Books |
Travel North America: (and Avoid Being a Tourist)
Jeralyn Gerba and Pavia Rosati
By
Published: Jun 21, 2021
Category:
Travel
Two years ago, Jeralyn Gerba and Pavia Rosati published Travel Anywhere (And Avoid Being a Tourist): Travel trends and destination inspiration for the modern adventurer. Drawing on the travel they’d done for their website, Fathomaway.com, they produced a travel book that broke with tradition –– they were writing for “modern travelers,” they said. “We find ourselves especially drawn to destinations that feel like sanctuaries and that inspire goodwill. If you travel to recharge the senses and want to return home energized and engaged, these places will do all that—and more.”
How to follow up a guide to international travel? Obvious answer: a travel guide to North America. But a great deal happened in North America between 2019 and the completion of “Travel North America: (and Avoid Being a Tourist)” — like the COVID pandemic. Now the country is opening up, and we emerge, blinking, dreaming of going somewhere. But have you experienced the new JetBlue terminal at JFK? The stupidity of the layout, the noise, the crowds of people who may be wearing masks only because the airlines require them — if I didn’t have to make that trip, I would have gone home. I’m sure I’m not the only sentient adult who has no plans to travel this summer.
Gerba and Rosati wrote this 2.25-pound book during the pandemic. God bless them, they’re optimists:
If one thing has been clear throughout the pandemic, it’s that the desire, the urge, the need to travel remains unwavering. Can anything good come of such an overwhelming situation? We have to hope it can. We’re working toward – and hoping for – a post-pandemic mindset less focused on travel consumption and more focused on stewardship. Where people will put more thought into choosing their destinations, spend more time in one place, and work harder to connect to the communities that welcome them. In the best-case scenario, we will all be less preoccupied with labels and checklists and Instagram likes and more interested in how we move through the world and care for it – and for each other.
As lockdowns are lifted and people start moving around, they’ll shed old habits and develop new ones. The future of travel will encourage us to stick closer to home for a while, to slow down and pay attention to the world around us, to expand our minds, to support each other, and to get really close to nature.
Pretty to think so. And pretty gutsy to stake your book on it. The is either the first classic of a new kind of travel guide or an exhibit in a time capsule of 2021 hopes and dreams. Also impressive: Gerba and Rosati’s nearly complete rejection of traditional form. Traditional guides plod from region to region, state to state: hotels, restaurants, historical sites. Gerba and Rosati explore themes without respect to location. “Brave New World — The post-pandemic travel mindset.” “Follow Nature’s Lead.” “Second Cities Take First Place.’ “Road Tripping.” “Giving Back — Humanitarian travel in North America.” They’re good on budget hotels and funky restaurants and out-of-the way beaches. But they have a theme song, and they don’t stray far from it: “Stay to Give Back” will lead you to “hotels making smart, sustainable choices that contribute positively to the local community.” Yes, please, and may we have some more? [To buy the book from Amazon, click here.]
I’ve been to some of their suggestions. Big thumbs up for Harbour Island. But I’m not a candidate for the Pink Sands, not at $1,150 for an ocean front cottage. And this was true of the accommodations in a number of hotels they recommended; at these prices, I would get nervous, not relaxed or contemplative. But then there the finds that feel unique. Like the Spiritual Landmarks section.
It’s a better country for having Jeralyn Gerba and Pavia Rosati create books like this.
