Welcome to Letters from a Wanderer

a Wanderer Writes newsletter for independent travelers and anyone who likes to read about travel with focus on spending time in nature

Welcome, fellow Wanderers - and all who enjoy reading about places!

I’m so glad you stopped by, and thank you for subscribing! If you haven’t yet, you can do so now by clicking the button above.

I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself and let you know what to expect from the weekly “letters”.

I plan to have them cover travel stories, unique experiences from the road, and other travel-related tales, especially focusing on places in nature, because that’s what I do most of the time, no matter where I am.

You’ll find personal notes from my travels, stories from places I visited, maybe travel guides to places I know well, and sometimes tips about responsible ways to get the best out of your trips. I tend to focus on nature sites, and as I am getting older, I do it more often, so my guess is you will find many nature-related posts.

What you won’t find here is travel advice; I believe everyone has to find their own best way to travel, their own favorite places. Besides, there is plenty of travel advice online for anyone.

I write for independent travelers like myself who try to travel sustainably, using local guides, hotels, restaurants, and who wish to communicate with locals, learn about the background of the places they visit, and who want to stay away from tourist traps, commercial tours, and crowds.

You’ll find stories about exploring Maya archaeological sites through Mexico and beyond, about interesting places in the US Southwest, the Pacific Northwest, and the rest of the US, as well as farther away, in Transylvania, and beyond. I write about unique experiences, archaeology, the historical background of places, myths and legends, and interacting with locals.

All from the perspective of a wanderer. Or someone who considers herself a wanderer.

Not in the sense that I am always on the road. I think of myself as a wanderer through places and life, both in terms of exploring new and familiar places and navigating through life without a fixed plan. While I have a general idea of my goals, I prefer to let my wanderings guide me. Both when I travel and when I start something new.

Writing on Substack is something new I started a year ago. I’m still not sure I know what I’m doing, but I’m wandering through the process...

Who am I?

My name is Emese-Réka, I go by either Emese or Réka, since both are my first names.

In Hungarian, we generally don’t have middle names (at least it wasn’t in fashion when I was born), but I got two first names, thanks to the doctor who delivered me on a cold, stormy New Year’s Eve. My mother wanted to call me Emese if I were a girl. The doctor, who spent his New Year’s Eve with us, mentioned the name Réka as his favorite girl's name. Since both my parents liked it, they added it to my mother’s original idea, Emese.

Réka stuck when I was growing up. It was the name everyone called me while growing up, it was the name I preferred, and used.

After living in the US for a few years, this changed, since I liked how English-speaking people pronounced Emese much better than they pronounced Réka. So now, I am Réka for my Hungarian family and friends, but Emese for everyone else. It is the first time I am using both my names to sign my writing, so I’m not sure how it will end up. I’m wandering through this process, too.

Besides not being able to decide what I want people to call me, I can’t really decide who I want to be, either. Even as I am approaching 60.

At the moment, I am a freelance travel writer, blogger, occasional translator, and Hungarian language instructor. Also a knitter, crocheter, and creator using other needlecrafts. And a writer of children’s stories. All of it, all at once. I am also hoping to publish a book soon - hopefully before I turn 60.

When my first child was born, I had no trouble deciding who I wanted to be. I couldn’t imagine my life except as a stay-at-home mother. Luckily, I didn’t need to.

Throughout the years my three kids grew up, I knew who I was: I was their mother.

In all reality, that included multiple jobs, like nurse, playmate, listener, cook, baker, dishwasher, housecleaner, driver, eventually volunteer school librarian and art masterpiece teacher, dance school manager, and children’s travel agent, plus probably many more I can’t even remember or name now.

However, all my kids are adults now; the youngest is at a University, so when they all moved out, I had to reinvent myself. This really started a few years ago, when they were all old enough not to need me (except as a listener and occasional cook/baker).

That’s when I started writing. Or taking my writing more seriously.

I pitched some travel pieces to several online magazines, and I got a few bylines. Soon, I became a weekly contributor to MapQuest’s now-defunct Parachute magazine. And, since I was already writing about travel, when Parachute folded, I started my travel blog,

I didn’t stop pitching to other magazines right away, though.

I became a contributor to Matador Network,

I started writing regularly for TravelAwaits,

and added a few pieces for Roadtrippers Magazine.

Eventually, I even got a few bylines in Lonely Planet magazine.

During this time, I also wrote for several other now-defunct online travel magazines. But eventually, I got tired of the constant change in the process.

So, I started concentrating on the publication I could control, my own blog, which benefited from the attention and grew, becoming home to over 200 of my travel-related posts.

When I discovered Substack, I added it to my writing outlets.

And here I am, enjoying my time on the platform.

Why the focus on travel?

I’ve been traveling most of my life. More so since I’ve lived in the US…

I first landed in New York City as a 25-year-old, fresh out of college, in search of adventure. My adventure was supposed to last six months, while I was going to explore the east coast of the US.

However, I met someone… so my six-month adventure turned into a lifetime adventure.

Travel has brought me to the US, and it has remained at the center of my new life, with my new family. 

It didn’t stop when I got married and we had no money… We took my husband’s ancient Jetta and old beat-up tent, and took road trips. 

It didn’t stop when we had children - we adjusted our travels and took them with us everywhere we went, starting from their first weeks of life. 

Road trips, plane trips, short trips, long trips — we were on the move every time we had a break.

Since my husband retired, we travel even more. And I still like to write about our adventures.

I hope you will follow along

If you do, you will receive unique travel stories, with added historical, archaeological, and natural background of the places we visit, stories of interacting with locals, sometimes even tips on how to learn a language or how to get the most out of a trip in a sustainable manner. And if you don’t like these stories, you can unsubscribe at any time (although I would be sad if you did).

All posts are and will always remain free to read, so you have nothing to lose.

Thank you for reading, and happy travels!

Emese

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Thank you for reading Letters from a Wanderer!

All posts are free to read. Nothing is behind a paywall.

However, if you would like to upgrade to a paid subscription, you will assist me in helping a charity. I will donate all revenues from paid subscriptions to charities that help nature and wildlife.

This year, I will donate to:

Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center, an organization that helps injured or orphaned wildlife around the city where I live.

Why Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center?

I first visited Southwest Wildlife ten years ago, with my then 9-year-old daughter and her friend. The visit had a profound impact on both me and my child. I was especially impressed by the Center’s work in reintroducing the Mexican Grey Wolf into the wild, on top of helping injured and orphaned animals. My young child, on the other hand, was touched by the story of Leonardo, a jaguar-leopard cross rescued from inhumane conditions and living her life at the Center. So, we "adopted" Leo for her tenth birthday. Later, as a senior in high school, she chose the sanctuary that gave Leo a home as her senior project, fundraising for the Center. Over the years, and especially through the visits during her senior project when I accompanied her to the Center, we learned a lot about their work with wildlife. I am impressed by the work of all volunteers and also realize their constant need for funds. So, I chose the Center as a recipient for all the funds I might gain from paid subscriptions. Read about their work, and if you are in the Phoenix area, contact them for a visit.

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If you wish to show appreciation for individual posts or as a one-time donation, you can buy me a coffee.

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I should not need to say it, but unfortunately, too many sites are created with the help of AI, and it is hard to tell the difference. So, I wanted to make sure you all know that my site is:

Badge created by Beth Spencer. Thank you, Beth!

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Your turn:

Now that you know a bit (probably more than you cared to know) about me, feel free to share something about yourself, too, if you feel like it:

Where in the world are you?

What is your favorite place to travel to?

What is a place you always wanted to visit but haven’t yet?

What would you like to read about here?

Anything else you’d like to share?

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