With charm, inspiration, and plenty of whimsy, Taylor reminds us that even in a weary world, it’s possible to celebrate the beauty in each person’s unique story—and make a difference that goes deeper than you’ll ever know.

Flight attendant Taylor Tippett had just finished beverage service and was sitting in the back of a Boeing 737 when she had a revelation: How can I show kindness to these passengers if I can’t show it to myself? She grabbed a tiny notepad and a Sharpie and wrote: “Be kind to yourself.” Before she had time to think about it, Taylor taped the note to a window, posted a picture, and then left the slip of paper in a seat-back pocket for someone on the next flight to find. And soon what started as a personal project to encourage herself and others became a viral sensation.

In Words from the Window Seat, Taylor shares stories of her travels, daily life, and interactions with people of all kinds, anchoring each chapter around a note she’s left for a stranger to find.

As she takes you from Chicago to Paris to Barcelona on planes, trains, and even a skateboard, you’ll:

• learn how to embody love in the midst of someone else’s ordinary day through little acts of kindness;
• discover the small moments of magic that happen when you have the courage to find them; and
• find ways to embrace your authentic self, even though life can be hard.

Five continents. Ten countries. Twenty Natural World Heritage sites in five years. In the Name of Wild is the story of what happened when one family set out to learn what wildness means to people around the world. What draws us to seek out wild places? Do they mean the same to everyone? Part travelogue, part ethnography, this book takes us on a journey into the lives of the people who call places such as Tasmania, Patagonia, and Iceland home. They reveal that wildness isn't about the absence of people. It's about connections, kinship, and coexistence with the land.

'A volume in which rich and unexpected seams of precious materials await discovery' Guardian Three hundred years of wanderlust are captured in this collection as women travel for peril or pleasure, whether to gaze into Persian gardens or imbibe the French countryside, to challenge the fierce Sahara or climb an impossible mountain. The extraordinary women in this collection are observers of the world in which they wander; their prose rich in description, remarkable in detail. Mary McCarthy conveys the vitality of Florence while Willa Cather's essay on Lavandou foreshadows her descriptions of the French countryside in later novels. Others are more active participants in the culture they are visiting, such as Leila Philip, as she harvests rice with Japanese women. Whether it is curiosity about the world, a thirst for adventure or escape from personal tragedy, all of these women are united in that they approached their journeys with wit, intelligence, compassion and empathy for the lives of those they encountered along the way. Also includes writing by Willa Cather, Joan Didion, Vita Sackville-West, M. F. K Fisher, Christina Dodwell and more.

The Sierra Madre - no other mountain range in the world possesses such a ring of intrigue. In the Sierra Madre is a groundbreaking and extraordinary memoir that chronicles the astonishing history of the one of the most famous, yet unknown regions in the world. Based on his one-year sojourn among the Raramuri/Tarahumara, award-winning journalist Jeff Biggers offers a rare look into the ways of the most resilient indigenous culture in the Americas, the exploits of Mexican mountaineers, and the fascinating parade of argonauts and accidental travellers that has journeyed into the Sierra Madre over centuries. From African explorers, Bohemian friars, Confederate and Irish war deserters, French poets, Boer and Russian commandos, Apache and Mennonite communities, bewildered archaeologists, addled writers, and legendary characters including Antonin Artaud, B. Traven, Sergei Eisenstein, George Patton, Geronimo and Pancho Villa, Biggers uncovers the remarkable treasures of the Sierra Madre.

From Jeffrey Gettleman, a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist, comes a passionate, revealing story about finding love and finding a calling, set against one of the most turbulent regions in the world. A seasoned war correspondent, Jeffrey Gettleman has covered every major conflict over the past twenty years, from Afghanistan to Iraq to the Congo. For the past decade, he has served as the East Africa bureau chief for the New York Times, fulfilling a teenage dream. At nineteen, Gettleman fell in love, twice. On a do-it-yourself community service trip in college, he went to East Africa-a terrifying, exciting, dreamlike part of the world in the throes of change that imprinted itself on his imagination and on his heart. But around that same time he also fell in love with a fellow Cornell student-the brightest, classiest, most principled woman he'd ever met. To say they were opposites was an understatement. She became a criminal lawyer in America; he hungered to return to Africa. For the next decade he would be torn between these two abiding passions. A sensually rendered coming-of-age story in the tradition of Barbarian Days, Love, Africa is a tale of passion, violence, far-flung adventure, tortuous long-distance relationships, screwing up, forgiveness, parenthood, and happiness that explores the power of finding yourself in the most unexpected of places.

In 1987 Michael Harrold went to North Korea to work as English language adviser on translations of the speeches of the late President Kim Il Sung (the Great Leader) and his son and heir Kim Jong Il (then Dear Leader and now head of state). For seven years he lived in Pyongyang enjoying privileged access to the ruling classes and enjoying the confidence of the country's young elite. In this fascinating insight into the culture of North Korea he describes the hospitality of his hosts, how they were shaken by the Velvet Revolution of 1989 and many of the fascinating characters he met from South Korean and American GI defectors to his Korean minder and socialite friends. After seven years and having been caught passing South Korean music tapes to friends and going out without his minder to places forbidden to foreigners, he was asked to leave the country.

His life was a shambles, he felt exhausted by work, his marriage was foundering. So he prepared a backpack, found a walking staff and departed on a 30-day, 500-mile journey along the Camino de Santiago, the route across northern Spain that has been followed by pilgrims for at least a thousand years. He knew what he was fleeing from, not what he was seeking. The Camino would teach him that and many other things. Walking by day, he slept in pilgrims' hospices at night, in boarding houses, in abandoned schools and churches or under the stars. As he moved forward in space, he seemed to be going backwards into time. He went through country where villages and people have barely changed since the Middle Ages, landscapes that James Michener has called the best in Spain and some of the finest in the world. Although he began his trip alone, Edward F. Stanton soon discovered that pilgrimage means fellowship as well as solitude: his journey coincided with the modern revival of the Camino de Santiago. Along the way he met a Spanish astrologer who taught him to find his own rhythm in walking, the abbess of a convent who offered him sage advice for the road, a pair of French women in search of a new life, peasants and shepherds with the knowledge of centuries. Road of Stars to Santiago is a beautifully written story that blends personal experience with folklore, legend, the wisdom of old chronicles and canny observations of life in modern Spain. It is at once a travel memoir, a picaresque adventure, a modern quest, a rite of passage and initiation into what has been called "the premier cultural route of Europe".

‘My idea of tackling one of the world’s most appalling maritime challenges is being able to stand up on a lilo.’

In 1856, the swashbuckling aristocrat Lord Dufferin sailed to Iceland and the Arctic Circle, an adventure that became a bestselling travelogue. A century and a half later, soft suburbanite Tim Moore tried to recreate the celebrated journey with a similar degree of pluck, dignity, and stiff upper lip.

Whilst Dufferin’s battle with icebergs and the elements is a tale of derring-do, Moore’s struggle against seasickness, a clan of Brummie Vikings and terrifying hallucinations involving Clive James is all too plainly one of derring-don’t. As Moore says, ‘Dufferin seems the personification of Kipling’s 'If'. I’m more of a 'But…' man myself.’
 

Hay-on-Wye is world famous as the Town of Books. But when travel writer Oliver Balch moved there, it was not just the books he was keen to read, but the people too. After living in London and Buenos Aires, what will he make of this tiny, quirky town on the Welsh-English border? To help guide him, he turns to Francis Kilvert, a Victorian diarist who captured the bucolic rural life of his day. Does anything of Kilvert's world still exists? And could a newcomer ever feel they truly belong? With empathy and humour, Balch joins in the daily routines and lives of his fellow residents. What emerges is a captivating, personal picture of country life in the 21st century. Some things haven't altered for centuries, while others are changing at an alarming pace. Written with his trademark vivid, reportage style, Balch's journey sees him meet with a king and his courtiers, publicans, hippies, mayors, old widows and young farmers. In an increasingly mobile, urban world, Under the Tump is a timely, honest account of Balch's attempt to put down roots in a community not yet his own.

'An exhilarating story of freedom and constraint, told with a confident and unwavering verve. This is a journey driven by boundless curiosity, and by the desire for connection - across borders, across languages, across time' MALACHY TALLACK When Esa Aldegheri and her husband left their home in Orkney, Esa didn't know that their eighteen-month motorbike adventure would take them through twenty international frontiers - between Europe and the Middle East, through Pakistan, China and India - many of which are now impassable. Charting a story of shrinking and expanding liberties and horizons, of motherhood, womanhood, xenophobia and changing geopolitical situations, Free to Go examines the challenges of navigating a world where many assume that women ride pillion, both on a motorbike and within relationships. Part around-the-world adventure, part-literary exploration of womanhood, Free to Go is about the journeys that shape and transform us.

In 1966 Dervla Murphy travelled the length and breadth of Ethopia, first on a mule, Jock, whom she named after her publisher, and later on a recalcitrant donkey. The remarkable achievement was not surviving three armed robberies or the thousand-mile trail, but the gradual growth of affection for and understanding of another race.

Two middle-aged ladies, one Penelope Chetworth, the other her 12-year old mare La Marquesa, explored the high sierra north of Granada in 1961. Together the travellers brought out the best in their Spanish hosts and Chetwode's compelling account - warm, witty and candid - is informed by her infectious personal fascination for horses, religion and Spain.

The story of two brothers deeply bound by love and tragedy and an extraordinary chronicle of a life-affirming trip In January 2003 Nicholas Sparks and his brother Micah set off on a three-week trip around the world. An adventure by any measure, this trip was especially meaningful as it marked another milestone in the life journey of two brothers who, by their early thirties, were the only surviving members of their family. As Nicholas and Micah travel the globe, from the Taj Mahal to Machu Picchu, the story of their family slowly unfolds. Just before Nicholas' marriage he and Micah lost their mother in a horseriding accident; a week short of Nicholas' triumphant debut as a novelist with THE NOTEBOOK, the brothers lost their father to a car crash, and just a few short years later they were forced to say goodbye to their sister who died of brain cancer at the young age of 36. Against the backdrop of the main wonders of the world the brothers come together to heal the wounds of this tragic legacy and maintain their determination to live life to its fullest.

Riding tubes in Venezuela. BASE jumping in Europe. Climbing big walls in Yosemite. Riding bulls in Texas. These first-person stories from acclaimed climber and adventurer John Long may be vastly different in content, but they share an identifiable emotional texture, tone and delivery, and fundamentally are of one piece. This is storytelling at its best-nonfiction that reads like fiction. In Stories from the Dirt, the action leaves you breathless, but it's the characters that really leave a lasting mark. Like all stories worth a damn, this collection is all about the people.

In Climbing Days, Dan Richards is on the trail of his great-great-aunt, Dorothy Pilley, a prominent and pioneering mountaineer of the early twentieth century. For years, Dorothy and her husband, I. A. Richards, remained a mystery to Dan, but the chance discovery of her 1935 memoir leads him on a journey. Perhaps, in the mountains, he can meet them halfway? Climbing Days is a beautiful portrait of a trailblazing woman, previously lost to history, but also a book about that eternal question: why do people climb mountains?

'Slowly Down the Ganges' is seen as a vintage Newby masterpiece, alongside 'A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush' and 'Love and War in the Apennines'. Told with Newby's self-deprecating humour and wry attention to detail, this is a classic of the genre and a window into an enchanting piece of history. On his forty-forth birthday, Eric Newby sets out on an incredible journey: to travel the 1,200-mile length of India's holy river. In a misguided attempt to keep him out of trouble, Wanda, his life-long travel companion and wife, is to be his fellow boatwoman. Their plan is to begin in the great plain of Hardwar and finish in the Bay of Bengal, but the journey almost immediately becomes markedly slower and more treacherous than either had imagined - running aground sixty-three times in the first six days. Travelling in a variety of unstable boats, as well as by rail, bus and bullock cart, and resting at sandbanks and remote villages, the Newbys encounter engaging characters and glorious mishaps, including the non-existence of large-scale maps of the country, a realisation that questions of pure 'logic' cause grave offense and, on one occasion, the only person in sight for miles is an old man who is himself unsure where he is. Newby's only consolation: on a river, if you go downstream, you're sure to end up somewhere...

Between Germany and Russia is a region strewn with monuments to the horrors of war, genocide and disaster - the bloodlands where the murderous regimes of Hitler and Stalin unleashed the violence that scarred the twentieth century and shaped so much of the world we know today. In September 2016 the German-Iranian writer Navid Kermani set out to discover this land and to travel along the trenches that are now re-emerging in Europe, from his home in Cologne through eastern Germany to the Baltics, and from there south to the Caucasus and to Isfahan in Iran, the home of his parents. This beautifully written travel diary, enlivened by conversations with the people Kermani meets along the way, brings to life the tragic history of these troubled lands and shows how this history leaves its traces in the present. It will be of great interest to anyone concerned with current affairs and with the events that have shaped, and continue to shape, the world in which we live today.

'Equal parts an inspiring account of Reeve's determination and adventurous spirit, as well as a field guide to some of the most remote parts of the world, Step by Step is a vivid and fascinating title. Readers may be surprised to learn of his early life struggles with mental health, owing to his onscreen persona, but this traces his journey to inner peace.' Independent 'Incredibly honest... one of the best autobiographies I've ever read.' The Sun - best books of 2019 Shortlisted for the 2019 Edward Stanford Travel Memoir of the Year Award 'His story reads like a fast-paced thriller.' Daily Mail 'My goodness, it is brilliant. Searingly honest, warm, bursting with humanity. Such brave and inspiring writing.' Kate Humble '[Simon] begins to fill in the gaps in his life story that until recently he has never publicly revealed.' Telegraph PRAISE FOR SIMON REEVE 'TV's most interesting globetrotter' Independent 'The craziest (or bravest) man on TV' Mail on Sunday 'Like all the best travellers, Reeve carries out his investigations with infectious relish, and in the realisation that trying to understand the country you're in is not just fascinating, but also hugely enjoyable' Daily Telegraph 'Simon might just be the best tour guide in the world' The Sun * * * * * * * * * In TV adventurer Simon Reeve's bestselling memoir he describes how he has journeyed across epic landscapes, dodged bullets on frontlines, walked through minefields and been detained for spying by the KGB. His travels have taken him across jungles, deserts, mountains and oceans, and to some of the most beautiful, dangerous and remote regions of the world. In this revelatory account of his life Simon gives the full story behind some of his favourite expeditions, and traces his own inspiring personal journey back to leaving school without qualifications, teetering on a bridge, and then overcoming his challenges by climbing to a 'Lost Valley' and changing his life ... step by step.

When thinking of intrepid travelers from past centuries, we don't usually put Muslim women at the top of the list. And yet, the stunning firsthand accounts in this collection completely upend preconceived notions of who was exploring the world. Editors Siobhan Lambert-Hurley, Daniel Majchrowicz, and Sunil Sharma recover, translate, annotate, and provide historical and cultural context for the 17th- to 20th-century writings of Muslim women travelers in ten different languages. Queens and captives, pilgrims and provocateurs, these women are diverse. Their connection to Islam is wide-ranging as well, from the devout to those who distanced themselves from religion. What unites these adventurers is a concern for other women they encounter, their willingness to record their experiences, and the constant thoughts they cast homeward even as they traveled a world that was not always prepared to welcome them. Perfect for readers interested in gender, Islam, travel writing, and global history, Three Centuries of Travel Writing by Muslim Women provides invaluable insight into how these daring women experienced the world—in their own voices.

MEXICO CITY, with some 20 million inhabitants, is the largest city in the Western Hemisphere. Enormous growth, raging crime, and tumultuous politics have also made it one of the most feared and misunderstood. Yet in the past decade, the city has become a hot spot for international business, fashion, and art, and a magnet for thrill-seeking expats from around the world.
In 2002, Daniel Hernandez traveled to Mexico City, searching for his cultural roots. He encountered a city both chaotic and intoxicating, both underdeveloped and hypermodern. In 2007, after quitting a job, he moved back. With vivid, intimate storytelling, Hernandez visits slums populated by ex-punks; glittering, drug-fueled fashion parties; and pseudo-native rituals catering to new-age Mexicans. He takes readers into the world of youth subcultures, in a city where punk and emo stand for a whole way of life--and sometimes lead to rumbles on the streets.
Surrounded by volcanoes, earthquake-prone, and shrouded in smog, the city that Hernandez lovingly chronicles is a place of astounding manifestations of danger, desire, humor, and beauty, a surreal landscape of "cosmic violence." For those who care about one of the most electrifying cities on the planet, ""Down & Delirious in Mexico City "is essential reading" (David Lida, author of "First Stop in the New World").