Travel Therapy: Where do you need to go? By Karen Schaler Seal Press: Berkeley, CA, 2009.
In Travel Therapy, Karen Schaler addresses ten reasons for traveling to improve your life. From recovering from heartbreak to celebrations, Schaler offers suggestions for destinations to fit life’s major milestones. The book design is excellent, laid out in an easy-to-read format highlighted by beautiful photographs, quotes and tips.
My primary interest in the book was Chapter 4: Pay It Forward. I was excited about the chapter introduction; she underscores a broadly used therapy tool – when you’re feeling sorry for yourself, help somebody else:
“We all know how easy it is to get caught up in our own stress. We end up shutting out the rest of the world. You figure you’re having a hard enough time dealing with your own issues, so there’s no way you can deal with all the other problems going on around you. Ironically, living in your own bubble can backfire, making you feel even more isolated and alone. Taking off your protective blinders and getting involved in what’s happening to other people—and doing something to help—can be empowering beyond belief.”
The book is directed toward adults, so you won’t find family friendly travel tips here, but she does do a good job of getting ideas flowing for volunteer travel opportunities. Her own volunteer experience was traveling with Ambassadors for Children, so that organization is heavily featured. The chapter opening quiz isn’t a particularly useful tool – the obvious answers lead you to three primary volunteer vacation categories covered in this chapter: construction volunteer projects, volunteering with children and going green – but you can only cover so much ground in a 20-page chapter. Schaler provides links (in the back of the book) to seven reputable organizations involved in volunteer travel. The quotes of professionals and travelers in this chapter are inspirational.
