Adventures Outside My Comfort Zone
From Woodstock to the Okavango. How a bookworm turned flower child turned healthcare executive found joy in traveling the world.
Structured in a series of essays and anecdotes, this memoir tells the story of a small-town Pennsylvania girl who stretched her horizons, tested her limits, and traveled all over the globe.
This first of two volumes follows author Sherry Knowlton and her husband Mike’s post-college tour of America in their hippie van; it describes regular hikes of the Appalachian and Rocky Mountain backcountry; and, driven by a love of wild animals, Sherry and Mike are beckoned to Africa again and again.
These essays address topics as diverse as modes of transportation, wild animal encounters, Indiana Jones moments, and people met along the way. They also include practical travel tips gained through firsthand experience.
Augmented by stunning photos by Knowlton and her husband, Beyond the Sunset is a love letter to all those explorers with a nine to five job and a zest for travel.
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING:
“I love this book. Sherry Knowlton shares some amazing stories that a life of travel brought her way, and these were not ordinary adventures that she and her husband Mike experienced over the years. Coming from the travel industry myself, I found reading Beyond the Sunset both calming and exciting – a perfect escape from the times we have endured the past few years. I highly recommend it and can’t wait for more. Sherry, keep traveling and sharing your stories.” – Steve Cox, a founder of International Expeditions and CEO of Conservancy Travel
"Beyond the Sunset is an exhilarating read... The stories are interspersed with beautiful photographs from the trips too. Lush with sensory detail and brimming with diverse travel experiences, Beyond the Sunset is bound to appeal to seasoned and unseasoned travelers alike." –Independent Book Review
★★★★★ “Whether recounting an unforgettable journey that took her to Woodstock for the famous music festival in the 1960s… or trekking through Indian forests searching for elusive tigers, she recounts adventures with a flair and talent that made me feel almost like I was a part of the journey. .. Whether you are an armchair traveler or one who seeks more adventure, Knowlton's memoir is sure to impress.” - Manhattan Book Review
★★★★- “Beyond the Sunset… is exquisitely written by award-winning author Sherry Knowlton. She takes readers on an adventure across the world. From the national parks of the U.S. Virgin Islands to the pristine waters of the Puerto Rican coast and far beyond, Knowlton recounts the details of each destination with clarity… Her expertise, gift with words, and amazing photographs all contribute immensely.” - San Francisco Book Review
“Readers of Sherry Knowlton’s Alexa Williams books will not be surprised to learn she’s an inveterate traveler. As I read her new travel memoir, Beyond the Sunset, I was struck by how much Knowlton’s writing reminded me of Delia Owens’. While Owens established herself as a nonfiction conservation writer before breaking into fiction, Knowlton began as a novelist and now demonstrates her formidable skills and extensive knowledge in her first travel memoir. I can hardly wait to see where Knowlton will take me next. Whether it’s in fiction or non-fiction, I’m sure I’ll she’ll leave me engaged, entertained, and better educated about the world.” - Gerri Almand, Author of The Reluctant RV Wife, Home Is Where the RV Is, and Running from Covid in our RV Cocoon
Trim Size: 6 x 9
Publish Date: September 13, 2022
Imprint: Sunbury Press
Genre: TRAVEL / Essays & Travelogues
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I was immediately hooked on this book, as Sherry's small town life experiences mimicked my own. I felt like she was writing from my perspective and I wanted to continue to see where we were going next. My husband and I also share a love for travel, like Sherry and Mike. We often joke that it's one of the few things that we share in common and enjoy doing together. Our travel experiences bond us deeply. This book provided a roadmap to exciting places that we will consider going to in the future. Whether you have the travel bud to go in person or prefer a hot beverage and good book to take you to faraway places, you must read this book!
I really loved reading Beyond the Sunset - Volume 1. I don't have the opportunity to travel as much as I would like to so I enjoyed reading about the author's adventures in every part of the world. The way the book is compiled is nice too - You can pick it up and read a little bit at time or in one sitting. I can't wait to read Volume two of Beyond the Sunset. Thanks to the author for sharing her worldly experiences with me. This is a must-read for anyone with a little adventure in their soul.
I love this book! On the surface, Beyond the Sunset by Sherry Knowlton is a delightful personal narrative of the author’s travel experiences. In the precise, straightforward style well known to readers of her Alexa suspense novels, Ms. Knowlton vividly describes the adventures, sites, people and animals she has encountered on her many trips all over the world. But what really comes through are the subtle impressions of WHY the author, and by extension so many of us, love to travel. Without bragging or preaching, she articulates the joys of expanding our horizons, learning new things, meeting people, sitting shoulder to shoulder with a person whose culture, customs and language are so different from our own, experiencing that which we have only seen in photographs or our imaginations. Whether we are interested in actually doing what she has done or traveling to the places she has been is not the point – the beauty of this book is that it gives voice to those of us who are subject to wanderlust no matter where we may venture.
Since I haven't been able to travel, the next best thing is to go on a journey with a book. Sherry delivered. Her memoir with photos and detailed descriptions took me to multiple countries and cultures, as if I'd been there myself. Her authenticity about scary and out-of-comfort zone experiences put me at ease. From the African safari to the South American jungle, it was a great way to spend my August taking in the sounds, smells and tastes - all described so superbly that even virtually I was with her and her husband on their adventures.
I gave a copy to my daughter so she could experience the adventures, too. I look forward to reading her second volume of Beyond the Sunset.
Obviously, I think Sherry Knowlton is an interesting storyteller or I would have not read all five of her mysteries, and her first attempt at non-fiction does not disappoint. Of course, it is easier to tell an interesting story when you have so many jammed-packed true adventures to write about. This book amazes me on various levels. One, how does a person in leadership roles in government and private industry find the time to travel to so many places? Two, how does someone find so many unusual and interesting places to visit? Three, how does anyone remember in such detail all the unique experiences encountered on so many trips?
Sherry and her husband Mike are certainly the adventurous types, and their adventures are presented so well in this book by Sherry's writing and photographs taken by both of them. I found it interesting that while some of their encounters/activities would definitely be out many peoples' "comfort zones," they take it in stride with perhaps only a "wow that was sort of dangerous" afterthought. Of special interest to me was how Sherry describes all the animals they observe, and the beauty of the land they are visiting.
This book is a delightful read. It has given me an insight into many locations I will never visit, but now feel I know something about. I am so looking forward to Volume 2.
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