Restless Me - The Journal of World Travel

You likely know Iran as part of the so-called Axis of Evil and perceived hotbed of anti-Americanism. But when
Andrea Fischer -- a single American woman -- traveled there, instead of finding evil-doers, she found a country where people are friendly, culture runs deep and love is everywhere. READ

There is a Restless Me that cries

For chancy risks and changing scene,

For arctic blue and tropic green,

For deserts with their mystic spell,

For lusty fun and raising Hell

-Don Blanding

The Double Life

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For Evan L. Balkan, an Irish beer came to represent the ultimate experience of his youth -- a five-month backpacking journey across Europe. But a decade later, he learned you can't relive the past. READ

Driving in the Third World is always an adventure. But, as Joe Franklin discovered, when you throw in a clunky, 30-year-old bus, the stench of cow tongue, precipitous roadside drop-offs and a driver with a death wish, you have the road trip from Hell. READ

Globe-trotting writer Allison Manning's forthcoming book Nomad in a Slip melds the genres of poetry and prose to create innovative, travel-inspired works that are at times beautiful, and at times haunting. These three works from her collection will stay with you. READ

Fei Ge, Wode Zhen Pengyou

(Flying Pigeon, My True Friend)

His bike may not have had carbon-fiber forks, titanium tubing, or even working brakes. But during a lonely year in Communist China, Stephen Ausherman found freedom on a Flying Pigeon. READ

Susan Smith Thompson reviews two books on exploring Armenia; We check out the Putumayo CD Music from the Chocolate Lands and ponder whether surfer and songwriter Jack Johnson's tunes are travel music. READ

Readers discuss their most memorable travel driving experiences, the art of travel writing, whether to create a Restless Me book club, and this issue's stories. READ

The Feria de Abril kicks off Spring in Seville, Spain; the New Orleans Jazz Fest hosts trillions of music acts; the Essaouira Gnawa and World Music Festival kicks it in Moracco. READ

Andrea Fischer lives and writes in San Francisco, California. She has written for the Dutch magazine, Milieudefensie, San Francisco City Sports and the San Francisco Chronicle. Her work has also appeared in such literary publications as Devil Blossoms, Black Buzzard Review and Creative Juices.

A fellow "restless" soul, Stephen Ausherman is the author of two award-winning books: Restless Tribes, a collection of travel essays, and Typical Pigs, a novel. Born in China and raised in North Carolina, he now lives in New Mexico. His website is

www.restlesstribes.com.

Allison Manning has traveled the globe for the past three years, stopping along the way to take notes, scuba dive, and engage in the rubbing of cultural elbows on the dusty dance floors of this planet. She currently lives in Brooklyn, taking pictures, scribbling on bare walls, and editing her up and coming book, Nomad in a Slip. She can be reached at

hoojanpanus@aol.com

Spring 2005

Vol. 1 Issue 1

Young girls in Shiraz, Iran.

03.21.05

Welcome to the first issue of Restless Me

When I started this no-budget website of alternative travel writing last fall, I figured I'd receive a handful of stories and have a readership of about 14 (that includes family). Instead, hundreds of stories and queries poured in, and even more e-mails supporting the site's concept. It turns out there actually is a lot of enthusiasm for this kind of travel writing. An even better surprise was the quality of the writers who contacted us. Not only are they passionate about traveling, but they're passionate about -- and skilled at -- crafting stories that convey to readers a sense of place and an appreciation of culture. That mindset is reflected in all of this issue's stories, from the intrepid wanderlust of Andrea Fischer, a lone American woman exploring Iran, to the travel-inspired poetry of Allison Manning. I hope you enjoy this and future issues of Restless Me.

--D.M.

03.08.05

A Talking Tour of Beirut, Lebanon

As the simmering opposition to Syria's 15-year occupation of Lebanon began to boil over, writer Lee Smith was exploring the once war-torn city of Beirut that is now enjoying a rebirth. His story appears in the online magazine Slate.

02.21.05

Restless Me writer's
guidelines updated

Due to the volume of quality submissions to Restless Me, we've had to adjust our writer's guidelines. The most notable change is the response time to queries from two weeks to up to eight weeks. For questions or comments about the changes, drop us an e-mail.

12.06.04

Restless Me adds events section

We've added a page for events and festivals around the globe, just in case you feel you need an excuse to go to Addis Ababa or Rio. We plan to expand the page, so if you know of any events we should add, let us know.

11.29.04

Exploding the writer's block myth

Truck drivers never get "truck driver's block." Firefighters never get "fire-fighter's block." So why should writers get "writer's block?" That's the question tackled by Roy Peter Clark, Senior Scholar at the Poynter Institute, in an article on the institute's website. The institute is a school for journalists, and their website is a great resource for writers. Clark's article, Let It Flow, is Part 32 in his phenomenal series on Fifty Writers' Tools. What do you think: Is writer's block legit? Or is it just a lame excuse for procrastinators? Take up the debate in our forum.

Evan L. Balkan is an alumni of the graduate writing program at Johns Hopkins University. He teaches literature and writing at the Community College of Baltimore County. His book 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Baltimore is forthcoming from the Menasha Ridge Press. He lives in Baltimore with his wife Shelly and newborn daughter Amelia.

Besides braving a chicken bus in Guatemala, writer and traveler Joe Franklin has also performed a back-flip off the second deck of Mama Hahn's party boat in Nha Trang, Vietnam. A story on his adventures with sticky rice will appear in an upcoming issue of Restless Me.