How I traveled to 90 countries and all 50 states by the age of 70

Karen Gershowitz has traveled to 90 countries and all 50 US states. From the age of 17, when she left home to travel in Europe alone, the New Yorker has embraced travel as an enduring lifelong love and a way of gaining new perspectives. In “Travel Mania: Stories of Wanderlust,” (She Writes Press), out July 13, Gershowitz celebrates five decades spent traveling to the far reaches of the world, from Thailand and the Galapagos Islands to Crete, Vietnam, Tibet, India, Burma, Cuba, Venezuela, the United Arab Emirates, Russia and more. 

“My mother always wanted to travel. When she was older, she had health issues, so we ‘traveled’ while staying in NYC,” says Gershowitz. “We went to museums and performances and restaurants, and I became curious about the world from doing those things.”  It must be in the genes: At age 65, her grandmother Bella began to traverse the country in Greyhound buses, enjoying the experience so much she decided to up the ante by setting off on a months-long trip to the Cold War-era Soviet Union to track down relatives.