Tales of a Female Nomad by Rita Golden Gelman and Without Reservations by Alice Steinbach

These two books are my favorites, head and shoulders above the others.  I'm grouping them together because of that, and because they have a lot in common.  Both books are written by middle-aged women (Both late 40s/early 50s, I believe) who leave their entire lives behind for new ones traveling. 

Despite all of the similarities between the two women, their styles of travel are incredibly different.  Rita's entire goal is to become a part of the places she visits, and many of her stories come from time spent around fires in various corners of the world, cooking with the women who live there.   Rita's trips to Guatemala, Indonesia, and Borneo are quite different from Alice's travels in Paris, Milan, and Tuscany. 

Copyright 2000-2007.  Photos used in page design are my own unless otherwise noted