Traveling The Two-Lane by Marilyn Berman @booklogix @TwoLaneTravel #Bookreview #wwwblogs

Traveling the Two-Lane: A Memoir and Travelogue by Marilyn Berman

Travelling The Two-Lane is travelogue and memoir of author Marilyn Berman. At aged 63 she boldly set off travelling across Northern America for 18 months from her home in Atlanta. In a decked out campervan and her trusty SatNav Marilyn headed off on May 1st 2004 with an ultimate aim of reaching Alaska.

Marilyn’s journey was both physical and mental, hence the book title. For the majority of Marilyn’s life she struggled with her sexual orientation and found she lived a double life. The one she showed her family, the world where she tried to lead a “normal” life and the second life where she met with and had relations with other women. The second life forced into secrecy and hiding so often by legislation and closed minds of those around her.

By taking to the open road, Marilyn met new people and experienced the riches of the world. She met Maureen an art teacher who helped women in need and took Marilyn to discover the head waters of the great Mississippi river. In Rugby, North Dakota she stopped at the geographical centre of North America. In Calgary she visited the Glacier National Park and in Winnipeg the Mennonite Heritage Village. At Thunder Bay she found the Terry Fox memorial for a man who fought cancer and raised $25million dollars for cancer research before he died aged just 22 years old.

She changed her mind about visiting Alaska, heading to Maine for the winter where she rented a house for six months because it would be too cold in her campervan. Here she was welcomed to a tiny community and found people didn’t judge her, they accepted her. In the spring she set off once again and discovered Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, before travelling down to New Mexico to meet friends and finally returning to Atlanta.

An interesting book about fighting for the right to live your life as you want while enjoying the experiences of the world’s riches.

My favourite lines were these;

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways…totally worn out, screaming ‘WOO-HOO, What a ride!'”

This review is based on a free copy of the book given to me from the author via BookLogix

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

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