Curiosity, Reinvention, And Inspiration: The Return Of Books and Travel

Welcome back to the Books and Travel Podcast! In this episode, I explore why I’m restarting the show, how travel has shaped my writing, and the deeper reasons we journey—both physically and through books. From revisiting my first episode to discussing reinvention, curiosity, and the meaning of travel, this is a fresh start filled with inspiration for readers, writers, and adventurers alike. * Why I’m restarting the podcast – Revisiting my first episode on The Three Trips That Changed My Life and the theme of reinvention. * Turning 50 and creative confidence – How my journey as a writer led to this fresh start. * Books that came from the podcast – Pilgrimage (travel memoir) & Writing the Shadow (creativity & darkness). * The ocean metaphor – Light & dark sides of travel, inspired by The Three Trips That Changed My Life. * The meaning of travel – Emily Thomas on experiencing otherness. * Curiosity – Steve Brock on using travel as a learning lab. * Finding beauty close to home – Brianna Madia on redefining what travel means. * Travel inspiring fiction – Layton Green on researching thrillers through travel. * How place shapes storytelling – Roz Morris on writing from past experiences. * Gothic travel, cemeteries, and memento mori – Loren Rhoads on being “life-obsessed” rather than death-obsessed. * What’s coming next for the show You can find my books at JFPennBooks.com and see more of my photos on Instagram @jfpennauthor Curiosity, Reinvention, and Inspiration: The Return of Books and Travel Hello travelers, I’m Jo Frances Penn and yes, the podcast is back! I’ve missed talking to other writers about travel and the places that inspire us and many of you have told me that you enjoy the show — so I’m excited to be back, and I already have lots of new guests lined up for interviews about fascinating places as well as the deeper side of travel, and of course, book recommendations! As this is the first episode for a while, I’m doing a solo episode with some clips from other guests where I’ll go through why I originally started this podcast and why I’m now restarting the show, thoughts on why we travel, reinvention, curiosity, different perspectives on places, especially when we are outsiders, as well as finding beauty closer to home, and of course, memento mori. I would love to know your thoughts on the show, or about a particular episode, and I would love to see photos of where you’re listening. Right, let’s get into it. Six years ago, in February 2019, I released the first episode of this podcast in a solo show entitled Lake Malawi, Jerusalem, and Blue Water Sailing to Vanuatu. The Three Trips That Changed My Life — and I’m going to play the opening clip as it relates to why I am restarting the show again now. “This show is all about reinvention, which is also part of what travel means to me. When I think about what I want to do with my life for the next 10 years — I like to think about the 10 year span because if we commit to doing things for 10 years, amazing stuff happens that we may never have expected. So when I think about my life, the main thing that stays the same is books and travel. These are the things I come back to again and again. The things I truly, truly love. I’m also fascinated by the inner and outer journeys that both books and travel can bring — a change in perspective, an empathy. Perhaps an entirely new direction in your life because of something you’ve read or somewhere you’ve been or something you’ve experienced. If you know what I mean,