East Toward Dawn: A Woman's Solo Journey Around the World

On the eve of her sixtieth birthday, Nan Watkins decided to embark on the around-the-globe trip she had always dreamed of—a trip she would take alone. Having endured both the dissolution of her thirty-year marriage and the devastating death of her twenty-three-year-old son, the author resolved to follow a solo path east across Europe and Asia to renew connections with old friends and explore foreign lands and cultures. Over adventure-filled weeks and months, what began as a trip of discovery transformed itself into a powerful journey of the spirit, touched by sorrow but buoyed by the pure pleasure of travel. Watkins considers the issues particular to a woman living and traveling alone and writes with great insight about the complexities of global development and the changing role of women in non-Western cultures. Ultimately, this rich and beautifully rendered chronicle, which takes Watkins from the lonesome, rugged coast of Ireland to the bustling streets of Katmandu to the majestic Rajasthan desert of western India, is a testimony to a woman's determination to overcome great loss with joy and passion.