Book review - SHE TRAVELS
*I contributed to SHE TRAVELS, and this review addresses the book as a whole excluding specific reference to my chapter.
After reading She Travels – Real Stories of Women Transformed Through Solo Travel, I felt inspired to explore new places in new ways. The author, Pascale Landriault, is undaunted even in the face of adversity, and demonstrates how travel with spaciousness and minimal planning creates optimal conditions for transformation to occur.
She Travels is a journey with physically active Pascale to various locales where she undertakes deep spiritual and healing experiences. This nonfiction book encourages women to undertake solo travel, reassuring readers that it’s not a lonely undertaking. The book further reinforces the opportunity for connection with other people during travel by including ten other women’s stories* of solo travel. These stories involve community and the profound change that can come when exploring outside our comfort zones.
This is not a book of travel tips, although the first chapter dispels myths about women’s solo travel. Rather, this book shows how travel to new places can catalyze personal growth as we lean on our inner resources. The stories in this book celebrate the opportunity for change that comes when we let go of expectations. In some respects, this book is more about spiritual healing than travel; however, the locations Pascale visited have a strong spiritual resonance for her. In this respect, travel is an integral part of her healing story. She discovered Innerdance in Bali and deepened her Innerdance practice in Sri Lanka, visited ancient goddess temples in Egypt, meditated in Bali and India’s Matrimandir, and underwent a 21-day Ayurvedic cleanse in India.
The transformations Pascale experienced were profound. While visiting Sardinia, Pascale’s suitcase and purse (with a key to her savings) are stolen, leaving her with nothing but her phone, a yoga mat, and the clothes she was wearing. As she deals with the logistics and emotions of having nothing, buried experiences from her past surface. As Pascale worked through past hurts and what was next for her, I was reassured that surrendering to the experience and being open to opportunities helped her find a way through the difficulty.
Pascale at the Sinai camp. Explore this interview with Pascale for more about how she found her way to solo travel and her travel philosophy.
The descriptions of place, particularly the Sinai Peninsula and Guyana, piqued my curiosity. I really felt the rocky desert and the rain-sloppy jungle. After reading about these places, I’ve given more thought to where I would like to visit on my own and what might call to me geographically and experientially.
This book seems meant for women who are ready for a change in their lives and who may have never traveled solo. Solo travel gives women an opportunity to tune into their own needs and internal wisdom, especially when they may have been sidelining themselves for the needs of others: children, partner, career, etc.
Some of the other women’s stories include a pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago in Spain, relocating to Australia from the U.S., navigating the jungle in Guyana, exploring New York City alone after a parent and traveling companion passed, trekking in Nepal as part of addiction recovery, heading off the beaten path in Peru, and how having space and time in Tuscany offered a reset and revelation about what was most nourishing to the self.
If you’re in a place of needing change in your life and sense a call to explore, I highly recommend She Travels.
Other contributors include: Nicolle Goldman, Allison Summers, Edmina Bradshaw, Suzanne Roberts, Stephanie Brookes, Jane Ubell-Meyer, Carolle Ouellet, Noha Nasser, and Karen Richter.
