These stories epitomize what the best writing of any kind can do: make you feel less alone. But more than that, they can make you go somewhere and do something new.
“Leap Year,” by Mark Jenkins. Travel is one thing, but uprooting your family and moving them from Wyoming to Spain is a much deeper plunge into adventure. This story inspired me to write The Mountain School.
“Spoken Like a Native,” by Thomas Swick. Learning a minority language opens doors — and hearts. Sometimes I lament that the second language I know best is Sesotho, one which is completely irrelevant outside southern Africa, but Swick sees the benefits in learning uncommon languages.
“The Doorknob,” by Peter Hessler. Non-Peace Corps Volunteers often misunderstand Peace Corps, but here Hessler (former PCV in China) shows the essence of what the program is in response to misinformation and bad suggestions for changing Peace Corps by a prominent journalist and a foreign service officer.
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