29 May 2007

Another One Year Nomadic Lifestyle Experiment

I recently finished Elizabeth Gilbert's book, Eat Pray Love. Then, I gave a copy to three people, so far. It is delightful.

She's in her early 30s, at the end of her marriage. If I'm allowed to quote two paragraphs that I love, they follow:
"So, I stopped trying to choose - Italy? India? or Indonesia? - and eventually just admitted that I wanted to travel to all of them. Four months in each place. A year in total. Of course this was a slightly more ambitious dream than 'I want to buy myself a new pencil box.' But this is what I wanted. And I knew that I wanted to write about it. It wasn't so much that I wanted to thoroughly explore the countries themselves; this has been done. It was more that I wanted to thoroughly explore one aspect of myself set against the backdrop of each country, in a place that has traditionally done that one thing very well. I wanted to explore the art of pleasure in Italy, the art of devotion in India and, in Indonesia, the art of balancing the two. It was only later, after admitting this dream, that I noticed the happy coincidence that all these countries begin with the letter I. A fairly auspicious sign, it seemed, on a voyage of self-discovery.

"Imagine now, if you will, all the opportunities for mockery this idea unleashed in my wise-ass friends. I wanted to go to the Three I's, did I? Then why not spend the year in Iran, Ivory Coast and Iceland? Or even better - why not go on a pilgrimage to the Great Tri-State 'I' Triumvirate of Islip, I-95 and Ikea? My friend Susan suggested that perhaps I should establish a not-for-profit relief organization called "Divorcees Without Borders.'"
pp. 30-31

I'm going to add her to the list.

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