PLACES I REMEMBER

A seasoned traveler shares memories of her adventures on seven continents in this memoir.

American travel writer Lane’s first travel overseas was in 1965 for her honeymoon, when she and her then-husband traveled from the United States through Europe. In the ensuing decades, she lived in London, Bangkok, and Manila and began writing for such venues as the New York Times and HuffPost. Her desire to be her definition of a traveler (“tourists do what makes them comfortable. Travelers seek discovery”) took her to more than 100 countries over the course of 50 years. Proceeding alphabetically, beginning with Andorra and ending with Zimbabwe, Lane shares an array of memories tied to specific locales. The author describes being mugged in Barcelona, when she instinctively tried to wrestle her handbag back from her assailant—an unsettling event that was mitigated by an “idyllic” picnic in Andorra the following day. Lane also discusses reviewing hotels in Russia after perestroika and taking a river cruise from St. Petersburg to Moscow. In far-flung Madagascar, she says, she realized her lifelong dream of photographing lemurs in the wild. The author also turns her attention to the United States, celebrating the beauty of Antelope Canyon, Arizona, pondering her most treasured experiences, and listing the five states she has yet to visit. Lane stresses that this isn’t intended as a guidebook but rather a record of how she perceived the world through decades of voyaging. Charming watercolor illustrations by Correll, which are based on Lane’s photographic travel archive, complement her memories.

This is a beautifully balanced memoir that packs a wealth of personal experience into a comparatively short book. Lane captures the atmosphere of each location with swift and evocative precision, as when describing a street in Cairo: “Vendors sell tissue on the dusty streets for drivers who blow their noses and wipe their sweaty faces, then toss the tissues out the windows. The snotty papers swirl like huge snowflakes as cars pass on the hot pavement.” The author also offers laconic yet thoughtful commentary throughout, as when describing the historic Mostar Bridge in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was destroyed then rebuilt following the Croat-Bosniak War in the 1990s: “Time heals. But history warns.” The unconventional but fun A-to-Z format allows the reader to work through it from cover to cover or to dip in at any point for travel inspiration. Readers concerned that this format might make for a fragmented memoir in which they never truly get to know the author need not worry. She avoids dry reportage and offers candid snippets about her personal life and travel partners: “I was traveling for the first time with an elegant man whom I was seriously dating, and I wanted to make a good impression.” Correll’s striking works offer a color palette that leans toward blues and greens, and they make this cleverly conceived and satisfying voyage of escapism all the more vivid.

Lane’s sharply observant yet intimate writing will transport readers to places all over the world.