{The Picky Pair's Love of adventure}

{ourviewofBigMountainWhitefish,Montana}

On the Road of Life, everyone has a story to tell. It isn't until someone has the courage to put those experiences down on paper that we can see the humor and the adventure in life. We are all story tellers some of us just have more confidence than others to share our stories with an audience larger than our immediate family and friends.

My picky partner {an English literature major} has great stories of her Montana life. I always enjoy hearing about them, her eyes start to dance as she shares the stunts her younger brothers have tried and the adventure of her parents meeting is quite a romantic one. {another great story still to be written} As I have shared before, one experience my picky partner and I enjoy over and over again is sharing the great find of a good book.

One such book that is full of adventure is Without A Guide, Contemporary Women's Travel Adventures edited by Katherine Govier. The book is a compilation of stories of internationally celebrated women writers sharing the details of their most memorable adventures.

Margaret Atwood, Hanan al-Shaykh, Clare Boylan, Wendy Law-Yone, Susan Musgrave, Katherine Govier, Bapsi Sidhwa, Ann Beattie, Alice Walker, Irene Guilford, Michelene Adams, Kirsti Simonsuuri, Janice Kulyk Keefer, Robyn Davidson, E. Annie Proulx, Carol Shields and Ysenda Maxtone Graham are the authors featured in the book.

{There is bound to be an author featured that you will be drawn to and I recommend you seek out and read one of their books.}

Ann Bancroft writes:

"This is a fresh and exciting collection of essays that will pull you from the armchair into real adventures, awakening the spirit of travel. Beautiful and inspiring , these writings offer a vivid portrait of women's journeys."

Susan Toth, author of My Love Affair With England and England and England As You Like It. writes:

"These travelers' tales read like short, intense works of fiction- short stories artfully constructed from strong characters, who matter fully as much as the settings-except that the reader knows each story is also a true-to-life memoir. I was struck by how these women make me care about them, as well as about their varied and intriguing travels, something I don't always feel about other, more celebrated travel-writers."