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French Ghosts, Russian Nights, and American Outlaws: Souvenirs of a Professional Vagabond

This collection of pieces by Spano charts her travels and tells her stories. There are vignettes about her adventures squeezing through slot canyons in the wilds of southern Utah, fly-fishing for bonefish on a sunstruck bay in the Yucatan, sleeping on ice in Sweden, and following a bumpy backpacker trail into the Indian Himalayas.

Other chapters describe magical trips when all the variables — luck, mood, even weather — conspired to make a place unforgettable, or when she sought the kind of enlightenment only travel can provide by following in the footsteps of luminaries such as Federico Fellini, Mary Queen of Scots, and Chairman Mao.

And, finally, there are stories about travel itself: how it became Susan's passion and calling; the adventure of moving abroad, a last resort for the incurably restless; and her philosophy of travel and life: Go forth and find meaning. Take a condemned cable car over the Yangtze River or a shared taxi over the Andes with a leaking gas tank and chain-smoking driver; eat oysters and drink martinis wherever you can; and, as often as possible, come home with a tan.

  • Format
  • paperback
  • Pages
  • 260
  • Language
  • english
  • ISBN
  • 9781938901249
  • Genres
  • travel
  • Release date
  • 2014