4 must-read memoirs that explore healing through travel

Indian Express

23-07-2025

The Salt Path, a memoir written by Raynor Winn, had been in the spotlight recently due to allegations regarding misleading information. Published in 2018, the novel received a movie adaptation last year. It follows the story of Winn and her husband, Moth, as they walk 630 miles along the South West Coast Path in UK following the repossession of their house and Moth's diagnosis of corticobasal degeneration, a terminal illness. Grieving the loss of a home, and confronting the devastating news about Moth's illness, the journey is not merely physical, but an emotionally resonant journey about healing and renewal. Winn's description of the natural world accompanies a personal narrative and philosophical musings in this memoir.
Here are a few more books that are centred around a journey that marks renewal and transformation:
Four years after the death of her mother, Cheryl Strayed decided to go on an eleven hundred mile long hike along the Pacific Crest trail despite not having any prior long hiking experience. Published in 2012, Wild: From Lost to Found (Atlantic Books, pages 336, Rs 499) is the story of Strayed as she navigates her way not just through the hiking trail, but also through her grief. With humour interspersed between the reflective and vulnerable prose, like the title suggests, Wild is a memoir about finding oneself after feeling lost.
Spiralling into alcoholism and chaos in London, Amy Liptrot returns to her childhood home in the Orkney Islands following her rehabilitation. The Outrun is a memoir that charts Liptrot's journey from the chaos of city life to her gradual recovery as she reconnects with here hometown and the nature that surrounds it. The lyrical prose blends a deeply personal narrative with illustrative nature writing as Liptrot describes the crashing waves, the auroras, and the puffins. Following the hustle of city life, Liptrot reconnects with herself and the natural world as it turns into a solace for her.
This memoir deals with an issue that is not merely personal, but also engrained in society, Following a racially motivated attack, Anita Sethi embarks on a journey across the Pennines, known as the backbone of Britain. The attack which assailed the rights of Sethi because of her race deeply traumatised her, and through each step she takes Sethi reclaims her space in the country as she contemplates about identity and belonging. I Belong Here (Bloomsbury Wildlife, pages 320, Rs 555) is a personal memoir that talks about racism, trauma, and healing.
Unlike the other books mentioned on this list, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (Penguin, pages 416, Rs 919) by Rachel Joyce is a fictional novel that follows Harold Fry as he embarks on a six hundred mile long journey on foot. On a seemingly usual day Harold receives a goodbye letter from an old friend he hasn't heard from in years. As he walks to the post office to send a reply, an encounter convinces him that he must deliver the letter in person and he sets off on an expedition to see his friend. En route he meets strangers and witnesses the lives of ordinary people as he looks back on his life and the events that steered the course of his life.