What’s your dream you want to save for? Please share in the comments!

One of the concerns that you don’t want weighing on your mind, however, is how to protect not just your physical items on the road, but your personal information as well.

That is where “The Ultimate Tech Guide for Travelers” can help. This eBook is packed full of extremely useful information from someone who really knows his stuff – Anil Polat, aka foXnoMad. Before setting off to travel the world with his adorable pets by his side, Anil was a computer security consultant. And through his websites, he offers information on the best ways and gadgets vagabonds can use to stay in touch, save money, and make the most out of any vacation.

In “The Ultimate Tech Guide for Travelers”, Anil walks you through the various ways you can accomplish just about anything you want from a laptop or electronic device from anywhere in the world.

Among the topics, you will learn:

 
• Which laptop is best for you if you choose to travel with one;
• How to create a good backup plan, which is robust, automated and physically separate;
• How to obtain free software that can provide you with tools to edit photos, learn languages, and stay in touch among others;
• How to navigate the wireless landscape – know before you go;
• Helpful security tips to keep your items safe from physical theft and your online content and passwords safe from hackers;
• And useful tech tools to help save on travel costs.

 

You may not think this will help you but you may also not imagine the possibility of your computer crashing, devices being stolen, your private information being hacked at an internet café, or the possibility of not being able to access important online information that may be blocked in certain countries.

And these tips and more are designed not just for safety but to save you money as well.

The best part? With purchase of this eBook, you will also receive 6 months of free personal tech support from Anil as well as a year of free updates. That in itself is a fantastic value for just $37. And we can speak from personal experience. When you face an issue like your site being hacked or run into a coding issue, there is no better person to have on your side than Anil.

You can find more tech advice from Anil on Tech Guide for Travel and Travel Blog Advice.  And follow him on Twitter @foxnomad

And read our review of his other eBook “Overcoming the 7 Obstacles to Traveling the World”.

Editorial disclaimer: We are an affiliate member of Anil’s books and receive a percentage of sales if purchased through our site. We only join affiliate programs of products that we believe in and support.

Many people who are planning an around the world trip typically go through a purge process; sometimes it’s motivated by money, and sometimes it’s motivated by the fact that they are going to sublet their place and put things in storage. Whatever the reason, when you are standing in the middle of your living room full of stuff, it’s hard to know where to start.

That’s where Francine Jay, Miss Minimalist, comes in. She’s the Wonder Woman of simplicity! I just finished reading Francine’s book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide: How to Declutter, Organize, and Simplify Your Life and can happily recommend it to anyone looking to downsize their life, their home, a room, a closet, or a to-do list. She covers it all with a very simple, effective process called STREAMLINE.
S – Start over
T – Trash, Treasure, or Transfer
R – Reason for each item
E – Everything in its place
A – All surfaces clear
M – Modules
L – Limits
I – If one comes in, one goes out
N – Narrow it down
E – Everyday maintenance

The book defines each of these steps clearly and then proceeds to go through these steps in each room of your house helping you go from pack-rat to minimalist. I thought this was a great way to tackle what seems to be an overwhelming process for many people.

However my favorite part of the book was the beginning where Francine really dissects our consumption culture; how it has developed, grown out of control, and effected people along the way.

The book starts with a startling thought,

“Think of the life energy expended in the ownership of a single possession: planning for it, reading reviews about it, looking for the best deal on it, earning (or borrowing) the money to buy it, going to the store to purchase it, transporting it home, finding a place to put it, learning how to use it, cleaning it or around it, maintaining it, buying extra parts for it, insuring it, protecting it, trying not to break it, fixing it when you do, and sometimes making payments on it even after you’ve disposed of it. Now multiply this by the number of items in your home. “

Since I have given up much of my stuff, I have thought about this concept a lot. After some initial mourning over the disappearance of my stuff, I soon began to realize the benefits…I had more time. More time to live and experience life.

She also talks about how your possessions have power. They have the power to hold you in place. Maybe that’s why so many soon-to-be travelers feel like they want to divest of their stuff, so they can move around, experience some freedom. I know that’s exactly why I decided to sell my stuff, I wanted my freedom.

Besides the first part of the book which talks about our consumption philosophy, I don’t think this is a book to sit down and read from cover to cover like a novel. It’s more of a toolkit. After the philosophy, it defines the STREAMLINE process going through each room of a house: living room, bedroom, wardrobe, home office, kitchen and dining room, bathroom, and storage spaces. I personally think you would read these chapters as you are ready to tackle these rooms; they would be very effective that way.

I also appreciated the fact that Francine covered a special chapter on how to deal with gifts, heirlooms, and sentimental items. These are often big landmines for disaster because you never feel that you can get rid of these items. She helps you cope with the challenges of giving some of these items away.

Do you have a pre-travel career break list with the item – “Put things in storage”?  Then this book may be your answer to checking that to-do off!  The Joy of Less is a great tool for anyone planning extended travel or a career break. It will help you prepare for a wonderful journey. And it will most likely change your life forever.

It may even help you become a better packer! After all, don’t we all want to become minimalist packers? Rolf Potts just did the ultimate trip in minimalism, he traveled around the world for 6 weeks with no luggage. See, it is possible!

The great thing is that minimalism can be different for everyone, it may mean decluttering, or downsizing in a room, or it may mean reducing your whole house’s footprint. It can also go as far as I did…from an apartment to a couple of suitcases.

I recently had the opportunity to have my minimalist journey documented on Francine’s blog – you can read about it – Real Life Minimalist Sherry Ott

Do you have any plans to downsize before your career break? Tell us how you are going about it!

If you don’t feel like getting yet another book, then follow Miss Minimalist on her blog where she writes about living simply and how to downsize, Miss Minimalist: Living a Beautiful Life with Less Stuff. She believes that “being a minimalist isn’t only about white walls and empty spaces. It’s about eliminating the distractions that keep us from fully appreciating life. The less stuff we have cluttering our homes (and the less “to-do’s” cluttering our time), the more energy we can devote to the things that are truly important to us.”

This is where Barbara and Elizabeth Pagano come in. They are teaching people how to negotiate a sabbatical with their company. This mother-daughter duo are no strangers to sabbaticals. They took their own sailing career break; learning new skills, and getting some much needed time away from the 9 to 5.

Barbara and Elizabeth’s typical 9 to 5 is yourSABBATICAL.com – a firm that partners with businesses to deploy programs that attract, retain, and accelerate top talent through the use of structured leaves of absences.

However, through their eBook Negotiating Your Sabbatical, this time they are working directly with the employees – helping them lay out a plan to ask for and be granted time away for a career break or sabbatical.

The book walks you through the steps to going in and having ‘that’ conversation with your boss. All the bases are covered:

• Building the foundation
• Creating the proposal
• Engaging in negotiation

In addition it includes an appendix which houses templates and Q&A.

Their advice? Don’t be spontaneous! Yes – you heard me right. Don’t decide at the spur of the moment to talk to your boss about a sabbatical, your chances of succeeding are about as likely as the US embracing healthcare reform. What this book teaches you is to plan, prepare, and practice asking for a sabbatical. Sabbaticals aren’t whimsical, they are serious. This doesn’t mean that you can’t have fun on your desired sabbatical, it simply means the conversation with your boss should be serious!

The book states:

“The most meaningful sabbaticals are planned ones, with specific goals and objectives – even if one of those goals is simply to recharge.”

There are many types of sabbaticals they discuss – travel, volunteer, family, green, and lifelong goal sabbaticals. But no matter what type of break you want to take, you’ll need to build a foundation and knowledge around the world of sabbaticals, your goals, and the company’s goals.

Remember, this is a toolkit, not a typical book. This means that you aren’t simply reading; you are doing. The toolkit involves exploring and writing down your answers to questions. This begins to build the foundation you’ll need to put together your proposal. I love this inward-looking part of the book, it makes you take action.

Next it walks you through building the proposal. Once again this is a very ‘hands-on’ process. In addition, they provide you with sample proposals which have worked in the past.

Finally, the toolkit walks you through the negotiation process step by step. It even includes possible responses and questions from your boss and helps you script responses to them. Some possible responses from your boss:

• “If we let you go, everyone else will want to go.”
• “Nothing like this has ever been approved before.”
• “How do I know you aren’t looking for other employment.”

The toolkit will lead you through the questions and help you formulate answers which align with your proposal. It also goes through next steps if your proposal gets accepted or denied.

But honestly, with this toolkit and the right preparation it teaches you; I don’t know how anyone could deny your sabbatical request!

If you are considering a sabbatical or career break but don’t want to break ties with your company, then check out this ebook, it will completely prepare you to achieve your dreams.

You can purchase the ebook at yourSabbatical.com

If you do purchase it, please stop back and let us hear about your successful negotiation!

Leave us a comment and let us know if you would ever consider trying to ask your boss for a career break or sabbatical.

“Conform and Be Dull”

Yet the irony was I was staying in a job I didn’t love, depriving myself of my real passions so that I could simply be like everyone else and fit in. Fit into my company, fit into New York City, fit into my parent’s expectations, and ultimately fit into society; my life was all about conforming.

As you read in Steve’s post “Notes from a Briefcase” earlier this week, over the last 4 years I have broken out of that life of conformity and really followed my passions. And guess what – I’m surviving, and happier than ever. Steve also is happy doing his corporate job which takes him all over the world, but provides him a regular paycheck as well as stimulates him. Everyone has different things which make them happy, but the key is – live the life YOU want.

I stumbled upon Chris Guillebeau’s blog a few years ago; he writes on unconventional strategies for life, work, and travel. He espouses the message of ‘you don’t have to live your life the way other people expect you to’ and ‘work should be fun and meaningful’. I felt as if he had been eavesdropping on my inner thoughts and desires. In many ways it speaks to the Briefcase to Backpack mentality; you don’t have to defer your desires and wanderlust until retirement, why not set your own rules and put career break in your vocabulary. I signed up for his newsletter and have been following him ever since.

Chris recently moved beyond bits and bytes and became an author; his book The Art of Non-Conformity was released in September. The book goes into more detail on how you can go about setting your own path, your own rules, and find your purpose in your career and life. It covers the idea that career and life don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Sure – that’s easy to say; we all strive to spend our time doing things we love, but something stops us from doing that; normally it’s the expectations of others and our own desire to conform.

For those whose interest is peaked by the idea of getting off the merry-go-round of conformity, this book will fuel your desires, challenge your way of thinking, and provide you some concrete steps to living the life you want. Regardless whether those ‘wants’ include a career break, a change in employment, travel, or giving back – it will help you take a hard look at your values.

Specifically, the book covers:

• Creative self-employment
• Career independence
• Radical goal-setting
• Contrarian travel
• Breaking through the fears of living unconventionally
• How to connect with the people you need, and
• How to handle the critics.

I personally loved the chapter on “Smashing Through the Brick Wall of Fear”; so many of us who are considering career breaks can find inspiration in it. Just consider this:

“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.”
—Elbert Hubbard

Are you paralyzed by fear, is it keeping you from your career break dreams?

I also appreciated the chapter on “The Personal Finance Journey” which really examines what happiness costs. It looks at life experiences vs. possessions; a good exercise as you may be wondering how to overcome the financial hurdles of a career break.

Some may call it a self-help book, but I call it a self-empowerment book. If you are looking for a little push, or looking to connect with other non-conformists, the book provides inspiration and will challenge the way you look at the world. I particularly like it for the want-to-be career breakers out there. It may be the kindle you need to start your fire and dust off your passport.

Have a highlighter/pen/notepad ready when you read it; I found myself marking the book as I read through it sparking my own thoughts and ideas.

If you’d like to learn more about Chris Guillebeau– check out his website. Chris not only authors books and blogs, he has created a number of online products and kits around travel and self employment, the Unconventional Guides, that I personally own and use daily! The Empire Building Kit has been one of the tools we’ve used to actually build the career break empire here on Briefcase to Backpack! To learn more about it, you can read my review on Ottsworld.

As Chris says…”Your legacy starts now.” What will yours look like?

The Lost Girls: Three Friends. Four Continents. One Unconventional Detour Around the World. Or as we like to call it here at Briefcase to Backpack – a career break.

One of these Lost Girls shared with us the struggles she faced letting go on the road: Amanda Pressner – Losing Myself on the Road. And now with the release of the book, we are able to learn much more about her career break experience, and those of her fellow travelers Jennifer Baggett and Holly Corbett.

Whether they were running away from something (Jen), searching for something (Amanda), or seeking adventure (Holly), The Lost Girls took a leap of faith together and ventured off on a global journey that took them to South America (Peru & Brazil), Kenya, India, Southeast Asia (Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia) and Oceania (New Zealand, Australia).

Like many career breakers featured on our site, The Lost Girls were on the expected path in life, but questioned whether or not that was the right one for them.

“As we rocketed toward the next major stage (the one involving mortgages, marriages, and 2.2 children), we all wondered: Were the paths that we were heading down the right ones for us – or were we simply staying the course because we thought we should? Was the road most frequently traveled the one that we wanted to follow?”

They hoped that life on the road would help them gain the perspective they were looking for.

What is fascinating about the book is how we are able to delve into their hearts & minds and how the same journey is interpreted & experienced in three very different & unique ways. The Lost Girls do a great job of sharing their experiences – including the struggles & triumphs, the ups & downs – while still maintaining their individual voices. Not only do they guide us through their actual travels, but they open up to how each experience was affecting their own internal journeys.

Jen, Holly, and Amanda - aka "The Lost Girls"

And by sharing their thoughts and feelings about each other demonstrates the power of having a support system when taking such a huge risk in life – whether that is one on the road, back home, or both. Though it’s not always easy to travel long-term with one partner, let alone two, they were able to utilize each other’s strengths throughout and lean on each other during their weaknesses.

For the armchair traveler or workaholic, their story may be unique. But it fits right in here at Briefcase to Backpack. They touch on the circumstances that brought them to this point, the steps they took in planning & preparing, and even a glimmer of their reflections afterwards.

But the main crux of the book covers life on the road – and not just climbing Machu Picchu, volunteering in Kenya, surviving the trains in India, and bungy jumping in New Zealand. But also the struggles they faced letting go of their careers, loved ones, and sense of identities in order to gain new insight into themselves.

As they learn, the road doesn’t always have the answers to the questions you seek, nor will it serve them up on a nice silver platter. But by the end of this journey they realized that it wasn’t over, and lessons learned would only serve as guides as they navigate through the next steps of their lives.

Something every career breaker should embrace.

The Lost Girls: Three Friends. Four Continents.
One Unconventional Detour Around the World
Released May, 11, 2010 (hardcover) | April 26, 2011 (paperback)
Order now!
Paperback price: $9.75
Kindle price: $9.99
Hardcover price: $16.49

In addition to blogs, it’s just as important, if not more so, to keep a handwritten travel journal, especially if you are embarking on a trip for self-exploration such as a career break.

Blogs are great for sharing details of your hike up Machu Picchu and the crazy street food you tried in Cambodia, but a journal will allow you to open up more about what those experiences meant to you in your journey for self-discovery. And even in this day of sharing just about every aspect of your life online, there are moments that you will want to keep to yourself.

In her book, Writing Away: A Creative Guide to Awakening the Journal-Writing Traveler (Travelers’ Tales), Lavinia Spalding offers advice on using your travel journal to help you through personal development, starting with even the most basic of steps: selecting the ideal journal and writing device for yourself.

After many years of experimenting, I find that the best journal for me is a Cachet Classic Wirebound Black Cover Sketchbook. The ringed-binding allows me to open up to any page easily (offering a flat surface) and the thickness of the paper allows for easy writing and sketching. I find the 5”x7” size is perfect if I want to add postcards to my pages – allowing for some visual elements to my words.

And you may laugh about selecting the perfect pen, but I find my words flow much easily and my hand can keep up with my racing thoughts with any type of uni-ball pen. I even hand wrote this post with one! Believe it or not, not having the right pen and journal can keep you from writing in your journal.

But that seems like the easy part. Most people have never kept any type of journal, so dedicating oneself to doing this during your travels can be daunting. Lavinia offers some great practice devices to prepare you for it, including opening up your notebook five times a day – not necessarily to write, but to develop the habit. And it pays off:

“As Henry Miller said, ‘One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.’ Keeping a travel journal will assist you in reaching that destination. It will enrich your experience, help you interpret the world, and it might even change your life. The payoffs will be incalculable, both during your travels and long after you return.”

I can relate to that. I love thumbing through my previous journals as they transport me back to a time when I was in a very different place in my life. And I can see how that time influenced my personal growth and has helped shape whom I am today. I usually can’t get through an entry without laughing or crying over a memory that I hadn’t thought of in years.

That’s not as easy to do with a blog. Most travelers I know who kept (or keep) blogs, rarely revisit previous entries. Their photos and words are stored away on a network server for others to stumble upon.

And in addition to reliving distant memories, by flipping through the pages of my journals I’ve been able to find great source material to share on Briefcase to Backpack and my Inspiration Blog, including “Letting Go: Preparedness” and “Reflecting On Those Who Inspired Me On 9/11”.

Another aspect I love about keeping a journal is being able to note my journey in ways other than the written word. I got a giant grin on my face when Lavinia made reference to journals being a work of art for some:

“Still other artists regard the journal itself as a work of art. One of the most famous among them is brilliant wildlife and fashion photographer Peter Beard. Beard’s diaries are an indescribable romp of images and words – thousands of pages of exquisitely controlled mayhem, they hold sprawling entries in cramped handwriting, scribbled telephone messages and business cards alongside fashion magazine cutouts, dried leaves, insects, composite photos of nudes and crocodiles, drawings by African artists, newspaper clippings, cartoons, snakeskin, bark and blood.”

It was upon seeing Peter Beard’s personal journals at an exhibit in 2000 that inspired the way I journal.

I’ve even found a way to incorporate my journals into my artwork, using entries as the background image to some of my travel photos.

And I had a laugh when Lavinia recalled having to dig through her bag to show her National Parks Pass at a station booth – which by that point was already glued into her journal.

I had a similar experience happen on a flight to Paris. My friend and I were off for a long weekend and were pleasantly surprised to be upgraded to first class. Within minutes of takeoff, our boarding passes were already glue-sticked into our journals as we sipped champagne. Moments later, we’d have to return to JFK and change planes due to mechanical error. We were told we could use our original boarding passes for our new plane. Luckily, Kim wasn’t too embarrassed trying to explain to the attendants why we needed new passes, showing our journals as to why.

I also love keeping a journal to detail other moments – like keeping score of a card game or devising “how well do you know you’re new travel partners” questionnaire while trekking in Nepal. Those capture unique moments that sentences and paragraphs could not.

But the most important aspect to keeping a journal during your career break travels is to help you on your path to self-discovery.

As Lavinia writes:

“Travel carries with it the potential to be a sort of changing room for the psyche. More than a getaway, more of a gateway…cue the travel journal, for while any journal is a portal to expanded awareness, the travelogue in particular is an unparalleled avenue for self-discovery. Paired with the myriad rewards and ordeals of travel, it can solicit breakthroughs that other journals simply cannot.

In short, if you let it, the journal will help you become an improved traveler, and (dare I say it?) a better version of yourself to bring home – which might be the ultimate travel souvenir.”

So add another item to your packing list: your journal. And be ready to open doors to even greater insight.

• Why would you ever leave a perfectly good job or paycheck to travel for an extended period of time?
• Taking a break would be detrimental to your career; you may never to find another job again!

The mind is a powerful thing – especially when it comes to taking career breaks. But isn’t it funny how our mind can take a positive thing and twist it into a terrible outcome? And with naysayers questioning your intentions at every turn, you’ll need all the help you can get to actually make your career break dream a reality.

Escape 101: Sabbaticals Made Simple by Dan Clements and Tara Gignac, ND is a powerful weapon that can help you to get on the road to your career break. I recently listened to Dan’s book on my iPod and was enthralled form the moment it began. It was in complete alignment with my view on sabbaticals and career breaks. In fact, while listening, I felt as if I was reliving my career break decisions and struggles from four years ago. There are so many things that make you feel like your crazy if you take a career break, but Escape 101 makes you feel that you’re crazy if you DON’T take one; finally someone is on your side! (ahem – Briefcase to Backpack is on your side too!)

In addition, Clements has taken many career breaks himself. He has even planned career breaks with his whole family, including young kids. He obviously has lived through many of the topics he covers in the book, so it brings some great credibility to his advice.

Escape 101 is broken into three parts:

1. The 4 Secrets for Getting Away From It All (Desire, Belief, Vision, Commitment) which covers many of the mental hurdles that we give ourselves. This section really makes a point of examining our thought processes when making a big change; a change that goes against the societal norm. When we encounter the mental and societal hurdles, our mind will naturally complicate everything and project out to all of the negative things, such as why we can’t do it. By doing this, we’ll never make any change.

Instead, the authors give you suggestions on how ‘not to think’ about the hurdles and not let your mind race too far out in the future to all of the negative things that you can imagine (and will most likely never happen). It helps you keep focus on your goals and the positives. This section was my favorite as I found this to be the single most challenging thing to do when trying to break away from my career.

2. Planning It gives you tips on how to plan your great escape. It covers things like figuring out money, telling/asking your employer about your break, escaping with children, and various pitfalls. It even has an extensive section on how to escape if you own your own business; something that you might think would be impossible, but it isn’t. It really looks at your break as just that – a break. And it assumes that you’ll come back to your career, therefore focusing on how to take a break and not burn bridges.

3. Doing It is about how to get the most out of your escape and come out ahead. It even has a small section on re-entry and explores the benefits of taking your time. This section really applies to any kind of travel, even a two-week vacation!

The book is heavy on understanding and overcoming the mental struggles and anxieties associated with career breaks. But it doesn’t cover things about planning your travel, where to buy tickets, where to go, how to travel, etc. You can find that information here or other travel websites.

Overall the book provides you motivational tools through self-empowerment. I would’ve killed for a book like this four years ago while I was contemplating my career break. I had all of these competing thoughts and I desperately wanted someone to guide me through my doubts and fears; but there was no one or thing that could do that for me, so I trudged through it alone. This is one of the reasons why I wanted to start Briefcase to Backpack; to help other get over the hurdles of making a big change in their life.

If you are even considering a career break or sabbatical for any amount of time, I recommend you purchase the book.

Purchase the eBook – Just $9.95 Click here to view more details

Purchase the Audio Book – Just $14.95 Click here to view more details

It’ll be a great investment in your arsenal of career break weaponry! In addition, you should cruise around Briefcase to Backpack some more and learn how other people escaped!

SUDAN
What is the What
By Dave Eggers

What Is the What is the epic novel based on the life of Valentino Achak Deng who, along with thousands of other children–the so-called Lost Boys–was forced to leave his village in Sudan at the age of seven and trek hundreds of miles by foot, pursued by militias, government bombers, and wild animals, crossing the deserts of three countries to find freedom. When he finally is resettled in the United States, he finds a life full of promise, but also heartache and myriad new challenges. Moving, suspenseful, and unexpectedly funny, What Is the What is an astonishing novel that illuminates the lives of millions through one extraordinary man.

KENYA
Out of Africa
By Isak Dinesen

In this book, Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen) gives a true account of her life on her plantation in Kenya. She tells with classic simplicity of the ways of the country and the natives: of the beauty of the Ngong Hills and coffee trees in blossom: of her guests, from the Prince of Wales to Knudsen, the old charcoal burner, who visited her: of primitive festivals: of big game that were her near neighbors–lions, rhinos, elephants, zebras, buffaloes–and of Lulu, the little gazelle who came to live with her, unbelievably ladylike and beautiful.

Peter Beard (Photofile)
By Christian Caujolle

Fascinated by Africa and the writings of Karen Blixen, Peter Beard (b. 1938) was twenty-four years old when he moved to Kenya, where he built up an exceptional body of work. His images of wild animals such as crocodiles and elephants, and of the land in all its purity and its wildness, are a huge collage of his experiences. This book features mainly photos from Africa, together with pages from his photographic journals.

(Editorial Note: Peter Beard is among one of my favorite photographers and has been a great inspiration in my life. Visit his website to learn more about him – Peter Beard)

SOUTH AFRICA
The Bang-Bang Club: Snapshots from a Hidden War
By Greg Marinovich and Joao Silva

This powerful account intertwines the personal and professional lives of four journalists, known as the Bang Bang Club, who helped bring the struggle for the end of apartheid in South Africa and other conflicts into the worldview. Two members of the “club” survived to tell their story here, while the other two tragically died: Greg Oosterbroek was fatally shot while covering a firefight, and Kevin Carter, who won a Pulitzer for his photograph of a vulture stalking a starving child in the Sudan, committed suicide. Since then, many have questioned the ethics of taking such a picture, and Carter’s own responses changed over time. In this highly readable account, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Marinovich, who narrates the stories, and Silva, whose voice is represented in the third person, openly discuss this and other topics concerning the morality of journalism. The book’s 40 photographs offer stark illustrations of the issues, especially the question of the responsibility of the journalist to intervene in order to help rather than merely to profit. An introduction by Desmond Tutu frames the book, putting it in the context of South African history.

(Editorial Note: I had the opportunity to meet Greg Marinovich in South Africa and was truly impressed with how he has been able to use his talents and guts to tell the stories of those who didn’t have a voice.)

What are some books that have inspired you?

So with summer reading lists being so popular, we decided to have our own. Here are some memoirs based in Asia that have inspired, enlightened, and opened us up to new worlds. We hope they do the same for you. (Note: These aren’t our reviews but descriptions of the books. Because they are listed means that we enjoyed them!)

CAMBODIA
The Road of Lost Innocence – The True Story of a Cambodia Heroine
A memoir by Somaly Mam

A riveting and beautiful memoir of tragedy and hope–by a woman named to Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Born in a village deep in the Cambodian forest, Somaly Mam was sold into sexual slavery by her grandfather when she was twelve years old. For the next decade she was shuttled through the brothels that make up the sprawling sex trade of Southeast Asia. She suffered unspeakable acts of brutality and witnessed horrors that would haunt her for the rest of her life – until, in her early twenties, she managed to escape. Unable to forget the girls she left behind, Mam became a tenacious and brave leader in the fight against human trafficking, rescuing sex workers–some as young as five and six–offering them shelter, rehabilitation, healing, and love and leading them into new life.

Written in exquisite, spare, unflinching prose, The Road of Lost Innocence is a memoir that will leave you awestruck by the courage and strength of this extraordinary woman and will renew your faith in the power of an individual to bring about change.

CHINA
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China
A memoir by Jung Chang

Blending the intimacy of memoir and the panoramic sweep of eyewitness history, Wild Swans has become a bestselling classic in thirty languages, with more than ten million copies sold. The story of three generations in twentieth-century China, it is an engrossing record of Mao’s impact on China, an unusual window on the female experience in the modern world, and an inspiring tale of courage and love.

Jung Chang describes the life of her grandmother, a warlord’s concubine; her mother’s struggles as a young idealistic Communist; and her parents’ experience as members of the Communist elite and their ordeal during the Cultural Revolution. Chang was a Red Guard briefly at the age of fourteen, then worked as a peasant, a “barefoot doctor,” a steelworker, and an electrician. As the story of each generation unfolds, Chang captures in gripping, moving — and ultimately uplifting — detail the cycles of violent drama visited on her own family and millions of others caught in the whirlwind of history.

INDIA
Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure
A memoir by Sarah Macdonald

In her twenties, journalist Sarah Macdonald backpacked around India and came away with a lasting impression of heat, pollution and poverty. So when an airport beggar read her palm and told her she would return to India—and for love—she screamed, “Never!” and gave the country, and him, the finger.

But eleven years later, the prophecy comes true. When the love of Sarah’s life is posted to India, she quits her dream job to move to the most polluted city on earth, New Delhi. For Sarah this seems like the ultimate sacrifice for love, and it almost kills her, literally. Just settled, she falls dangerously ill with double pneumonia, an experience that compels her to face some serious questions about her own fragile mortality and inner spiritual void. “I must find peace in the only place possible in India,” she concludes. “Within.” Thus begins her journey of discovery through India in search of the meaning of life and death.

Holy Cow is Macdonald’s often hilarious chronicle of her adventures in a land of chaos and contradiction, of encounters with Hinduism, Islam and Jainism, Sufis, Sikhs, Parsis and Christians and a kaleidoscope of yogis, swamis and Bollywood stars. From spiritual retreats and crumbling nirvanas to war zones and New Delhi nightclubs, it is a journey that only a woman on a mission to save her soul, her love life—and her sanity—can survive.

NEPAL
Touching My Father’s Soul: A Sherpa’s Journey to the Top of Everest
A memoir by Jamling Tenzing Norgay

In a story of Everest unlike any told before, Jamling Tenzing Norgay gives us an insider’s view of the Sherpa world. As Climbing Leader of the famed 1996 Everest IMAX expedition led by David Breashears, Jamling Norgay was able to follow in the footsteps of his legendary mountaineer father, Tenzing Norgay, who with Sir Edmund Hillary was the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest, in 1953. Jamling Norgay interweaves the story of his own ascent during the infamous May 1996 Mount Everest disaster with little-known stories from his father’s historic climb and the spiritual life of the Sherpas, revealing a fascinating and profound world that few — even many who have made it to the top — have ever seen.

VIETNAM
The Girl in the Picture: The Story of Kim Phuc, the Photograph, and the Vietnam War
A Biography by Denise Chong

On June 8, 1972, nine-year-old Kim Phuc, severely burned by napalm, ran from her blazing village in South Vietnam and into the eye of history. Her photograph-one of the most unforgettable images of the twentieth century-was seen around the world and helped turn public opinion against the Vietnam War.

This book is the story of how that photograph came to be-and the story of what happened to that girl after the camera shutter closed. Award-winning biographer Denise Chong’s portrait of Kim Phuc-who eventually defected to Canada and is now a UNESCO spokesperson-is a rare look at the Vietnam War from the Vietnamese point-of-view and one of the only books to describe everyday life in the wake of this war and to probe its lingering effects on all its participants.

What are some books that have inspired you?

After a failed climb of K2 in Pakistan, Greg Mortenson set out on a mission of another kind – one that required an immense amount of perseverance and passion beyond K2. This is the true story of Greg Mortenson’s journey to “promote peace one school at a time”. I thought that I would like this story – it has all of my favorite elements – non-fiction, global travel, athleticism/drive, and giving back; yet I not only liked it, I loved it. I can say that it is my favorite book I’ve ever read. Finally – I have an answer for stupid online dating questionnaires…”What’s your favorite book?”

After his failed attempt on K2, Greg wandered into an impoverished Pakistan village, Korphe. He was lost and disoriented but was moved by the kindness of the people who took care of him. Korphe was a hearty village – it had to be to survive in the barren mountains, high altitude, and harsh winters. After seeing the village kids had no school – but as an alternative sometimes gathered to draw lessons with a stick in the dirt – he vowed that if the Pakistan government couldn’t provide a school, he would.

One of the things that I loved about Greg was that he was a man of his word – something that I try to live my life by and have the utmost respect for. Greg had no idea how to make the school commitment happen, but he was scrappy and determined. His journey was full of learnings and strife as he came to really understand the Pakistani people in this region, their Muslim religion, their language, their customs, how they did business, and their pace. All countries have a pace – I believe America to be the fastest paced country I’ve ever been in. Pakistan’s pace was SSSLLOOWWW.

His journey turned from one school to many schools, to water supply solutions, to women’s vocational centers, to Afghanistan, and eventually a NGO called Central Asia Institute. His initial contributor to the school was a rich old man that felt America was always pulling for the Buddhists (think Richard Gere) – but no one was trying to help the Muslims. Greg’s journey started years before 9/11 – however the books spans that timeframe and it was fascinating how it evolved from simply a book about an NGO building schools, to a testament on how to fight terrorism through the education of kids. Education of kids in impoverished areas is the key to many issues the world faces today and something I believe strongly in.

This book made the reader really think about religion, morals, empowering women, politics, global travel, and culture. I read the book with a highlighter in hand – marking my favorite passages that moved me.

All I can say is – read the book. I’m not sure that it will be your favorite all-time book, but I think you will enjoy it. The reason why it’s my favorite book is very personal to me. As I read through the pages those old, familiar feelings came back to me, the ones that make me want to drop everything and go back and do volunteer work. As I was reading it, I kept thinking about how purely happy I was when I was teaching the kids in India…I had passion. A passion that made me smile so hard it hurt, and cry so hard that you forget how to breathe. This book reminded me of what I need to do, of what makes me happy – and that is making a difference in the world. This book came at a pivotal time for me in my travels, one where I’m confused about going home, looking into a directionless future…it grounded me again. It provided me a glimpse of what my future could be if I have the perseverance and drive to make it happen.

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