Quotes from Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World

“My spirit gets nourished in faraway places. Sometimes I wonder if it's a biological need, perhaps a biological flaw, that compels me to seek the excitement and challenge that comes of being in a place where nobody knows me.

Other times I think that my compulsion to settle into communities that are different from the ones I know is related to my passion for experiential learning. I learn best and most happily by doing, touching, sharing, tasting. When I'm somewhere I've never been before, learning goes on all day, every day.”
― quote from Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World

“As an observer, I am particularly interested in watching women, married, divorced, single. So many of them trapped in lives they think they must live, in roles they have come to resent, with little job and no laughter. They've "settled." They've compromised. They've learned to adjust.

Among the divorced, many are bitter, coloring their lives with resentment; others live only to meet the man who will complete them.

I have no intentions of adjusting, and I am not looking to define myself by the man I am with. The new me is feeling rebellious, looking for excitement, bursting with energy to explore. There is no way that I am going to sit around feeling sorry for myself, thinking that the only way I can enjoy life is with a man.

With no possessions, no home, and no precedent, I am free to design a life that fits me. Best of all, I have tasted the life I want. My Mexican adventure opened me up. I want more. During my four months away, I met interesting people, I was never bored, and I laughed more than I had in years. I resolve to continue exploring the world, ignoring the THEY who define how people should live.”
― quote from Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World

“I have buried my fears, abandoned self-consciousness, and allowed myself to slide into sensation. I like the person I have become.”
― quote from Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World

“When we are finished the little boy walks over to me and looks up at my chest. Then he reaches up and cups my breast in his hand. The mother comes over and does the same thing with my other breast. Yes I am the same I nod. Look. I pull up my shirt and unhook my bra. My breasts pop out and they both smile.

I think about the Zapotec village in Mexico where I was not accepted until I was wearing their clothes and the Balinese ceremonies I would never have attended in anything but a kebaya and a sarong. I smile when I realize that if I were to live here I would walk around topless. If I weren't with three westerners I would do it right now.”
― quote from Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World

“But I'm not running away. I'm running toward... toward adventure, toward discovery, toward diversity. And while I was in Mexico I discovered something intruiging: Once I leave the U.S., I am not bound by the rules of my culture. And when I am a foreigner in another country, I am exempt from the local rules. This extraordinary situation means that there are no rules in my life. I am free to live by the standards and ideals and rules I create for myself.”
― quote from Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World

“I feel no guilt as I demolish some long-cherished no-fat rules along with the chicharrón. I’m not sure why I am guilt-free. Perhaps it is the setting; rules tend to reduce their grip when you cross borders. Perhaps it is the chicharrón, crunchy, light, and bacony; it’s easy to put aside guilt in the enthusiasm and taste of the moment. But more likely, the joy I feel at this guilt-free moment is a sign that I really have peeled away the old and begun the process of self-discovery.”
― quote from Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World

“The typical backpacker is unmarried, educated, but not yet on the career track. Among the backpackers, there are always a lot of young Europeans who work for a year or two at home, save their money, then travel until it runs out. Canadians and Australians are also backpack travelers; so are Israelis, taking a year off after serving in the army, and New Zealanders on their great “OE,” overseas experience. There are Americans as well; but the Americans are usually on a tighter schedule, and I find them less friendly, at least to me.”
― quote from Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World

“She is learning toward me, animatedly asking questions, and he is a half step back. It happens three more times that night and many times over the next years. Usually it's the women who identify with me and ask the questions. It isn't the details of my travels that intrigue them; it's the fact that I am living a rich, fulfilling life. And I'm doing it without a man. For many women, my story awakens buried dreams or stimulates new ones.”
― quote from Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World

“I have never tried anything psychedelic, but I’ve always wanted to. Would I be wrapped up in colors, attacked by sounds, filled with insights about worlds I don’t even know exist?”
― quote from Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World

“Perhaps it is the setting; rules tend to reduce their grip when you cross borders.”
― quote from Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World

Popular quotes

“Nunca se sabe, hasta el final, si lo que un día cualquiera nos sucede es historia o simple contingencia, si es todo (por trivial que parezca) o es nada (por doloroso que sea).”
― Ernesto Sabato, quote from On Heroes and Tombs

“Over the past ten years, I've processed a lot. I'm still processing. And there is more to be done. But I'm very proud of the person I am today. I'm proud to be gay. I'm proud to be a reckless optimist. I'm proud to keep learning and sharing what I've learned. I'm proud to be a work in progress.”
― Hannah Hart, quote from Buffering: Unshared Tales of a Life Fully Loaded

“It is so short and jumbled and jangled, Sam, because there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre. Everybody is supposed to be dead, to never say anything or want anything ever again. Everything is supposed to be very quiet after a massacre, and it always is, except for the birds. And what do the birds say? All there is to say about a massacre, things like "Poo-tee-weet?”
― Kurt Vonnegut, quote from Slaughterhouse-five: The Children's Crusade, A Duty-dance with Death

“You got to be worried when they're agreeing about anything," she said. "Prophets. That's the last bloody thing you want prophets to do.”
― China Miéville, quote from Kraken

“I never wanted to fix things with them.” I pause, and my voice is very quiet. “I wanted out. I screwed up.”

“I don’t know, Murph.” We make the turn into the cemetery, and he hesitates, as if unsure of his next words. “I wonder if you’re just telling yourself that.”

I frown. “What?”

“I don’t think you wanted to kill yourself.”

I pull next to his car in the now-empty employee lot. “Didn’t you listen to everything I just told you?”

“Yeah. I did. Maybe you wanted to try to kill yourself, but I don’t think you wanted to actually do it.”

“What’s the difference?”

He opens the door and gets out, standing there, looking down at me. “You wore your seat belt.”
― Brigid Kemmerer, quote from Letters to the Lost

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