World traveler hopes to 'excite others about their journeys'

By Rose Hooper

Her odyssey, much like Homer's or "O Brother, Where Art Thou?," took her to the top of a 9,000-foot mountain in Nepal, suspended her in the air above Mount Everest, and found her high atop an elephant's back on a safari. She rode a camel named Peacock in the desert dunes, was chased by a snake charmer and his cobra and marveled at the splendor of the Taj Mahal.

Watkins captured her adventures and more in her just-published book "East Toward Dawn: A Woman's Solo Journey Around the World."

Rather than a one-stop destination like many vacations people take, Watkins said her journey "was always going forward... to get a feel for the roundness of the globe."

The more places she went, the more Watkins discovered that "people everywhere share the same human desire for a good life; outwardly we may differ and even come to blows as enemies, but inwardly we share similar hopes, fears and dreams."

Her adventure was not just a "fun trip," but a carefully planned reflective journey.

"No matter when, no matter where, each of us is on a journey, day by day, year by year, whether we are conscious of it or not," said Watkins, a reference librarian at Western Carolina University's Hunter Library.

While many might be afraid to set out on such a journey all alone, Watkins relished the opportunity.

"When you are by yourself, you are totally ensconced in the environment. But if you have a companion, you interact with them rather than the environment," said Watkins, who was never afraid on her journey "not even for one moment." Another benefit of traveling alone, she said, is "the freedom to make all the decisions yourself."

"I am not one of those who thinks there is only one absolute way in the world to do something. I enjoy trying new experiences and really getting inside the culture I visit," she said.

At one point of her book Watkins questioned "whether an outsider - no matter how well-intentioned - should attempt to show another person how to improve her life, if that person has not requested the outsider's help. Real change, real learning occurs only when a person requests help."

At WCU, when international students need help, they seek out this world traveler who understands what it means to be a stranger in a foreign land.

"Nan 'adopts' these students and works with them one-on-one here at the library and outside the university setting," said one of her co-workers.

"I like to think we are part of a great chain of friendship that will link people throughout the world in unique ways, for longer than I can imagine," Watkins wrote in her book.

A pianist, she said, "Music is my native language - not words. I never took up writing until late in life; I just walked into doors as they opened."

On May 3 Watkins will have a reading and book signing at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva at 7:30 p.m. Her experience and enthusiasm should serve as a passport for an audience Watkins hopes will "get excited about their own journeys."

On May 11 she travels to New York City to appear on a radio show and to be honored with other writers at a wine and cheese reception and book signing.

Back to Archive: 04/25/02.