Book 1 Post 1: My Life on the Road

   

For my book I chose to read Gloria Steinem’s My Life on the Road. I chose this book because I was inspired by Steinem’s ability to live without a home and constantly be traveling. Hearing stories about different people’s lives and cultures by traveling all over the world is one of my greatest joys. Steinem’s passion has shown through all her travels. Learning about women and feminist ideals was a driving force for her. In my life I truly would like to live on the road as Steinem would say, but I am not sure what my passion and drive would be. Through reading this book I was hoping to understand how one can live on the road as well as how to find that topical curiosity to explore as you go. Lastly, I was inspired to read this in conjunction with another book I have started to read. At a club dinner, I had met an Iranian doctoral student that described his journey as a persecuted jew from Iran. He too lived a very on-the-road lifestyle. After telling him I would like to pursue a nomadic lifestyle like his, he recommended a book called The Motorcycle Diaries: Notes on a Latin American Journey. This book is about Ernesto Che Guevara’s journey around South America with his motorcycle. In reading both these books I hope to find a lot of interesting stories on what it’s like to live on the road.

The book so far has been an interesting read. In the introduction and prelude Steinem explains how a definition and explanation of her travel lifestyle would be incomplete without describing her father. Her father was an extreme traveler. He lived everyday driving around with Steinem and their family going to road stop diners and selling antiques for gas money. Steinem described her yearning to rebel against her father’s lifestyle when she got older as she wanted a home. However after writing this book and reflecting on her childhood she realized how powerful living on the road can be. A quote from Steinem’s father that stuck with me was “If I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, it could be wonderful!” (Steinem 19). Moving on in the book I have read about Steinem’s stay in India and how she found the courage to live in ways she wasn’t comfortable with before. Trying cultural customs she wasn’t used to allowed her to interact with women and hear their stories about women’s lives in India in a way that could not have been done in a comfortable travel style.

 

 

I look forward to reading about the many more places Steinem has traveled and what exciting experiences and stories are to come.