Home on the Road: Further Dispatches from the Ends of the Earth
Apparently we have the Shakers to thank for the clothespin. Also, sheep have the annoying habit of gnawing away at Scotland s highlands. These are a couple of the tidbits you ll pick up in Minnesota Book Award nominee Home on the Road, Catherine Watson s second collection of travel essays.Don t worry, Watson formerly a travel writer for the Star Tribune doesn t bore us to death with historical trivia from far-off places. There is a fair amount of that, but Watson seasons her facts with a healthy dose of personal perspective. She seems to be a globetrotter who has to travel because, well, it is in her blood.If you have traveled as widely as Watson has, you too have witnessed and reflected on pressing geopolitical issues of our time. Watson laments the environmental impact of overfishing off the coast of Tunisia, comments on the ugly American stereotype, and explains her indifference to the perpetual orange alert of post-9/11 travel. Through her anecdotes, whether they are about Easter Island or Minneapolis, she reflects thoughtfully on history and current political trends.Not every essay tackles such weighty issues some pieces tend more towards the jocular than the preachy. Watson s description of various shower styles across the globe, among them the bait and switch shower, is sure to elicit a chuckle.Home on the Road includes more than a touch of personal memoir. Watson takes us to Death Valley, where her parents dragged her just to see if it was as hot as its reputation suggests. (It was, Watson assures us.) She remembers disastrous family camping trips, which prompt her to ask the eternal travel question: To plan, or not to plan? In one essay she takes us to her unlikely hometown, Fort Snelling, and then to Germany, where she spent a year as a high school exchange student. Here Watson explores the intersection of time and space in an unapologetic bout of nostalgia.A few of the essays could have been left out. For example, an anecdote about a scorpion in a Costa Rican hotel is amusing, but detracts from the overall collection. The real charm of the book lies in the essays that bring us to a closer understanding of what makes Watson more at home on the road than anywhere else.Ultimately, Home on the Road reflects a thoughtful travel career that makes you think, I wish I had that life! If you dont, at least you can read about it. --Lisa Peterson-de la Cueva, educator freelance writer, intern at TC Daily PlanetThese essays are literature, little windows into the mystery of how human beings live on this planet. --Bill Holm, author, The Heart Can Be Filled Anywhere on EarthCatherine Watson's Home on the Road is made up of a series of vignettes, most of which contain fascinating historical and cultural background about the places she visits. This makes for travel writing that is more than travel writing--she delves into each place she tours in depth. In a section on Tibet, Watson mentions that over a million Tibetans died because of the Chinese occupation--were either killed during the fighting, or later, from executions, suicide, illness and famine. And, I would add, from heartbreak. The number of functioning monasteries shrank from 6,200 to about 15, Watson said. Watson observes the people of Tibet, and notes their long-lasting reverence for the Dali Lama, who fled with his family years ago when he was 16. She depicts their loss. In each story she tells, Watson manages to come up with vivid details-and they are the right details for the country or culture she is describing. Her account of the Mexican festival of the dead is rendered vividly with all the shocking feelings it would evoke in a Westerner. During this time, Mexicans create skeletons and coffins made of candy, as if, even as children they were being accustomed to the idea of death. She contrasts this with our death-denying culture, where youth is emphasized and our health-care system makes Americans think that every disease-and almost death itself can be treated medically. Watson captures the spirit of the places she visits and relates her personal feelings as she travels. This is unusual travel literature. In just a few pages she can transport the reader to strange, distant lands and make them come alive. Part of the book contains an account of some of the author's childhood, and the story of her experiences on Easter Island, the place she almost stayed.The book will be enjoyed by both travelers and those who can only travel through a book.This is a unique introduction to about 40 well-chosen locales. --Armchair Interviews