I would say this book is more of a collection of reflections rather than mediations, but I still very much enjoyed the daily reflections, especially all the tidbits of travel history you learned while reading the book. The history nerd in me was quite pleased with that. lol This would definitely make a great gift for your favorite traveler.

The Vagabond's Way is a thought provoking and gently written collection of meditations on life, travel, and personal philosophy collected and curated by Rolf Potts. Released 4th Oct 2022 by Penguin Random House on their Ballantine imprint, it's 416 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

The book is arranged thematically around the months of the year. Monthly themes are things like: Dreaming and planning the journey (Jan/Feb), Getting started on the road (March/Apr), and the extended journey (and journey home) (Nov/Dec). The short entries are given one per day and it works very well as a one-a-day post with an interesting point to think about. The writing is accessible and, at times, quite deep. There are thoughtful entries about purpose, lifestyle, growth, and time. 

I was most impressed over the fact that the author can ruminate on these things and never be trite or superficial. The layout and graphics are very understated. There aren't any illustrations. 

Four stars. Well written. This would make a good gift for oneself or others. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

This traveler's reflection novel is refreshing and eye-opening to the many aspects of seeing the world, its joys and realities. I really enjoyed the ideas that were suggested, some intuitive and others more thought-provoking. Thank you NetGalley, the author, and publisher for the review copy. All opinions are my own.

My parents instilled in me, very early on, the need to see the world, to absorb new cultures, and meet new people. This book perfectly describes how I feel about travel and why it is so important. In traveling, we learn more about other people and learn a lot about ourselves. Travel often, travel to as many places as you can, no matter how young or old you are. Written as daily meditations, if followed as intended, even the most adamant homebody will yearn to travel.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of THE VAGABOND'S WAY by Rolf Potts. My biggest issue with reviewing this book is it's meant to be read one page a day over the course of an entire year, like a tear-off calendar. Of course, I had to plow my way through it all at once in order to review it, and this was a bit challenging and got a little repetitive. That being said, I did enjoy all the collected thoughts about travel from all around the world, from hundreds of years ago to today, with a bit of auto-biographical details from the author thrown in as well. There were lots of inspiring ideas and it did really make me want to travel.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a free copy of this book through Netgalley.
I did enjoy the format and design of this book. I always grew up with Christian devotionals that have more or less traumatized me, so it was refreshing to see that style of book revisited through a different lens. This book is not religious, unless you count loving travel as a form of religion.
However, this book was not for me. I am a homebody who has very little internal wanderlust. I enjoyed the little quotes, nuggets of history, and inspirational segments, but it was unable to hold my whole attention and I found it really difficult to slog through all 366 little paragraphs of inspirational wanderlust.
Definitely check this out if you want a devotional that circles around your own wanderlust and intentions to travel now or sometime in the future.

It's hard to review this when I haven't read in the way it's meant to be read- one "meditation" a day. I lost, I think, the benefit of thinking about the chapters - which aren't meditations for the reader but rather prompts to think about something related to a journey. In that, this is successful as it made me remember with both fondness and annoyance the vagaries of traveling, a joy was taken away by the pandemic. Potts specializes in vagabonding- taking off for weeks or months at a time-which I've never been able to do but this made me think about it again. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Keep it bedside and read it as it was meant to be read.

Honestly, this book was note quite what I anticipated. This books was brought to me as one I may enjoy reading after finishing another book that I reviewed. I decided to give it a chance, not knowing anything about it. This should definitely be digested over time as individual reflections. To read this book in a quick manner like I did in order to review was not suitable. I think if I had more time to treat this book as the little reflections they are meant to be, I would have enjoyed it significantly more.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Thus book takes you on a journey. This book makes you think and gives you words of wisdom to live by and incorporate in your daily life. This was a good book.

The Vagabond's Way is a timely book, coming out two years of the world shouting down. It's the moment when many of us are willing, wishing, hoping to travel again. I appreciate this book in that context. It gives a daily dose of travel "meditations" (as the author calls them): short inspirational writings themed around travel to be read on a daily basis, It's an interesting concept, yet it felt a bit dry. Perhaps some illustrations, or some other type of visual imagery would have pushed the concept further.

First things first.

I went into my reading of Rolf Potts's "The Vagabonds Way: 366 Meditations on Wanderlust, Discovery, and the Art of Travel" expecting it to include, well, meditations.

It doesn't.

Upon further investigation, I realized that while the title of the book uses the word "meditations" the description of the book uses "reflections." There is a difference and this difference has been seldom more evident than it is in "The Vagabond's Way."

Organized as a calendar year with a meditation/reflection for each day, "The Vagabond's Way" will most likely appeal to those familiar with Potts's writings which all seem to center around "vagabonding," travel, and this idea of wanderlust. As someone not familiar with Potts, this was a challenging introduction that would not encourage me to explore his other writings.

Potts starts each reflection/meditation with a quote and then a short reflection or story around that quote or about some aspect of the quote meaningful to Potts. While I expected a more personal and immersive experience, "The Vagabond's Way" is possessed more by the spirit of intellectual curiosity and only occasionally ventures into Potts's own experiences on any meaningful level.

This brings me back to my original discussion. What exactly is "The Vagabond's Way?"

"The Vagabond's Way" leans closer to the idea of reflections than meditations. It's difficult to fathom anyone expecting "meditations" to be satisfied by "The Vagabond's Way." According to Headspace, meditation "isn’t about becoming a different person, a new person, or even a better person. It’s about training in awareness and getting a healthy sense of perspective. You’re not trying to turn off your thoughts or feelings. You’re learning to observe them without judgment. And eventually, you may start to better understand them as well."

There isn't a single calendar day here that brought me into this meditation space. In fact, if I were to review "The Vagabond's Way" solely on the basis of it being a book of meditations it would easily be a 1-star experience for me.

Instead, however, I can't help but think some acknowledgement should be given that the book is also described as having "reflections." Reflective writing "documenting your response to experiences, opinions, events or new information; communicating your response to thoughts."

While not entirely successful, "The Vagabond's Way" is much more successful as a book of reflections and once I was able to transition into this space I found the book much more appealing.

To be fair, however, I never connected to "The Vagabond's Way." Despite being someone who has spent much of my adult life traveling the country by wheelchair, I struggled to identify a spirit or experience with which I could connect here. While I found reflections I could respect or understand, at no point did I truly connect with "The Vagabond's Way."

To be perfectly honest, this surprised me. In fact, I very seldom agree to review a book that I don't expect to experience in a positive way. With my reviews, it's always my goal to empower authors and to help readers discover books with which they will resonate.

I truly struggled here.

That said, I do believe that those who appreciate Potts's writing will find pleasure in this calendar year of thoughts, reflections, and insights into wanderlust, discovery, and the art of travel. While it certainly won't work for everyone, especially those expecting meditations, "The Vagabond's Way" offers enough insights to be a valuable read for those with a traveling heart and mind.