At the age of twenty-five, Leila Hadley, bored with her New York PR job, buys two tickets aboard a cargo ship headed for Hong one for herself, and one for her six-year-old son Kippy. This decision sets her life on an entirely new course. After Manila, Hong Kong and Bangkok, their travels take an unexpected she meets four young men sailing their boat around the world, and convinces them to let her and Kippy join them.Filled with sensual descriptions of the places she visits, lively accounts of the people and traditions, and intriguing characters, it is not only the luminous vitality of her prose that make this travelogue such a pleasure to read, but the courage of her decision to toss expectations to the wind and embrace all the adventures the world has to offer-an inspiration to the adventurer that lurks within us all.
Leila Hadley Books
Leila Hadley was an American travel writer whose literary journey began after a transformative trip around the world at the age of twenty-six. Her narratives offer a unique perspective on global exploration and personal discovery. Hadley's work invites readers to experience the world through her insightful and evocative prose.
In a memoir that Norman Mailer called the "best travel book I've ever read", Leila Hadley records a journey to India inspired both by her lifelong love of travel and by a desire to reconcile with Veronica, her estranged daughter, who was living in India and studying Buddhism. The book's title comes from Veronica's remark as a young girl that she wanted to be "the sea, the jungle, or else a cloud", thereby earning her homonymic endearment of Elsa Cloud. A Journey with Elsa Cloud describes the sensuous delights of India, explains sexual mores and myths of India, and speaks tellingly about a memorable cast of characters, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama. A Journey with Elsa Cloud is the record of a journey, a love story, and a beautiful work of art.