Wanderful: The Modern Bohemian's Guide To Traveling In Style | Cover!

Time. It's a surreal thing, tumbling by on occasion and slowing to a halt on others... As I prepared to share this post: the reveal of the cover of my new book - "Wanderful: The Modern Bohemians Guide To Traveling In Style" I ruminated back on the last several years. I reflected back to the summer of 2014, road tripping through a foreign country - eyes ablaze - taking in new places everyday. Then fast forwarded to the summer of 2015, back home in America contemplating what wonderment my home country might hold for me. 

I came across a post I wrote then, August '15 - here's a little note from that post:

A year after finishing my first book, I'm so excited (and a little nervous) to share that I'm underway with book number two (eeee!). With an open heart, I'm ready to tell you at least this much -- this little story will be a girl's guide to the best road trip of her life...

It'll include road trip necessities, routes for weekend travelers and those who are planning a bit more time on the road. There will be picnic baskets (the kind that'll chill champagne for late nights camp side), piles of woven blankets to keep cozy in the cool desert air, and Polaroid snapshots along the way. Of course, it'll have music selections for long winding nights behind the wheel and a library of road trip reads for the bibliophiles like me. 

And here, a year and a half later I'm having for real, a moment of straight up euphoria in sharing this with you. I truly feel that THAT is exactly what we've created with this book! 

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I'm often asked, 'how does one decide to take on writing a book?' and, then 'what's the process like?' - especially when it's a book that covers 9 road trips across America. I felt prepared going into this, I mean, hey - I've written a book before, and understood the joy and pain (and trust me there's much of both) even though this concept and approach would be so seriously different. 

However what I couldn't have prepared for was the beautiful travelers I'd meet along the way, the friendships I'd develop and those that would deepen from doing this sort of traveling. I couldn't have prepared for the genuine thrill of exploring my own creativity in a new way while concepting this book... the delight in seeing ideas come to life through photographs, and my own romance with the world at large that would expand with each passing hour on the road.

So without dragging this on any longer, I'm happy to share a bit more about the book, this is an excerpt from my publisher's site: 

"A girl with a love for off-the-beaten-path destinations, Andi Eaton found herself putting aside the Lonely Planet and Condé Nast Traveler guides and, instead, looking to bohemians and artists for travel and style inspiration: What do the flower children wear on their excur­sions? Where are the creatives’ favorite vintage shops? And where do the musicians go late-night dancing after the last encore? The dreamer in her wanted more than what a standard travel guide could offer, so she decided to create her own.

Wanderful is a stylish lookbook and travelogue for the adven­turous and nomadic at heart. Follow in Andi’s footsteps as she travels the United States to discover some of its most effort­lessly chic destinations—and the fashionable free spirits and wanderers who live there. Nine intimate and exciting road trip routes explore cities, forests, and in between, and will make you feel like you’re traipsing the country with your best, and best-dressed, girlfriends by your side." 

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The book comes out on September 12th, so we've got a little ways to go, however you can pre-order now, and I will truly love those of you who do forever! And! In the meantime, I'll be sharing little peeks and behind the scenes stories every month leading up to the release.

Here's a bit more about the cover!

The cover features Photographer & Musician Amanda Bjorn. Each chapter features locals and wanderlusting road trippers that I met along the way. When I took off for my own Big Sur road trip I thought about Amanda. She had traveled the PCH with her boyfriend (and creative partner) and an old school Super 8 camera creating film footage for their band's newly released EP "Young and Restless."

Amanda was my muse for this route. She is the ultimate wanderful girl. 

Outtakes from Amanda's journey up Highway 1

As Allister (who photographed much of the Pacific Coast Highway chapter) and I pulled into Big Sur, I envisioned Henry Miller, Jack Kerouac and Joan Didion perched high on the rugged cliff’s edge in their writer’s retreats. What it must have been like for them when they first laid eyes on this place. I wanted to emulate their stories, and Amanda clearly had done the same.

Btw, in Big Sur, people make plans a different way. It’s old school; the mystics and mountain men, healers and musicians flow along without any need or want for the outside world’s static. I fell in love instantly. Big Sur was a highlight of my first road trip and embodied an energy and a feeling that would stay with me for the remainder of these wanderful travels. 

Without giving anything away, I've shared a few behind the scenes images and outtakes below, these photos capture the spirit of this sort of travel (I think)! Enjoy!

I can't wait to share more with you, and truly hope you all love it and are inspired to get out there in the world. 

Wanderfully yours,

Andi

outtake photo credits (from top, and l to r): Allister Ann 1, 3-5, 7, 8, 10 | Hunter Holder 2, 6 | Keiko Lynn 9