Dealing With Stuff
  • Dealing With Stuff
  • About
  • Contact

Tales of a Female Nomad

6/12/2015

 
Picture
On the theme of quests, I have been reading a number of books about women who travel the world.  This particular book is a memoir by Rita Golden Gelman.  I listened to it on audio because I usually love books that are narrated by their authors.  Gelman’s narration is fabulous, making it sound more like storytelling than reading a set text.  Tales of a Female Nomad covers the years 1987-2001, though Gelman has continued to travel and write ever since.

At the beginning of the story, Gelman is married to a man who doesn’t share her travel bug.  This seems to be a theme: Birding on Borrowed Time also describes a “mixed marriage” between a nomadic, quest-oriented woman and her homebody husband.  Does the nomad’s path demand too high a price?  Gelman writes openly about her sorrow and occasional loneliness, in between the fun of making new friendships all around the world.

There was one spot in the book that stood out for me, for reasons having nothing to do with world travel.  Gelman describes meeting two other women in New Zealand for the first time: “Turns out that both Marian and Lisa were relieved when I stepped out of the car.  They’d been afraid I would arrive young and svelte, in heels and makeup.”  Okay, I don’t wear heels and makeup, and I’m not young anymore.  But is this true?  Is it true that non-svelte women don’t want to meet women who are?  It seems terribly ironic that these women are more nervous about meeting someone thin than someone from another culture.

Gelman’s interest in cultural anthropology leads her to seek out opportunities to live among villagers, in non-tourist areas.  She deliberately sets herself up in situations where she doesn’t speak the language.  She works hard to become accepted by local people, to participate in festivals, cook, teach, and work with children.  She avoids putting down permanent roots, testing her limits and avoiding the comfort zone.

I found it particularly interesting that Tales of a Female Nomad dealt frankly with financial matters.  In the tradition of Jane Austen, am I right?  Gelman has occasions when she doesn’t have quite enough pocket change to cover something.  She explains how she pays her way with income from writing children’s books, and how most of her international living situations are much cheaper than living in the US.  She does a convincing job of making the life of a permanent nomad look achievable.


Comments are closed.
    New podcast!
    Clutter of the Day

    Author

    I've been working with chronic disorganization, squalor, and hoarding for over 20 years.  I'm also a marathon runner who was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and thyroid disease 17 years ago.

    I have a BA in History.

    I live in Southern California with my husband and our pets, an African Gray parrot and a rat terrier.

    #Questioner
    #ENTP

    This website uses marketing and tracking technologies. Opting out of this will opt you out of all cookies, except for those needed to run the website. Note that some products may not work as well without tracking cookies.

    Opt Out of Cookies

    Archives

    January 2022
    October 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015

    Categories

    All
    ADHD
    Birdwatching
    Body Image
    Book Reviews
    Books
    Cleaning
    Clutter
    COVID 19
    COVID-19
    COVID 19 Chronicles
    Fibromyalgia
    Filks
    Fitness
    Food
    Future Self
    Futurism
    Goals
    Habits
    Humor
    Languages
    Martial Arts
    Mindset
    Minimalism
    Money
    Motivation
    Movie Reviews
    Moving
    Organization
    Past Self
    Pets
    Preparedness
    Procrastination
    Public Speaking
    Quests
    Relationships
    Resolutions
    Running
    Sleep
    Technology
    The Woo Woo
    The-woowoo
    Thyroid Disease
    Timemanagement
    Time Management
    Tiny Houses
    Travel
    Weight
    Work
    Writing

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Dealing With Stuff
  • About
  • Contact