Source:Silk Road , Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 

 Our Book Club Take

While we found this book a little challenging to read, it stimulated some incredible conversations around borders. What do they really mean? And is our view of countries and borders different when we’re travelling on a bike? This book got a thumbs up from the women on the call – it was interesting, proactive and real. We really enjoyed it. In some ways, it forced us to slow down and really embrace the moment. Thank you Kate! 

Several women on the call had visited the Silk Road countries. Margaret B from Australia wrote: “Ani is the ancient Armenian capital, and now just inside the Turkish border. The gorge mentioned in the book as the border is shown in one of my pictures. We weren’t supposed to film the border, though what military advantage one could get, I’m not entirely sure! I’m don’t know exactly why, but this place just stole my heart. It was so old and the buildings showed centuries of invasions and various cultures. It was a beautiful day and the wildflowers were out. What was not to love? Here  we had  wilderness, and ancient history rolled up into one”  

Thank you to those who attended and support this through our pay-what-you-can program. Thanks to you, we were able to make a donation to Pen International, an organization that helps support freedom of speech, as requested by the author, Kate Harris.

– Wendy and Carolyn, you book club co-hosts

Book Club Discussion Questions

1. What was your favorite passage in the book?
2.  Kate begins the book by decrying that she “was born centuries too late for the life I was meant to live.”  What prompts this observation?  Do you think we have reached the limits of physical exploration on Earth?
3.  What prompts Kate’s journey across the Silk Road? There are numerous ways to travel.  Why did Kate choose to bike for transport?
4.  Early in the trip, she begins to question her motives:  “At what point was I running away from life, and at what point was I running toward it?  She calls understanding the distinction between the two “crucial and troubling”. Why?
5. Throughout the book, Kate ponders the ways in which borders–both physical and internal–keep us from connecting with others and our true selves.  Why do we impose such limits?  Are we driven by safety or by fear?  Where is the line between these two drawn?
6. Kate explains that she set off “because I wanted to seek out the world’s wildness and plumb my own in the process.:  Does she succeed?  What do you learn about wildness?  Have you ever spent time in the wilderness?  Where did you go and what was the experience like?  Did your trip teach you anything about the world or yourself?  If you haven’t ventured beyond the boundaries of your known world, where would you go if you did?  Who would you want as a companion, or would you prefer to go solo?
7. Kate speaks eloquently of her desire for a world without borders, “Which meant believing in hearts and minds without them too.”  Is this possible and is it really desirable?  What would the world be like without borders?  How can such openness survive the darker impulses of human nature?
8. Do you think we should return to the moon and head to the stars — to Mars and possibly beyond?  Do you think restlessness – the need to wander – is inherent in humans?  How does modern life limit the ambitions of the adventurous spirits?  What opportunities and advantages does it offer today’s travelers?