Traveling Books Project

Traveling Books Project Welcome to the Traveling Books Project! A passion project to collect handwritten life short-stories around the world.

We all have stories to tell and we want to hear yours! Send a pic of your handwritten story at [email protected]

“From Manhattan, NYC Dec 2020Sometimes I think to myself I have a hidden bestseller hiding inside me, if only people cou...
13/12/2020

“From Manhattan, NYC
Dec 2020

Sometimes I think to myself I have a hidden bestseller hiding inside me, if only people could hear the stories I have to tell!! But then when I take paper to pen (or is it the other way round?), I feel - “uhm… what should I write that will make people laugh out loud, cry, feel jealous of my spectacular wit (!?) and ponder deep; sometimes at all at once! Then, I read (or try to) what I have written so far and settle for, “I will be happy if the reader can just read my hand writing and make sense of my scribbles.” ? Perhaps.
My story for today is a memory looking back at this year. We came back from a short vacation in Toronto early March not realizing it would be our international trip of the year! We started getting phone calls and texts from friends - first making fun of me or situation, asking if people in hazmat suites were brining us food. Obviously, no one realized the year we were in for. Some calls and texts were of a concerning nature; versions of “are you ok? Is NYC safe? Why are you still there?”
When a cousin who’s single and has asthma called us frantically asking us if she should/we should move to neighbouring city for a month or two, it was tempting. An outdoor place, a place in the woods hopefully without a TV, we packed bags and food and supplies. We packed a lot!
But in the end we stayed put cause we have plants - living being that depend on us for weekly water and I wasn’t going to abandon them. Also, I didn’t feel like leaving my city. We prevailed with a lot of Cuomo watching and so did our city! As far our cousin, she’s joined a line of admirers who want to become Mrs. Cuomo - ? For sure :)“

{2 of 2 postings} ...”I arrived in Madrid at 9 am on that day, and when I was in Madrid train station, it was already 5 ...
29/10/2020

{2 of 2 postings} ...”I arrived in Madrid at 9 am on that day, and when I was in Madrid train station, it was already 5 pm. I haven’t had any food in the entire day, so I went to a convenience store for a chocolate bar. Another accident happened - my Apple Pay didn’t support transactions in Euros! I was so embarrassed in the line, but a gentleman standing behind me said, “ I can pay for it, it’s just a chocolate bar.” I almost burst into tears, I told him how much it meant to me :), cause he is the hero who saved me from having a bad ending of my first day in Spain.

That is the story I want to share, and I’ve learnt a lot through it, here are some of them:
-Take care of personal belongings
-Don’t put all your money in one place
-Try to calm down even when things are urgent
-Nice people and bad people are everywhere, so be open-minded and careful

{1 of 2 posts} “I have never had so many feelings in one single day, but it happened in summer 2018. I was doing a summe...
29/10/2020

{1 of 2 posts} “I have never had so many feelings in one single day, but it happened in summer 2018. I was doing a summer school in Seville, Spain. When I just arrived in Madrid airport, I needed to take the subway to the Madrid central train station (because Seville is 2h by train from Madrid). But, when I bought the ticket at the airport subway station, after 5 min, I realized my wallet was stolen. I put all of my cash (around 200 euros), credit cards, debit card, and student ID in it.
Honestly, at that moment, I was too scared to cry. I called my parents in China (luckily I bought an extremely expensive but useful SIM card in the Madrid airport, before loosing all my money), and asked them to cancel the credit cards. Then I went to the subway station and asked the staff members to help me. However, their English is not good and the (only) thing they can say was “sorry I don’t speak English”. I almost lost all my hope, then I remembered one of the few words I new in Spanish, “policía”! I “yelled” at the staff there, they got my point and brought me to the airport police station.

When I was in the police station, the officers there told me that the only police officer who could speak English well was not there! Fortunately, she was available on the phone. I talked with her on the phone in English, the police officer at the station filed the report in Spanish, at the same time I was also talking to my mom in Mandarin!


When they finally finished the report, they just told me to bring it to the travelling insurance company, and they would close the case since there have always been lots of stealing in this airport. [At the time I was there, I saw an officer carrying a handful of lost IDs and passports in his hand…]
The police officer got me a free subway ticket, so I could leave the airport and go to the train station. My summer school teacher bought me a train ticket, so I could leave Madrid and go to Seville.”

“A girl from the dessert they may think. But, I am a lot more than that. Being from the Middle East doesn’t just mean th...
25/10/2020

“A girl from the dessert they may think. But, I am a lot more than that. Being from the Middle East doesn’t just mean that. Being from Yemen does not just mean that I am back warded. It doesn’t just mean that my rights are violated as a woman in my community. There are many things that made me the person I am now. I know it is human nature to stereotype. It’s just easier for our brains. But, why don’t we ask questions before jumping to conclusions. What questions? Let’s ask more meaningful questions rather than asking “where are you from?” You see, I have lived in different countries and cities the last few years. People viewed me differently based on their idea of what a woman is, what an Arab is, what a Yemeni is…
I am the same person, but in their eyes I am so many different personalities. I started noticing this when I moved to the UK. When I lived in a multicultural city. I won’t lie it annoyed me at first, but I got used to it.

Recently, I started thinking about it more, when another title or rather baggage was added to what defines me as a person. I recently got divorced, and sharing this, reflected on people differently. Single, married, separated, divorced, all those titles put us inside boxes that are never fair to us. What makes me Hadil is what makes me smile, laugh and cry. My values, beliefs and actions are what defines me. I am a lot more than a divorced Arab woman. Next time you speak with someone new, try to put your stereotype in pause or maybe ask more fundamental questions before asking about age, race, and status. This is how you will get to know, see people from whom they really are!

Hadil, Yemen”

September 19, 2020

“Pandemic. It has given enormous amount of pain to people around the world, and a second chance for every single safely ...
03/07/2020

“Pandemic.
It has given enormous amount of pain to people around the world, and a second chance for every single safely isolating person, to live their life again. The world is slow, people have lost their lives, people are thriving to survive, mental stress for survival, everything is slowing down like anything. But if you leave every single thing the world behind you, once never seen by naked eyes have come out. Who thought moose will come out? Who thought you will have time to sit with your kid, and ask what relief does he want? The life that we actually live, we don’t have a single second to think about any stuff. Today, you have at least time to figure our what you want to do or regain yourself - you may realize that you have regained what you were back. You are not stable, things may not go on the way as you thought, however you do something that makes you happy. You have time for your family. There is time to feel nature. You see sunsets. You see how beautiful the clouds are. You make your tummy happy. You tried something new or you did something that you used to do. That’s the thing. Life by the reason of pandemic has given you a chance to regain yourself, and to own what you were apart from the materialistic life. Appreciate this and let things settle on it’s own.”

Kanal 2020
Thank you again for the cool and colourful background. Bloor Yorkville Yorkville Murals

”Dear Reader,Technology has always held a level of ‘fascination’ with me. Yet, when quarantine began, I decided to rever...
03/07/2020

”Dear Reader,

Technology has always held a level of ‘fascination’ with me. Yet, when quarantine began, I decided to revert back to my ancestral roots by sending out handwritten letters instead of a speedy text. The results were rewarding, raw and fruitful! It gave me a chance to slow down and appreciate life one moment at a time. It created a version of myself which I longed to reconnect with.
Pulling away from the social media world of continuous comparisons and instant trends felt natural. Eventually, I stopped caring what was being posted and started caring about what was around me in the real world; about those who I care about. Event my friends found joy within this simple, yet, exciting form of communication!
Quarantine started off as horrendous, scary and unnerving, but finding this natural and loving route made it all worth while

"Happy new year 2020 to all of you!I wish you all the best for the new decade :)”By Tom, GermanyDecember 31, 2019
25/06/2020

"Happy new year 2020 to all of you!

I wish you all the best for the new decade :)”

By Tom, Germany

December 31, 2019

“Long time ago on some halloween party a random fortune teller told me that I’m going to die before I reach 36 years. An...
19/06/2020

“Long time ago on some halloween party a random fortune teller told me that I’m going to die before I reach 36 years. And I knew that you should not trust fortune tellers or that you should not … to what ever happens when you drink, but for some reasons above my imagination this prophecy stayed with me for many yeas. It became very strong on my 35th birthday. Like this thought, this is a last year. The world is going to stop. I was concerned maybe because thinking of it I could make it true, like a self fulfilling prophecy, like a bad spell. I was even considering to go to a medium, or professional fortuneteller to ask for advise or to break the cycle. Instead I’ve asked myself what I really want, if I really die, what I would like to have experience, and the answers were clear in very confounded way. Seems clear now but it wasn’t that easy to understand it back then. I was in a bad relationship and I dreamed about love. I was in a boring job and I dreamed about travel, going for a world trip, freedom of not going to the office, and waking up every day to a new adventures instead to… emails.

I did many things to stop my aging. I changed my birthday on Facebook and invest massively in face care treatments. How silly it all seems from the time perspective. And I know I need to be brave and I was confused and not happy. It is very hard to make a good decision if you are “not” good, and things that are very dear are not visible when your sigh is blurred. But I took a look outside from my balcony and suddenly I noticed a big sign “CHANGE”. I mean it is huge, I don’t know if it was always there, but from that moment I knew that every day I’ll get a little nudge to change. I talked with my boss and he instead of taking my resignation gave me unpaid leave - I got freedom. I travelled with a friends, who had a friend who wanted to move temporarily to my apartment - I got no rent cost. And I red about my dream place, got a ticket, packed the backpack and went for my wonderful adventure, wonderful trip. I made my biggest dream come true. And believe it or not, first week on the climb to first volcano, I met someone and I fell so much in love. First month of my travels was filled with butterflies in my belly travel companion to share the memories.
Of course I didn’t die at 36. Soon I will be 37 but I made my life worth living. Looking how happy I am today, I wish everyone to have the courage to pursue their happiness.

Lots of love.

Emilie, 26.05.2020”

Thank you from for the colourful background.

“Dear Book, What can I say about my adventures in Canada? Like most people will find they are shaped by the people we me...
16/06/2020

“Dear Book,

What can I say about my adventures in Canada? Like most people will find they are shaped by the people we meet and interact with.
Being on a working holiday visa had meant that I am able to live and work with people for months. To really get to know them and the places I have lived in Toronto is one such a place. In fact, I loved it so much and developed such strong connections and memories that I came back again.
2nd year working for a Toronto Christmas Market, 2nd year hearing the tales and adventures from people I call friends and even family.

To travel is amazing, to live and truly experience a place…is even better, it is precious and it will leave you with connections that will last forever.

Sapphire from England, UK

December 18, 2019

“I am going to tell you about my dog. Her name was Bagel and she was perfection. She was a dachshund with short light br...
11/06/2020

“I am going to tell you about my dog. Her name was Bagel and she was perfection. She was a dachshund with short light brown hair and short legs. I met her when I was 9 and she died when I was 25. I knew her longer than I knew my father. She barked a lot and had terrible breath. She would burrow under the covers and get stick inside the duvet. She did not like walks but always had a trim figure. She showed off basking in the sun on the front steps. Everyone who walked by knew her name. She was a true legend. She smelled and felt like happiness. I will never love again.”

By ED, a traveler.
December 23, 2019
*Burrow: (of an animal) make a hole or tunnel, typically for use as a dwelling.

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