Never a Stranger: From her past in Croatia and Russia, to finding a son in Bhutan, to befriending women in Africa, one woman’s stories of travel, connection, and self-discovery.

by Tania Romanov

Tania Romanov hangs from the final limb of a family tree of generations of unintentional travelers—exiles, refugees, displaced people. She grew up with stories of exile—stories of adventure. Perhaps that’s why, as an adult, she started living her own adventures—and hasn’t stopped since. In India, she learned that to Indians the way she mourned her husband was far less personal than their custom of dropping cremated bodies into a river; in Japan, that her ancestors could find her in the oddest of circumstances. In Bhutan, she found family, and in Namibia she learned to ease her fears of being trapped in her own past. In Never a Stranger, Tania shares those experiences and more, unforgettable stories of travel, connection, and self-discovery.

Genres: Travel

239 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 1, 2019

About the author

A writer, traveler and award winning photographer, Tania Amochaev was born in Serbia and spent her childhood in San Sabba, a refugee camp in Trieste, Italy. She graduated from San Francisco’s public schools, the University of California, Berkeley, and the Stanford Graduate School of Business. She served as CEO of three technology companies, then founded the Healdsburg Literary Guild and the educational non-profit Public School Success Team.

Fluent in a number of languages including her native Serbo-Croatian and Russian, as well as French and Italian, her first book, Mother Tongue, follows the story of three generations of women in her family. She is currently writing a book that starts with her father's flight as an infant from Russia during the Revolution of 1917, follows him through life in Serbia, and to San Francisco’s Tsarist Russian community. The essay on her visit to her father's home village in the heart of Russia during repressive Communist times was published in Best Travel Writing, Volume 10.

Learn more about Tania and follow her blog at taniaromanov.com

Reviews

[Amber Lane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just meh. I’m sure I’m in the minority with my review. The author seemed naive in her travels and had the whole ‘white savior’ thing going as well. Always ready to rescue all, and save the day. Each chapter jumped around so much that it was hard to tell where she was. Was she on a photography course? Just random stories of her traveling, saving the day is pretty much it. She also described numerous people as fat, obese, large, and oversized. Is that necessary?

[Elisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing and inspirational book about curiosity, adventure, connection, community and meaning. When I grow up I want to be Tania!!