She starts well-their trip through Turkey is pretty well documented-but then Harris seems to have tired of taking notes. Harris does describe an almost year-long cycle trek from Turkey to Nepal and India, but her account unfortunately leaves us little wiser about conditions along her route today. Passing through some of the planet’s least-forgiving territory, though not without instances of heartwarming generosity from strangers she encounters, Harris pursues wildness rather than wilderness. Beyond her authoritative ability to incorporate lessons historical and scientific into her narrative, Harris has a knack for lovely turns of phrase and crafting memorable images out of small details.
The narrative is peppered with explorers, poets, artists, and scientists.
Harris.superimposes the books she read and loved onto the landscape she witnesses-and is one of the most compelling things about her style. While much of Harris’ motivation for going somewhere new to expand consciousness and increase a sense of connection to the world-is common in the genre, her work belongs to the subset of writers who go beyond leisure traveler into something more like explorer (an anachronistic profession she longs to join), largely by virtue of the effort it takes to propel herself down this road less traveled, a trek riddled with challenges logistical, physical, and bureaucratic.
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