The genre of travel writing has, for too long, been the domain of settlers: so-called “explorers” whose journeys and way of being in the world have seeped into the foundation of everyday life on the move, from militarized borders to the names of mountains, rivers, and deserts. But travel is a lot older than settler colonialism. In many ways, the urge to travel—to meet new people, share stories and experiences, and be in relationship with parts of the world previously unknown to you—can be a lived and fully embodied practice of resistance.
In her debut memoir, I Love You So Many: A Native Memoir of Adventure, Culture, and Family, Terria Smith traces her journey from the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Reservation to journalism school, and her decision to travel the United States to tell about the lives of Native people from one coast to another. As her hunger for travel grew, so did her understanding of community, and what it means to be a world citizen. In warm and thrilling prose, Terria takes readers with her on trips across the Americas, spending time in Cuba, Iceland, and Guyana as she falls in and out of love and develops lifelong bonds with the people she meets.
The phrase “I Love You So Many” comes from a phrase used by Terria’s Spanish-speaking relatives: what would be considered by some to be an error of translation is refigured here as an opening to celebrate the many-ness of our loves, populated with people, animals, islands, and life. I Love You So Many is a book that challenges a certain way of thinking about travel, and invites readers into Terria’s infectious enthusiasm for stepping outside and seeing what you can give the world and the amazing experiences it can give back to you. On Sale June 23, you can buy a copy of I Love You So Many from your local bookseller, or by shopping online at Heyday Books.
