they fell. He was right under a clear patch of sky, dazzled by the sun’s reflections from the damp plants. He rubbed his eyes and cursed, and, surrounded by hundreds of ephemeral rainbows, hurried away before the dreaded evaporation began.

I make one last note: Take sunglasses.

Every Book Is a Discovery

The Old Man Who Read Love Stories was written in 1989 but takes place in an unspecified post-colonial year—a time when much of Amazonia was “undiscovered.” It is one of twenty-four books that make up my current literary itinerary.

In The Boiling River, a 2016 book also on my itinerary, National Geographic Explorer, Andrés Ruzo says, “At a time when everything seems mapped, measured, and understood, this river challenges what we think we know.” Ruzo did in fact discover new facts about this particular river in Peru.

He also acknowledges an even deeper sense of discovery, “It is a reminder that there are still great wonders to be discovered. We find them not just in the black void of the unknown but in the white noise of everyday life—in the things we barely notice, the things we almost forget, even in a detail of a story.”

That is why literary journeys make us feel like explorers making new discoveries. The details of a story are new to us. And combined with our travel experiences, they become as wondrous as “hundreds of ephemeral rainbows.”

Every Reader Is an Explorer

A literary journey entails reading literature that features your destination as the setting. As you read, you learn new things but also grow more and more curious about where you are going.

So, are you ready to stretch your imagination with a literary journey? You are if you want to be:

•  Percolating with excitement to get to your destination and discover in person what you read about
• Brimming with background knowledge and ready to build up richer and more meaningful layers of learning
• Savvy and sensitive to your surroundings
•  Smart and thoughtful in your interactions
• Still super curious and full of questions

Set Your Itinerary and Take Off

Choose wisely as you plan your reading itinerary. Consider how much time have before your trip and how much you can realistically read. Leave time for further research. Try to read a variety that includes historical and contemporary, works by native authors as well as traveling authors, different genres, and multiple perspectives.

As you read, ask yourself questions such as:

• What are the characters eating and drinking?
• What are they curious about?
• What problems do they face in their country?
• What does the character value? Is that different from others in the country?
• What details help you visualize the place?  
•  How do the politics, customs, landforms, weather compare to yours?
• What surprised you?
• What can you not wait to see, feel, smell, hear, touch, ask about in person?

The next leg of a literary journey is to search for answers. You may hike through other books for answers. Or you may plunge into the great ocean of information on the Internet. Even a search for basic answers can be an adventure. The wet season in Ecuador is October to May. Basic. But Ecuador is the closest country to space! Because of the way Earth bulges at the equator, Mt. Chimborazo is about 1.5 miles higher than Mt. Everest. Adventure!

Try to leave some questions open to ask once you arrive at your destination. Questions are keys that open doors to conversation, connection, and the richest kind of learning.  But if curiosity is too strong a force and you arrive at your destination with all the answers, still ask the questions. Compare the knowledge you gained on your literary journey to the perspective you get from the people living and working in the place you’re visiting.

Don’t Forget Your Travel Companions

The ultimate literary journey includes finding a book for every person on your trip. Researching and matching books to the interests of your fellow travelers is like taking a literary journey with companions.

On a trip to South Africa I got a book for each of my 24 traveling companions. The youngest at age 5 got Adventures of Riley: Safari in South Africa. My own children at ages 6 and 9 read the book before we went. They questioned Riley being bundled up in the Jeep on an early morning drive. Would it be cold?

It was indeed chilly in the mornings and evenings. And on one of those chilly safari rides, with Army-green blankets on our laps, we saw cheetahs. We sat in awed silence until the 5-year-old whispered to me, “In my book, there was a photo of a cheetah playing soccer with a huge dung-ball!”

The snow deepens, and I am deep into my literary journey in the Amazon and the Galapagos Islands. And soon my 24 traveling companions will be as well.

For the budget savvy literary traveler, buy used books. The journey is just as good!

Click Setting to see the full list of books.