“Traveling Heavy” by Ruth Behar – What is Home?

Ruth Behar is known internationally as being not only a good anthropologist, but also a great storyteller with plenty of interesting things to share with everyone. More precisely, she describes herself as an anthropologist who specializes in the concept of homesickness, and amongst many things, she discusses her thoughts and discoveries on the subject in an autobiographical novel she titled Traveling Heavy.

The book is mainly a portrayal of her entire life through a bunch of fun and touching stories that make for quite a light read. For instance, she describes in detail her experiences as an immigrant child, her paradox which combines a love of travelling and a fear of flying, the strangers who have made an impression on her life, her own successes and failures, and more.

Basically, it’s a collection of stories, each one detailing an important part of Behar’s life. What I found particularly commendable is that Behar remains impartial through the book in regards to herself, as hard as it may appear to be. She doesn’t cut herself any slack and talks about her downfalls in as much detail as her triumphs. 

As was mentioned above, in addition to simply discussing her life, Behar also talks about her favorite topic, homesickness. Over the years he has returned numerous times to her homeland of Cuba, never really being able to part from it. 

In this book, she attempts to provide an answer to the question as to what is home for us, why leave it to find a new one, and why we are always drawn back to the place where we were born or grew up. All in all, I have to say that her outlook on the subject is one worth reading as it is based on years of research and observation (if of course this is a topic which interests you).

All in all, I have to say that this a solid book on all fronts. It has humor, captivating stories, is written in a fantastically smooth and free-flowing prose, and even looks into one of the most interesting concepts known to practically all animals out there, that of home.

Ruth Behar seems like quite an interesting person, based on her autobiography at least, and I intend to read more of her in the future. If you look lively, interesting and insightful autobiographies, then I’m sure you’ll love this.

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Ruth Behar Personal site Born in Cuba, Ruth Behar has become a renowned Cuban-American writer, especially for her ability to see the conflict from both sides of the fence; what she experienced as a Jewish Cuban definitely helped to disillusion her perspective on life, even serving as the basis for a number of writings such as The Vulnerable Observer and Traveling Heavy.