Eat. Pray. Love. is the 2006 story of Elizabeth Gilbert - who decides she's unhappy, divorces her husband, and takes off on a round-the-world journey to "find herself" - paid for by her publishing company. The book is her one-year diary from the three countries she visited. Don't worry if you didn't read the book -- you can tell how her life worked out from the title.
A couple of people have asked me if this ride I'm doing is "like an Eat. Pray. Love. kind of thing." Ew. I might be divorced and taking a trip, but the similarities end there. I didn't break up my marriage. I'm not unhappy. My trip is only two weeks long, and I have to pay for it myself. Like Gilbert though, I'm writing about my trip (albeit a blog) and if this were to become a book, a good title might be Ride. Think. Discover. I'm riding. While I'm riding I'm thinking. And when the trip is over, I will have discovered many things -- places I've never been too, deeper healing, more confidence... it's hard to imagine the discoveries and insights in advance. But I have certainty there will be some.
I have long felt there is a book inside me; I just haven't figured out what hasn't been written yet. I'm not convinced I'm interesting to more than the 40 or so people looking at my blog (pretty much polite family and friends I think). Gilbert's take-a-trip-write-a-bestseller-about-it formula was copied again earlier this year by Cheryl Strayed in Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. The book is her story of hiking alone on the PC Trail, a trip started because her life was in meltdown. The NY Times writes a great review of the book. Full disclosure...I have not read it yet, but I did buy the iBook for those quiet nights roughing it in a bed and breakfast without TV or internet.
I don't know. As noted in a previous blog, it's hard to believe an ordinary life can be a fascinating story, let alone a bestseller. Maybe if I survive a major, unexpected weather event or a life-changing wildlife encounter or I meet the next Prince Charming, there will be something more to hang a full-length book on. There will be a book one day. For now I blog.
A couple of people have asked me if this ride I'm doing is "like an Eat. Pray. Love. kind of thing." Ew. I might be divorced and taking a trip, but the similarities end there. I didn't break up my marriage. I'm not unhappy. My trip is only two weeks long, and I have to pay for it myself. Like Gilbert though, I'm writing about my trip (albeit a blog) and if this were to become a book, a good title might be Ride. Think. Discover. I'm riding. While I'm riding I'm thinking. And when the trip is over, I will have discovered many things -- places I've never been too, deeper healing, more confidence... it's hard to imagine the discoveries and insights in advance. But I have certainty there will be some.
I have long felt there is a book inside me; I just haven't figured out what hasn't been written yet. I'm not convinced I'm interesting to more than the 40 or so people looking at my blog (pretty much polite family and friends I think). Gilbert's take-a-trip-write-a-bestseller-about-it formula was copied again earlier this year by Cheryl Strayed in Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. The book is her story of hiking alone on the PC Trail, a trip started because her life was in meltdown. The NY Times writes a great review of the book. Full disclosure...I have not read it yet, but I did buy the iBook for those quiet nights roughing it in a bed and breakfast without TV or internet.
I don't know. As noted in a previous blog, it's hard to believe an ordinary life can be a fascinating story, let alone a bestseller. Maybe if I survive a major, unexpected weather event or a life-changing wildlife encounter or I meet the next Prince Charming, there will be something more to hang a full-length book on. There will be a book one day. For now I blog.