with Cara Lopez Lee, author of They Only Eat Their Husbands, a memoir of adventure in Alaska & around the world
I knew that, even traveling in my own country, I’d encounter people whose worldviews differed from mine. This is one reason I decided to stick to western states on my book tour. Still, venturing outside my comfort zone so close to home has revealed some of the most challenging differences of all, the ones so small you can trip over them before you see them.
Last Tuesday in Anacortes, Washington I was loading laundry into a washer at the home of my friend Heather’s landlady, Robbie. Robbie would be throwing a party for my book reading that night. We’d never met before. “I’ve been moved on this trip by how many people have stepped up to help me,” I told her. “It’s been a little overwhelming. I’m usually very self-sufficient and it’s hard for me to ask for help.”
“Then maybe that’s something you needed to learn on this trip.”
I nodded as this simple insight sank in. “Riiiiiight…” Someone recently told me that helpless people never ask for help - strong people do. Maybe I’m growing stronger.
Heather and her friend Bill took me to lunch at the bowling alley, where I enjoyed some of the best fish and chips I’ve ever eaten.
Later that rainy day Heather and her friend Bill took me to lunch at the bowling alley, where I enjoyed some of the best fish and chips I’ve ever eaten.
On every journey, I pick new things up and leave old things behind: belongings, attitudes, friendships. I love Alaska so much that it wasn’t until after my talk in Bellingham, Washington that I realized something had dislodged inside me on my last visit to the Last Frontier.
I had fun talking with the small but enthusiastic group at Village Books.
I had fun talking with the small but enthusiastic group at Village Books, yet my insides felt chaotic. I wondered why. Part of it was due to something I normally wouldn’t talk about here, but then, I suppose this is the perfect place to talk about it…
