Grant Snider, the creator of Incidental Comics, has long displayed this imaginative, somewhat surreal approach to life in his work, which captures both its burdens and its moments of lightness. Now we can all see the world from Grant’s perspective through his first book, The Shape of Ideas.

>>>> Read our review of The Shape of Ideas here.

Grant has been kind enough to share a dash of his philosophy exclusively with 203challenges.com:

Grant Sinder| Photo by Mark Woolcott Photography

Who is Grant Snider and what are his dreams?

I’m a 31-year-old cartoonist, author, and orthodontist. My biggest accomplishments are my three children and my first book, The Shape of Ideas. My dream is to continue pursuing new ideas for the rest of my creative life.

I started Incidental Comics… when I had no idea how to make comics! My artistic abilities have grown and changed with me. It seems like a different person was responsible for my earliest work.

The first of my drawings that I remember… were detailed and imaginative worlds of dinosaurs, aliens, and dragons. I drew in crayon, marker, and pencil on old computer paper – early ’90s computer paper was the best.

Photo courtesy of www.incidentalcomics.com

When I started drawing, I couldn’t even imagine that… it would remain such an integral part of my life. Then again, I could never imagine giving it up.

I consider myself… a failed perfectionist. I keep trying to make something perfect, but I’m always coming up short. This dissatisfaction drives me to continually make new things.

I would never… try to draw while riding a bicycle. Too many things could go wrong.

I would always… bring a pen and sketchbook with me. I might need it at any time.

The creative process is… beautiful, mysterious, frustrating. A locked room where the key is hidden in your mind.

Photo courtesy of www.incidentalcomics.com

Ideas are born… at inopportune times. You have to be ready to catch them.

Asking questions is… something we should all keep doing, even when we know there’s no answer.

My favorite place in the world is… on a blanket under a tree in my backyard, on a spring afternoon when everything is in blossom and the mosquitoes haven’t started biting.

I never travel without… a backpack full of more books than I could possibly read during one trip.

Challenges in life are… a good source of artistic inspiration and wisdom – but only after the fact.

One challenge for anyone who is reading this: Go for a long walk with a pen and a notebook. Don’t take your phone. Don’t take your dog. Find something outside of you or within you to write or draw about. Repeat until it becomes necessary.

Photo courtesy of www.grantsnider.com

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But first things first. Let’s start with John.

– Who is John Meadows, and what are his dreams?

– The last time I was asked about ‘my dreams’, I was at Primary School in the 1950s. I remember writing down two ambitions:

1. One was to travel the world; which I have achieved several times, having been to over 100 countries (so far!)

2. The other was that I would like to play for England at ‘some’ sport. I have also achieved this, having played in a University Rugby League International for England against France in the 1970s.

I am a retired art teacher who was bitten by the travel bug at an early age: I think it was listening to my Dad’s stories of his time in the Royal Navy in the 1940s when he was stationed in India and Ceylon. I am a graduate of Leeds University, I qualified as a teacher at Reading University and I have a Master’s Degree from Manchester University. I have been married to Norma for 44 years, after meeting in 1967 at the age of 18. 1967 isn’t known as ‘The Summer of Love’ for nothing! Sgt Pepper, Flower Power, Whiter Shade of Pale, Jimi Hendrix etc… the best era to be a teenager. At my age I am lucky enough to have achieved most of my dreams, but there’s always room for more. My love of travel, art, cinema, theatre, music and sport has kept me active, and hopefully young at heart, and my dream is to maintain a high level of fitness and health; physically and mentally. I enjoy singing and playing guitar.

Since retiring at the age of 60, I have had three books published:

“You Did Say Have Another Sausage?”… “Ten Camels for My Wife”… “Sir, Where’s ’ Toilet?”

They are collections of anecdotal, light-hearted true stories, mainly to do with travel, but also many other adventures. I hope to continue with further adventures. Also, I work as a professional artist and I have had my work displayed in major exhibitions. I receive many commissions, including sports clubs. I have continued to travel extensively, and my wife and I hiked the Inca Trail in Peru up to Machu Picchu, a few years ago. We sold our house at the end of 2016 and down-sized drastically; to a motorhome. We now divide our time between our apartment in Spain and touring the UK and Europe for the next couple of years. We will be setting off from Spain in April to tour Scotland and Ireland.

Ugly faces at Angkor Wat

– Can you tell us a story that is a living example of you on the road?

– In the 1970s, Norma and I resigned from our jobs, sold our worldly possessions and set off to travel round the world: The Magic Bus to Kathmandu through Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Kashmir. Then on to the Far East, Australia, New Zealand, South Pacific and South America. All the stories from this trip are told in my second book, ‘Ten Camels for My Wife’.

Many of our fellow travellers became good friends. There was a broad demograph of personalities and ages. Many were Australian or New Zealanders returning home after spending time in Europe for a variety of reasons. We met doctors, nurses, teachers, insurance executives, and some hippies.

Being an artist, I always carried basic drawing and painting materials, and this aspect of my travels has led to some interesting encounters on the road…

In Jerusalem, we had arranged to meet some of our friends at a well-known restaurant called ‘Uncle Moustaches’, just inside Herod’s Gate. It was late afternoon and the restaurant was already quite full.

“We have ordered a traditional Israeli dish of chicken, rice and soup for all of us,” said Barry greeting us cheerfully, “It’s called ‘falafel’.”

The restaurant was plainly furnished and generated a friendly atmosphere. We noticed that the walls were covered with numerous drawings, many of them cartoons of figures which we recognised as members of staff. Notably amongst them were images of a gregarious character proudly sporting an outrageous moustache, obviously the eponymous Uncle Moustache himself. Without warning, Colin went over to a waiter and arranged for a piece of paper and pen to be delivered to our table as he volunteered me to do a drawing. The waiter duly obliged and immediately adopted a pose as if it was second nature or part of his job. I accepted the challenge and after a few minutes a small crowd of diners from other tables came over to watch. Just as I finished the drawing to a gratefully-received small ripple of applause, a large jovial gentleman, dressed in an all-white chef’s uniform together with a cartoon-like hat, came over. The moustache was a give-away. It was large, black and luxuriant, fashioned in a handle-bar style which would have been the envy of any World War II R.A.F. pilot. It curled up slightly at the ends and, together with his dark, twinkling eyes, gave the impression that Uncle Moustache wore a permanent smile. He cleared a space on our white table cloth by moving our dishes to one side with a sweep of his arm. He handed me a large black felt-tipped pen and then stood back proudly with his chest out, legs apart and hands on hips; the kind of stance Henry VIII favoured when posing for Hans Holbein. He grinned warmly and gestured with both hands towards his face and then pointed at the white table cloth. I regarded it as a great compliment that the owner of the restaurant should request a total stranger to draw on his table cloth. The crowd of onlookers remained in place and were joined by some of the waiters as I sat looking apprehensively at the daunting virgin canvas in front of me.

“Make it a good one,” whispered Norma encouragingly. No pressure there. Fortunately, my drawing started to turn out well, and after about five minutes, drinks for our party were delivered to our table. Being on a tight budget we protested that we hadn’t ordered further drinks only to be reassured that they were on the house.

“Stretch it out as long as you can,” whispered Colin mischievously as he took a sip of beer.

Uncle Moustache appeared delighted with the finished portrait and he insisted that I sign and date it, which I was happy to do. He then cut out the centre of the table cloth and pinned it up on his wall. I felt relieved that I had passed my test and as we sat down at our table further plates of food were served. Again, on the house.

“From now until Kathmandu,” announced Barry raising his glass “I am going with you to every restaurant. I will save a fortune!”

Portrait drawn by me of a local trader on the road.

– What is the one thing that you never travel without and why?

– That’s easy: My wife Norma, she keeps me on the straight and narrow. After 50 years and over 100 countries together it would be like travelling without a shadow.

Seriously: books, portable art materials and music.

– What is your recipe for keeping it light when you encounter difficulties on the road?

– Humour and a friendly demeanour often works wonders. For example, I organised a tour to Russia and I had to leave my group in Red Square to go to a nearby office for some documentation. When I returned, a barrier had been erected and was manned by two armed soldiers. I tried to explain that the rest of my party were inside the square waiting to visit Lenin’s tomb and the Kremlin. They weren’t prepared to budge, and that’s when I found out that everything in Russian ends in ‘off’.

An American approached me and asked if he could be of assistance. He was accompanied by his Finnish girlfriend, who spoke Russian. So I explained my predicament to him in English; he related it to his girlfriend in Finnish and she spoke to the soldiers in Russian. As the conversation passed back and forth along the line, a small crowd gathered. Two painters on scaffolding even put down their brushes to watch the drama unfolding below. This seemed to go on for ages, as I kept looking frantically at my watch. One particularly long question from the Russians seemed to take even longer in Finnish and then in English. I couldn’t resist; I asked, ‘Could you repeat the question please?’ The American laughed, then his Finnish girlfriend and then sections of the gathered crowd. The Russians kept a straight face, then smiled and raised the barrier. I even received a slight ripple of applause and a thumbs-up from the painters. Thank God for humour.

Alms giving in Laos.

– How has travelling changed for the last several decades?

– There are two distinct sides to this coin:

In one respect, the world has ‘shrunk’ and long-haul travel is much more accessible to many more people. On the other hand, the increase in terrorism, and unstable flashpoints in various parts of the world means that many countries are virtually impossible to visit.

Great advancement in the airline industry means that it is now commonplace for travellers to go on holidays to countries like Australia, New Zealand, America, China, South Africa. Similarly, with cruises: it is no longer exclusive for the rich and privileged elite as it was in the 1950s and 60s. Nowadays, it is perhaps the fastest-growing holiday sector which enables millions to visit far-flung exotic destinations.

However, the world for more adventurous travellers tends to be closing-up: For example, the ‘Arab Spring’ and subsequent terrorist attacks has resulted in tourism to countries such as Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt being severely affected and consequently decimating the economy. When I travelled overland by bus to Kathmandu, the countries I mentioned in Q2 were beautiful, friendly and rich in cultural heritage. Sadly, this trip would be impossible today.

This brings me neatly to another major change: Technology.

When we were on the road there was no such thing as email, facebook, mobile phones, satnavs, tablets, laptops, twitter, or internet.

Our only line of communication were postcards or air-mail letters. Before we left England, we gave family and friends approximate dates of when we would be in a particular town. It was exciting to go into the main post office of say, Damascus, Baghdad, Kabul or Delhi to see if there were any letters waiting for us. Also, Internet banking was unheard of; it was either cash or travellers’ cheques.

Building the Palace in Mykonos.

– You have travelled to more than a hundred countries. From this point of view, what is a common misconception you see many tourists believe in when they start exploring the world?

– Don’t assume that everyone you encounter speaks English. Avoid the age-old British tradition of speaking in English, and then even louder if you are not understood. Try to learn just a couple of words of the local language, such as ‘please’, ‘thank you’, ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’. It will be welcomed warmly. Since I retired I have learned to speak Spanish, and this has been appreciated many times, not only in Spain but also in Central and South America.

Be friendly and polite if a street trader will not take ‘no’ for an answer. It is their mission in life to sell you something, and after all, they are trying to make a living.

Remember that you are a guest in a foreign country: respect customs, religions and traditions.

If you visit a ‘third world’ country, accept the fact that levels of hygiene, street litter, poverty, sewers, public utilities are not what you will have grown up with.

– What is your next great challenge?

– The only Baltic country I haven’t visited is Lithuania. I am planning to travel by train from the capital Vilnius to Moldova, Belarus and Ukraine. Countries rich in architectural detail, cultural heritage, fairy-tale cobbled city centres, and, I hope, excellent beer.

All photos courtesy of John Meadows.

The post Inspiring travel writers: John Meadows’s adventures around the world appeared first on 203Challenges.

>>> Our interview with Christopher H. Warren is here. 

***

One summer I exhibited a room of my home. For ten days in August a few artisans and many merchants set up their wares along a route that passes through the old town. Incongruously, most of the objects came from or seemed to be inspired by far-flung places like Central America, Thailand, and India. On occasional evenings musicians invited by the organizers sang pop songs in English.

At the time, I was completing decorative touches on what is now the living room. Using hand-colored lime, I painted the walls a light pastel yellow, and the fifteenth-century wooden ceiling a light blue. Two thin dark lines mark the change from yellow to blue at the top of the walls, with a broad dark border at the base. Around the perimeter of the room I mounted photographs showing the ruins of homes from the side of town that was condemned and abandoned in the 1950s. Although dilapidated, the interiors showed how houses were traditionally decorated, and the photographs revealed the inspiration for my painted room.

In the early summer, as I was applying one of the ten coats of lime to walls and ceiling, townspeople would stop in to ask why I was not exposing the wooden ceiling and simply whitewashing the walls—a contemporary trend popularized by city “sophisticates” who had been buying up available habitations to use as weekend retreats. It became apparent that the townspeople, some of whom could well remember their old homes, equated the colorful, decorated interiors with what many of them viewed as their provincial and primitive past.

During the exhibition, I continued to paint the room and was eager to learn people’s impressions of the photographs and the room. I set up a table with glasses and a five-liter bottle of the wine I make in my cantina according to traditional methods. The surprisingly good “American” wine proved to be a successful draw, and the range of thoughts was both amusing and gratifying. One offended sophisticate from Bologna claimed that my painted ceiling was a travesty and, despite my photographic evidence, insisted that I remove the paint and expose the wood. A haughty professoressa from Florence congratulated me on my “post-modern” interior design. I was more interested in what the townspeople thought, and most were very complimentary about the room. This was surprising to me, as these new sentiments were in such contrast to almost everyone’s initial reservations about the work of period restoration I had proposed. Two elderly men testily asked me why I had gone to all the trouble, but after a glass of wine and a brief discussion, I overheard one remark to the other that being in the room made him feel young again.

The previous owner of my apartment, Ernesto Capelli, quickly recognized the only person pictured in the exhibition. Some time before, I was wandering the empty rubble-strewn streets and noticed that a top floor in one of the abandoned buildings had partially collapsed, revealing a room with what appeared to be a small picture frame and clothes hanging on a peg. I got a painting ladder from my home and balanced it on four blocks of tufo to get up to the bare beams of the second floor, where the boards and tiles had fallen through and been removed. Even more precariously, I then carried up other blocks of tufo, placed them on a beam, and put the ladder on top so that I could pull myself up into the room. As I did so, the ladder slipped and clattered all the way down to the ground floor.

The room seemed perfectly preserved from another time, and I immediately decided to reproduce the pale cyan color of the walls in my own home. There was a single bed, a wooden table and chairs, a small corner closet with some personal items, and a few dresses and shawls on hooks. The brass picture frame contained a photo of an elderly woman. I photographed the room, stepping gingerly as the floor was decidedly unsound and a large crack in the wall indicated that the building was soon to follow others that had fallen into the river valley. I then had to figure out a way to get myself back down. No one would have heard my voice if I were to call for help, so I fashioned a hook out of a hanger, tied the old owner’s dresses and shawls together and was able to pull the ladder up, after many tries, from forty feet below. I told the story at one of the bars later in the day, including the detail that I had been tempted to take the lovely frame and picture but had decided to leave it out of respect—and some remorse for having ruined the elderly lady’s garments. One week later I walked by the building again and noticed that the frame was gone. Nevertheless, I had the photo, and it was one of the pictures I included in the exhibition. Ernesto said that the woman was his Aunt Teresa Capelli—sister to his father. I learned later in the town hall that Teresa was born on the March 14, 1888, and died on January 21, 1944. Teresa was a spinster and had no children. Ernesto confirmed that I likely was the first person to go into her room since her death forty-five years before.

As I had hoped, several elderly people were moved to stop by during the exhibition and recall how their lives had changed since they had left the old town. Others were able to identify homes and owners from the photographs of the abandoned shells. I have spent a considerable amount of time wandering the streets of the far side of town and could only imagine the vibrant life that would have animated those streets only fifty years ago. On another occasion, I was surprised when a short old woman with white hair and in her black widow’s dress appeared at my side. To get to where we were, she must have climbed over a fence and picked her way, somewhat perilously, along a path strewn with broken tiles and blocks of tufo. That had been her home, she explained, pointing up at an open stairway filled with rubble. The black hole in front of us was one of Sorano’s four old bakeries. Every week, she went on, her mother would make the dough, stamp it to identify it as their own, and take it to the oven to have it baked, as did the other families. We chatted a little longer, about the relatively poor quality of the bread made by the one baker in town nowadays, and briefly remarked about the lost skills with which every family supported itself in the past, and we went our separate ways.

As I walked away, marveling at how the woman had briefly brought to life the little corner where we were standing, I happily realized how I could get beyond my superficial understanding of the town in which I live. The quotidian detail about the bakery was already greatly illuminating to me. By relying upon the memories of the old people who had lived in the town, rather than my own romantic imaginings, I could make the town live again, if only in my mind.

I set about interviewing many of the old people I had made contact with in my years in Sorano. I had heard occasional stories and brief histories and legends while I helped Ivana pick her olives, had my morning coffee with Michele, ate lunch with Annetta, or drank wine with Leopoldo in his wine cave, but I now went to them with my tape recorder and asked them to tell me their personal stories and remembrances in detail. Almost everyone obliged me, although some were suspicious of the motivation of the strangely curious American. One would answer volubly, excitedly and tangentially recalling the great history of Sorano, while another would be brief, reluctant to speak about bitter events and the sad “primitive” past. Their collected memories form a broad and eloquent portrait of life in the ancient hilltown. I questioned Luigino, Matilde, and Gino, who had all lived at some time on the short lane where most of my property lies. Peppina and Augusto were born in town, had moved to big cities, but had returned to Sorano and acutely remembered life there before the war.

Maria left Sorano in the 1930s, immigrating to the United States. I found her in an apartment on Webster Avenue in the Bronx. Despite my keen desire to speak again with the old woman in her widow’s dress, whom I had encountered alone on the abandoned far side of town, I was never able to find her. None of my old friends knew who she was. I think of her now as my guiding apparition.

*

Read more about Sorano on Christopher’s website or find the book on Amazon:.

Featured image: The “far side” of town, which faces south west and was almost entirely abandoned when Chris came to Sorano in 1988 | © Christopher H. Warren

Read more travel book excerpts to find your next favorite author!

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His book, “Terning: Around the World by Bike”, is a story about the challenges he faced, but it is also a story about the kindness and generosity of the people he met along the way. As Sam says, “I am no brave adventurer; the book is the story of a twenty-three-year-old who cycled around the world in spite of himself, his flaws and (often pretty stupid) decisions’. 

We reached out to Sam to ask him about his dreams, his inspiring encounters on the road and his next challenges. There he is.

– Who is Sam Gambier and what are his dreams?

– I grew up in Cornwall, UK, and went to uni in London. When I was twenty-three, I left England and spent two years and eight months cycling around the world and since then have lived in Spain and China. (I know you didn’t really ask me, but…) I believe our experience on this planet should not be confined by the borders drawn across it and I feel lucky and guilty, in equal measure, that I was born in a place that allows me to explore the world more freely than most. I dream about a world in which we recognise ourselves as inhabitants of one shared place, rather than several disparate places separated from each other (though perhaps I should do less dreaming and more doing!).

– What was your motif to choose a bicycle as a means of transport to circumnavigate the world?

– A bicycle brings you closer to people than most other forms of transport could. The barrier of a window pane is removed, as is the ease and comfort that the window pane brings; the world is not framed for you to look at, rather you become part of the picture. On a bicycle you feel each metre, every hill and all the space between us, and I’m sure in some way this leads to a greater understanding of our world, at least its physical form. I am also quite a shy person, and a bicycle piled high with belongings starts conversations better than I do.

– What was the most heartwarming act of human kindness you experienced during your trip?

– I experienced so many moments of miraculous human kindness that it is really difficult to highlight just one. In almost every country I cycled through, people gave me food and shelter, and shared their lives with me. I think the place in which I was most overwhelmed by kindness was in Sumatera, Indonesia. Almost every day, people invited me into their homes: I slept on the floors of single-roomed houses with families of five or six; visited schools and mosques; rode about the towns visiting friends and seeing the local sights and was always met with openness, kindness and curiosity.

– What was the biggest challenge you hadn’t expected?

– Probably myself! Loneliness set in quick, and at the beginning I couldn’t shake the idea of spending so much time alone. Two-and-a-half-years by myself seemed unfathomable, and I felt the love I have for those close to me with a keenness I hadn’t experienced before. I am no brave adventurer; the book is the story of a twenty-three-year-old who cycled around the world in spite of himself, his flaws and (often pretty stupid) decisions. That I made it was a testament to the kindness and generosity of the people that I met; it was these meetings that made the journey worth it and encouraged me to carry on.

– What would you say to someone who considers repeating your feat?

– Do it, first and foremost. It will give you much more than you could ever put in and will be a life-affirming, enriching experience. People will show themselves to be wonderful and kind and you will see parts of the world which most people fly over or drive through. There is no need to plan in meticulous detail, but be prepared; it is a deeply rewarding way to travel, but it is not always the easiest. And, of course, you will not be repeating anything. I feel like when we travel we visit a time as much as a place. Even if you followed a route cycled a thousand times, it would be your adventure, remarkable and unique.

– What is your next big travel challenge?

– In the summer, I’m planning to walk a little way across Norway, from Otta to Odda, because 1.) it has a nice ring to it, 2.) it seems like a nice amount of walking to do in a month and 3.) it seems like it will be absolutely stunning. I’m a little older now, and maybe have more patience for walking; I’m looking forward to living in a tent in the real world and escaping the man-made one with jobs and bills and all that stuff for a little while.

– Share something inspiring with everyone reading this!

– Ummm… that’s put me on the spot! I really don’t consider myself to be a very inspiring person. The only thing I will say, if you are thinking about going on a mammoth adventure, is that if I can do it, anyone can.

***

Sam Gambier’s book, “Terning: Around the World by Bike”, is on Amazon here: 

To get an idea of what you can expect, read an excerpt from the book HERE.

All photos: Courtesy of Sam Gambier

Discover more travel books and interviews with travel authors here!

The post Sam Gambier’s trip around the world: 2,5 years by bike appeared first on 203Challenges.

Luke has visited and photographed the locations mentioned in the book and this is enough to create you own itinerary. Here’s what Luke Gracias shared with us about the book, the stories on the road, and his best finds:

My major inspiration for the “Devil’s Prayer” book was… David Seltzer’s Omen and Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code are the major inspirations. I always thought it would be great to write a Da Vinci Code version of The Omen.

Salzburg Cathedral: Penitents walk the Rings of Fire

During my travels around the locations of the book I discovered… The Devil’s Bible in the National Library of Stockholm which is purportedly written by the Devil himself. A 13^th century conspiracy between the Mongols and the Papal Inquisition depicted in the Stefaneschi Tryptych in the Vatican Museum. The recently discovered secret tunnels under the Moreruela Abbey in Zamora, Spain. The church of Asen’s Fortress in Bulgaria where all the paintings of the saints have their eyes gouged out. A punishment reserved for treason against God. The Katskhi Pillar in Georgia which has a church atop it, although it was not possible to climb it from the 13^th century till the 20^th century.

Asen’s Fortress – Bulgaria

As a photographer, I enjoy shooting… landscapes and glamour. In search of locations for The Devil’s Prayer, I have been to some amazing destinations.

Incredible Zamora, the most Romanesque city in Europe

My latest adventure is… I am an environmental specialist. A green project I have designed is being developed.

The strangest thing that ever happened to me on the road was… the opening of my book had a fictitious place called the Gateway to Hell. I found the steps to the Gateway to Hell at Bezdez Castle in the Czech Republic, and then my guide took me to the real Gateway to Hell which I did not know existed. It was at Houska Castle located some 25 km from Bezdez. I had imagined a place and it existed for real.

The stairs to the Gateway to Hell. Bezdez Castle, Czech Republic

I never travel without… my camera.

The trip that changed me… 2015 I saw the Semana Santa in Zamora. I knew I had the perfect opening scene for a film. I used it in my book cover.

The Semana Santa – held every year in Zamora since the 12th century.

The most helpful thing I’ve learned on the road that could be used in everyday life… scan all your important documents and email it to yourself before a big trip. If you lose your tickets, bag or bookings or in my case camera gear, you have all the serial numbers to make a claim.

The place that surprised me the most… the Amalfi Coast. It is undoubtedly the most beautiful place on earth.

The Amalfi Coast – Priano at sunset

My recipe for turning dreams into reality is… the biggest regret you will ever have is not having tried to be the someone you imagined. If you want to do something, give it a red hot go. The journey of a thousand miles always starts with a single step.

One travel challenge for everyone reading this… visit a Devil’s Bridge. There are more than 75 Devil’s Bridges around the world. Each shares a legend that the builder made a pact with the Devil who built it in exchange for the soul of the first person who crossed it. Each bridge is an engineering marvel thought impossible to build.

Rakotzbrucke: The Devil’s Bridge – Germany

All photos: Luke Gracias. The Devil’s Prayer is on Amazon.

See the book trailer:

The Devil’s Prayer – A Novel by Luke Gracias from The Devil’s Prayer on Vimeo.

Explicit Content Warning: “The Devil’s Prayer” is a historical horror thriller that contains brutality. Readers may find its content offensive and confronting.

The post Luke Gracias: If you want to do something, give it a red hot go appeared first on 203Challenges.

If social media posts pass in front of your eyes and get immediately lost in the sea of information, Grant Snider’s recently published book The Shape of Ideas is exactly what you need on your bedside table as a constant source of inspiration.

>>> Read our interview with Grant Snider.

The Shape of Ideas is not a book to read from cover to cover, but rather one that makes you flip through the pages out of curiosity, searching for the comic that best matches your current state of mind.

Grant’s unique approach to everyday concepts and objects is so refreshing! It reminds us of a truth that each of us used to believe in as children: that even mundane objects can become important ingredients of magical stories if we dare to invent them. A mere walk in the park or a glance at the clouds drifting across the sky turn into special events when you look at the world through Grant’s eyes.

If you try to predict the next square of any of Grant’s stories, you will fail every time. This is exactly what makes you open the book every time you see it. Take a moment to browse through Grant’s stories and you will recognize your own hopes, ambitions, reflections and inner hustle on almost every page.

Photo courtesy of www.incidentalcomics.com

The Shape of Ideas is perfect for:

– rainy Saturday mornings when you need an excuse to remain in bed (yes, the book contains one!)

– low-spirit Mondays when a reason to smile will be welcomed

– random moments of boredom

– digging in your own imagination

Remember that part about unlocking questions I mentioned at the beginning? Actually, this book provides many answers, too. All you need to do is come up with the right questions.

Photo courtesy of www.grantsnider.com

The post The Shape of Ideas – a book to dive into the world of (self-)exploration appeared first on 203Challenges.

We had a chat with him about his journey. Here is what he told us:

Who is Tomislav Perko and what does he dream of?

I’m just a regular, everyday, normal guy who did something unusual and extraordinary – I traveled the world, with almost no money. I am 32, people tell me that I am a travel writer and a public speaker, and I dream of many, many things. And they keep changing. But the most important thing is to follow them, no matter what they are.

The post Inspiring travelers: Tomislav Perko’s 50,000 km of hitchhiking appeared first on 203Challenges.

We contacted Christopher H. Warren who shared details about the book and his life in Sorano, specially for 203challenges.com.

>>> Read an excerpt from the book HERE.

– Who is Christopher H. Warren and what are his dreams?

– I have a lot of interests. When I first moved to Sorano, it seemed like the ideal place to pursue my passion for making ceramic sculpture. I had thought that I could spend half the year making sculpture, and the other half continuing my work as a documentary photographer. In reality it took me many years to get to the point where I could devote even a relatively small portion of the year to my artwork – and that was partly because it took me much longer to finish the renovation of my home and garden than I imagined, particularly as those projects – the house and the garden – always got bigger. Ironically, my dedication to Sorano and the home I made here meant that I also undermined my work as a photographer. Thirty years ago, a professional photographer – or anyone really – could not just disappear and spend months working on house renovations, even if it was in Tuscany. When I first got to Sorano there basically were two pay phones – one in a town bar and the other in a restaurant. No cellular phones and certainly no Internet. I was cut off and out of touch. Nevertheless, I did continue to work on and off, and I got to making a studio and doing some of my ceramic sculpture. I also participated in and ran an important international art show that was based in Sorano for 10 years, which introduced me to the business and administrative sides of the art world, which I quickly realized were not for me. One of my other great interests that I have cultivated in Sorano regards Italian cookery, and I have done some simple and fun YouTube videos about the Tuscan table. My next book, “Feasts from Paradiso,” is about my garden and caves and the feasts – traditional, historical and fanciful – that I hold there throughout the year. My current aspiration is that “All the Noise of It” is successful and brings attention to some of my other efforts.

– Which of your previous habits have you lost being part of the local Sorano community?

– The implication of the question is that habits are bad, I suppose. I can’t think of anything bad that I have stopped doing – except for perhaps eating poorly. I now eat much better! I can say that I have lost illusions. I had a certain illusion about the greatness of America and the power that bestowed upon me. Although the idea of America is good, a lot that has been done in its name in these last years has tarnished its image. Americans are not as admired or loved as they once were – like during the period post-World War II. So, I no longer count on that odd idea of a protective veneer – and maybe even a strange sense of superiority it gave me.

– Share a story you have heard from the old inhabitants of Sorano!

– I think you will have to refer to my book for the many stories that the old inhabitants tell in their own words about their past life in Sorano. Basically, up until 1960, life was as it had been for centuries in the old town – and it wasn’t easy. My old friends became tough and resourceful and genuinely interesting characters for their experiences.

– What are stereotypes about Tuscany you have found to be wrong?

– There is the stereotype that Tuscany is forever summery, flowery and gently amusing, as evidenced in that now-famous book by Frances Mayes, “Under the Tuscan Sun.” I facetiously thought of titling my book “Under a Tuscan Cloud” – a cloud that brings replenishing rain, but also damaging hail and unpredictable vortices.

– What are the reasons why Sorano has turned into an almost abandoned town?

– Unless you dig deeply enough, Sorano and other rural towns in Italy are unappreciated and thought of as being primitive by their own people. Particularly after World War II, most of the rural population wanted to escape what was then an essentially feudal society of wealthy landowners and the rural peasantry and seek better opportunities in the cities and abroad.

– Moving to Tuscany to restore a house and live there has turned into a collective dream of many Americans and Europeans. What would you tell them as someone who has been all through this?

– Basically, if you have enough money, you can buy a dream house in a dream location, have it renovated for you, and have wonderful superficial holidays. But, if you wish to invest sweat and tears and renovate a place yourself and become a member of a community, it is a steep and often very frustrating learning curve. Frankly, to those people who come new to Sorano or other small rural communities in Italy from the U.S., the U.K. and many other countries of the world, I always advise them to think of their place as a holiday home, and not as a year-round residence. I managed and became a much stronger person for my experiences – but other people could be overwhelmed. Sorano is beautiful and wonderful, but there are always clouds looming, and one never knows what those clouds might bring.

– Share something inspiring with everyone reading this!

– One cannot help but be inspired by the ingenuity of man to adapt to his surroundings and create safe, functional and beautiful places to live in. Sorano is built upon and surrounded by outcroppings of tufa – volcanic magma. Men determined that the magma could be cut into blocks for building and so Sorano and many of the other hilltowns in the area were built out of the tufa. Local veins of clay were found, and terracotta was used from making roof and floor tiles and drain pipes to pots used for cooking. Everything used was local. 15 kilometres away the land is predominantly clay, so most of the hilltowns around Siena are made of brick. This idea of living locally is inspirational and an essential lesson for the future of mankind.

***

For more information check Christopher H. Warren’s website.

Featured image: Sorano, a view from Christopher’s garden | © Christopher H. Warren

The post Christopher H. Warren’s Tuscany beyond the stereotypes appeared first on 203Challenges.

What is his secret to a happy life, what is the best way to slow down and enjoy it and what are his best tips on exploring nature on foot – here is what Jeffrey Ryan shared in a special interview for 203challenges.com.

– Who is Jeffrey Ryan, and what are his dreams?

– I am a writer, hiker, historian, public speaker and photographer. My secret blend of rocket fuel is one part nature and one part inquisitiveness. I am happiest traveling trails and backroads in search of whatever is around the next bend.
I most enjoy slowing life down to about 2 miles per hour, hiking on a trail in the wilderness where I can rejuvenate. My experiences, now covering thousands of miles, have been so meaningful to me that I write books about them. More than anything, I hope to inspire others to set technology aside for a while and discover the joys of being in nature.

View from summit of Mount St. Helens. ©2018 www.JeffRyanAuthor.com

– What’s the most important thing hiking gives you?

– Hiking gives me the opportunity to engage so many aspects of my mind and body. I guess the best way to describe it is that it makes me feel complete.

One of the greatest things hiking has taught me is that you need to be able to plan ahead, yet you need to be nimble. For example, you may plan your whole trip on doing a certain number of miles per day, but the weather may require you to change plans. Or you may need to take a longer side trip to find water than you had planned. These things require you to problem solve on the fly and to be content with the decisions you made.

It’s a great skill to have whether you are in the mountains, sitting at a desk or anywhere really. When I revisit things that made me frustrated, I often find out that it was because I was trying to hold onto a pre-conceived plan. The sooner I realize that all plans are subject to change, the better my experiences become.

View from summit of Mount St. Helens. Mount Rainier can be seen in the center, beyond Spirit Lake. ©2018 www.JeffRyanAuthor.com.

– Can you tell us a story that is a living example of your hiking style?

– My hiking companion, Wayne, and I did a trip on the Appalachian Trail in Vermont. When we arrived at my truck, which had been parked on a remote woods road for ten days, it wouldn’t start. Further investigation showed that a porcupine had spent several days in my engine compartment and eaten most of the rubber hoses — radiator hoses, the brake line, the gas line, etc. While we were not still on the trail per se, we still employed the trail mentality. We were in a jam and needed to fix it to complete our trip. It was the need to be nimble in action. I write about it in my first book, Appalachian Odyssey: A 28-year hike on America’s trail.

Come to think of it, that whole book really exemplifies my hiking style. Wayne and I couldn’t take the several months off from work necessary to hike to Appalachian Trail in one go, so we poked away at it in smaller trips. It took almost three decades to cover the 2,100 miles, but we got it done. It was one of the most fulfilling adventures of my life.

– What is the one thing that you never travel without and why?

– Hiking poles. I don’t know what my knees would be like without them. They take the strain off my knees on downhills and make stream crossings easier. As an added bonus, I just got a solo tent that allows me to use my hiking poles instead of tent poles. I can leave the tent poles at home and save pack weight.

Two other things I bring along are a travel pack of baby wipes (towelettes). I put used ones in a zip-seal plastic bag that I carry out of the wilderness to dispose of properly. One more thing: I also always carry a paper map. You can’t always count on your smartphone GPS. (O.K. That’s three things, but they are all things I don’t travel without.)

– Your latest book, Blast: My Return to Mount Saint Helens, is about Mount St. Helens after the volcano eruption in 1980. What makes this topic so important to you?

– Mount St. Helens erupted the day I graduated from college. I’ve felt a strong connection with the mountain ever since. In 1987, the first year people were allowed back on the mountain, I climbed up to witness the devastation the blast had caused. It was unbelievable. The earth had been violently torn open, then doused in dozens of feet of ash. I’ll never forget the feeling of standing there with ash swirling at my feet and rock slides spilling down into the crater wondering how many years it would take for the area to show signs of life.

Mount St. Helens eruption. May 18, 1980. ©USGS

In the years since I climbed Mount St. Helens, I had taken on the 28-year hike of the Appalachian Trail and also written a book about how the AT was conceived and built. With all the focus on eastern U.S. hiking trails, I hadn’t thought about Mount St. Helens in quite a while.

In March, 2017, I happened to stumble upon a video featuring old hiking trips. It featured our Mount St. Helens climb. I suddenly realized that 30 years had passed. Before the day was over, I secured climbing permits and booked my flight for a September reunion with the mountain.

The comeback the mountain and her surroundings have made is remarkable. There is a lot to learn about resilience in the face of incomprehensible loss, and also about hope. Ten miles from the mountain’s summit, in a place where no living thing survived, herds of elk graze in mountain meadows, alpine flowers bloom and mountain goats roam the rocks. It’s an incredibly uplifting experience.

The mountain goats are back! ©2018 www.JeffRyanAuthor.com

– Many people enjoy hiking but are afraid of long distances. What would you tell them?

– Ease into it and be realistic. A long hike is really a bunch of small hikes strung together. If you haven’t spent a night in the backcountry, I suggest starting out with a loop hike (either going out and coming back to your vehicle via the same trail or using more than one trail that get you back to your starting point again). Choose a trip that lets you camp three or four miles from your starting point. The idea is to get used to your equipment and familiarize yourself with your routine. If you forget something, you will still be within easy striking distance of your car.

The biggest mistakes people make when starting out are bringing way too much gear or not being familiar with how their gear works. Regarding the latter, I strongly suggest setting up and taking down a new tent a few times before you leave home. There’s little worse than trying to figure out how to set up a tent in a rainstorm or in the dark. One other thing you should get used to using is your backcountry stove.

Mount St. Helens from the Mount Margaret Ridge. ©2018 www.JeffRyanAuthor.com

– What’s your next big challenge?

– My hiking buddy, Wayne, and I will be finishing another long distance trail (the New England National Scenic Trail) soon.

After that, I have several big goals in mind. One is to spend a few weeks on the Ice Age National Scenic Trail, a 1,000-miler that never leaves the state of Wisconsin. The other big trip is still taking shape. Stay tuned…

Young trees are growing in the midst of giants seared by the eruption almost 38 years ago. ©2018 www.JeffRyanAuthor.com

– Share something inspiring with everyone reading this interview!

– The greatest gift you can give yourself — and the people you love — is a mentally and physically healthy you. It doesn’t take much money to spend time outdoors, and even if did, the rewards would far outweigh the cost.

Go do it.

Featured image: Jeffrey Ryan stands on the Mount St. Helens summit ridge, thirty years after his first climb of the mountain. © 2018 www.JeffRyanAuthor.com

Explore:

>>> Discover more travel books and interviews with travel writers.

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– Who is Trudy Ohnsorg, and what are her dreams?

– I dream of a world where people live in healthy connection with each other and have access to beauty and nature.

My travel adventures began when I bought a one-way ticket to Japan in my early twenties to take a job teaching English. Since then, I’ve explored many parts of the world, discovering Airbnb during a solo month in Costa Rica in 2012. My career has balanced a focus on health (I served as Minnesota’s Interagency Director for Health Reform) with a love of nature and beauty (I was an award-winning landscape designer who taught a college senior-level landscape design course for a dozen years).

Three years ago, I opened up my home to strangers from around the world through the Airbnb platform to bring in extra income when I left my “safe government job with the salary and benefits” and joined a consulting group that focuses on strategic planning for non-profits. Airbnb hosting changed my life.

– Your latest book is called “Air Be & Me: How being an Airbnb host can reaffirm our faith in the essential goodness of humanity and bring the world to our doors”. What makes it different from other Airbnb guides?

– What shocked me most after becoming an Airbnb host was that the income stream quickly became secondary in importance to the heartfelt connections I made with many of my guests. My book focuses on the “HEART and SOUL” of Airbnb, rather than “how to get rich quick” or “where are the cool listings,” topics that tend to be the focus in almost all other Airbnb books.

Don’t get me wrong: I love the extra income that hosting brings me. It PAYS ALL MY BILLS and allows me to focus my time on projects that are important to me. However, as a host (and as a guest), I’ve also been privileged to meet people from around the world who have broadened and challenged my outlook on life. Many of these people have become my friends. That is significant, both to me personally and in a global context.

We live in a time of increasing distrust and disconnection. We are bombarded daily with media messages that the world is full of terrible people who do bad things to each other. Numbed, we begin to believe that it is safer to shut ourselves off from others. However, at the same time, people across the world are now opening their doors to strangers. Think about it: what kind of trust does it take to welcome a complete stranger into your home? When I first started hosting, I was scared that my guests might steal my things and destroy my home.

Then I met my guests. My trust in humanity increased exponentially as I got to know these strangers who then became my friends.

If you have ever been curious about why people choose to open their homes to strangers, this is the book for you! Air Be & Me offers a unique blend of personal essays, interviews with Airbnb hosts (and candid comments from their guests), and gorgeous photos and illustrations. It captures the essence of “WHY” people choose to share their homes. (Hint: it’s usually NOT about the money.) In today’s divided world, Air Be & Me shines a joyful light on the future of interpersonal connection in the sharing economy.

Colorful guests and co-host Zuzu

– You are an Airbnb host yourself. Share a story that is a living example of Airbnb hosting.

– You never know the impact that sharing your home can have on your guests. I’ll let them tell the stories for me.

A woman sent me the following text mid-way through her family’s stay this past Thanksgiving holiday:

“Trudy, my family has not been all together for a holiday in two years. Our daughter is moving away next week and I don’t know when the five of us will be united again. To be able to be here together to share this means the world to me. Thank you so much for your hospitality and allowing our dogs here too. This is your ministry and I am so grateful.”

Another woman left this note for me after her visit:

“Trudy – It takes a special person to create a home like this one and an even more special one to open it up to strangers. I wish the world was filled with kind and generous people like you. Your gardens make me think of my mom who has just begun to heal from a regimen of chemo/radiation. She is a gardener, and you can feel her soul out there. Like you, she makes the inside of her home garden-like too. I will share pictures with her next week and tell her about this special place where strangers become housemates and even dogs are welcome.”

The world is FULL of kind and generous people, just like you and me. Because of hosting, I have become more interested in getting to know the strangers that I encounter in my daily life. Everyone has a story, if you take the time to listen. Everyone has a lesson to share, if you can open yourself to another perspective. We are all connected. Sharing a home – a very personal space – helps us all to realize that truth.

– What makes a person a good Airbnb host?

– Well, it helps to have a sense of humor! Random things happen when you mix with the world, and you need to be able to roll with it. A combination of flexibility and understanding your boundaries is essential. You need flexibility for allowing the magic of unpredictability to grace your home.

Understanding your boundaries and having the courage to enforce them is also critical. It is your home, after all. You set the rules as a host. Beyond that, a healthy curiosity about the world and the people in it sets the stage for interactions that are intentional, intriguing, and sometimes inspirational.

– How about being a good Airbnb guest?

– As I write this, I’m in the middle of an extended road trip around the United States. I’ve spent a fair amount of time lately thinking about how I can be an amazing guest. Being neat and following all the house rules is baseline. Beyond that, however, I want to connect with my hosts in a way that is meaningful and memorable to them. This may vary, depending on my hosts. Some want more connection than others and I need to respect their boundaries. However, most hosts love their homes and their cities and are delighted to share their wisdom with their guests. So, mostly I ask questions.

And then I listen.

– The way people travel is changing all the time. How have services like Airbnb made it better or worse?

– In my later twenties, I bought a set of plane tickets that went from New York to Bangkok to Bombay to London to New York, and spent six months traveling solo. There are many advantages to traveling alone, but it can also be challenging, scary, and lonely! Since this trip was in the 1980s, and the Internet was not available, I relied on guidebooks and chance connections with other travelers I met along the way to find out about places to stay and things to do. Rarely, did I have the opportunity to meet with residents who could help me truly understand their cities as only the locals do.

This has all changed because of home sharing. Now, when I travel, I stay in neighborhoods that are not full of tourists. I eat where the locals eat. I learn about local customs and begin to understand the nuances of the cultures I am visiting. I have a friendly home to return to after a day of exploring, and I know that someone cares that I am safe.

As a woman who enjoys solo travel, this is incredibly liberating!

– What’s the one thing you never travel without?

– A silk scarf that I bought in India. It can dress up a t-shirt, be used as a belt, keep me warm when it’s chilly, tie back my hair, and hold groceries in a pinch!

– What is your next great challenge?

– As I write this, I am midway through an extended road trip across the United States. I am staying in Airbnbs, visiting with my hosts, and listening to their stories with the goal of creating a podcast: Air Be & Being.

– Share something inspiring with everyone reading this:

– Home sharing is not just transactional; it is TRANSFORMATIONAL. There is a gentle revolution that is being staged in homes and living rooms across the globe.

We conquer fear by learning trust.

We rid the world of strangers when we turn them into friends.

The book Air Be & Me is available on Amazon:

Follow Trudy’s journey and read her blogs and posts at Airbenme.com, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. All photos courtesy of Trudy Ohnsorg.

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