Be true to your own voice. Don't imitate others. Transport a sense of place but don't just describe places and buildings. Explore your mental, emotional landscapes, all those feelings and thoughts you had while traveling. I think travel is the best way to put things in perspective because it's a first hand exposure to the world, you're learning from personal experience and though my journey takes place in the Mideast, in a time that no longer exists, my book does not focus on Mideast politics. There's enough of that out there. It's equally important to humanize the culture and people and focus on common ground. The other half of the book, that makes it a memoir is the personal angle and you have to be fearless when it comes to writing honestly about yourself. You can't shy away from exposing your wounds and though it's hard to be under that white hot glaring light, it was cathartic to figure out what the journey meant to me. The Maliha that started out is very different from the Maliha that returns home a year and a half later. I sometimes find it hard to believe that I actually had all these strange and wonderful experiences. And then I just feel as if I am paying a tribute to the person I was and the places I saw. I was just curious. That was my only motive to travel and it changed me as a person. It sounds corny, but travel truly is transformative, a self benediction of sorts that you earn from the road. And every road and every traveler is different. What matters is taking action. Being a doer over a talker.