Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader. We share the first sentence (or so) of the book we are reading, along with our initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.
I AM A NOMAD
For a decade I have lived a long, peripatetic life on the road.
Three thousand nights.
In more than ninety countries. In a thousand different cities. In hundreds of hostels. With countless people. For half a million miles on airplanes, and half a million more (I've added it up) on trains and buses and tuk-tuks and cars and bicycles.
That was my home.
There is also an opening quote in the Introduction which I like a lot:
I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list.
-Susan Sontag
I first found Matt and his fellow digital nomads back when I was contemplating making a change in my own life. I've been reading his blog/website, Nomadic Matt, for several years and I read his first book, "How to Travel the World on $50 a Day". Non-stop travelling sounded so exciting.
My life did change abruptly when I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016 and I never did become a nomad. After my treatments I retired from my online crafts shop, SkyBluePink, and was beginning to travel frequently when the novel coronavirus struck. Now I'm dreaming of travelling again someday and looking for inspiration to keep my spirits up. So I think I will enjoy Matt's newest memoir of being on the road for 10 years.
What an inspiration! I love that opening line too. I hope you do get to travel again. In the meantime, enjoy the living vicariously through Matthew Kepnes.
ReplyDeleteI am enjoying the book, and it confirms my decision NOT to become a nomad. LOL! Too much partying all night, with the attendant hangovers, and spending most of the time with other travellers, not the locals. But it's fun to read about and he does have travel information, too.
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