IPPY gold medal winner Travel Essay
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Independent publisher book awards
AUTOBIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR —
INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS
awards
Finalist for author of the year 2026
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international impact book awards
Adult nonfiction 2026
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reader's choice book awards
SILVER WINNER 2026
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NONFICTION BOOK AWARDS
First-Place Award Winner, Self-Discovery & Travel Journals 2026
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THE BOOKFEST
BEST TRAVEL BOOK 2026
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INDIEREADER
“Poignant, moving, and filled with striking details about the globe’s out-of-the-way places, Belonging to the World is an uplifting celebration of life and travel.”
—IndieReader (4.8/5 stars)
“A deeply moving memoir that explores grief, healing, and the transformative power of travel.”
—Readers’ Choice Book Awards (5 stars)
"One of those rare memoirs that manages to balance emotional honesty with sweeping adventure. On the surface, it’s the story of a man’s quest to visit all 193 countries after the tragic death of his wife. But at its core, it’s a deeply human exploration of what it means to heal, to reconnect, and to find belonging not just in places, but in people. Fans of travel writers like Paul Theroux or memoirists like Cheryl Strayed (Wild) will appreciate Hoffner’s mix of introspection and exploration.”
—San Francisco Book Review (5 out of 5)
“Few travelogues offer this level of vulnerability and honesty with such expansive geographic and emotional range, Belonging to the World is uniquely compelling and hard to put down.”
—SPR Review (★★★★½)
“Hoffner lays bare the underlying, and often overlooked, ties that bind us to each other, regardless of our origins, and transforms seemingly dead-ends into brilliant moments of meaning and purpose.”
—BookLife Reviews (A)
“A whirlwind memoir of grief, discovery, and extreme travel, Belonging to the World captures renewed purpose through beauty, kindness, and adventure while visiting some of the most remote countries on earth.”
—Foreword Clarion Reviews (4 out of 5)
“The memoir hones a crisp, clear set of observations and wide-ranging contrasts that are rare even in the world of adventure travel literature, placing Belonging to the World in a class of its own. Delightful in its travelogue, pointed in its psychological and philosophical observations, and totally immersive in its approach, Belonging to the World is a treasure highly recommended for libraries, individuals, and book clubs alike.”
—Midwest Book Review
"Connection for me, in my travels, is the sense of reaching a common understanding and feeling of mutual care between people
despite coming from different places, cultures, religions and stages of life."
- Barry
Bourse Jackie Scholarship recipients in Bamako, Mali
Papua New Guinea
"Connection for me, in my travels, is the sense of reaching a common understanding and feeling of mutual care between people
despite coming from different places, cultures, religions and stages of life."
- Barry
School girls in Sri Lanka
Baghdad, Iraq night café scene
"Connection for me, in my travels, is the sense of reaching a common understanding and feeling of mutual care between people
despite coming from different places, cultures, religions and stages of life."
- Barry
Gift picture book from the President’s office in Palau
The Friday Mosque in Herat, Afghanistan
"Connection for me, in my travels, is the sense of reaching a common understanding and feeling of mutual care between people
despite coming from different places, cultures, religions and stages of life."
- Barry
Wedding party near Harar, Ethiopia
Monks in the Punakha Dzong Monastery in Bhutan
"Connection for me, in my travels, is the sense of reaching a common understanding and feeling of mutual care between people
despite coming from different places, cultures, religions and stages of life."
- Barry
Hanging with students in Masawa, Eritrea
Haircut in Shiraz, Iran
"Connection for me, in my travels, is the sense of reaching a common understanding and feeling of mutual care between people
despite coming from different places, cultures, religions and stages of life."
- Barry
Guide to a grove of Dragon Blood Trees in Socotra
My 63rd surprise birthday party in Damascus, Syria
"Connection for me, in my travels, is the sense of reaching a common understanding and feeling of mutual care between people
despite coming from different places, cultures, religions and stages of life."
- Barry
School inauguration Timbuktu, Mali
Pakistani truck drivers along the Karakoram highway
"Connection for me, in my travels, is the sense of reaching a common understanding and feeling of mutual care between people
despite coming from different places, cultures, religions and stages of life."
- Barry
New friend in Chad
Syrian refugee family in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon
"Connection for me, in my travels, is the sense of reaching a common understanding and feeling of mutual care between people
despite coming from different places, cultures, religions and stages of life."
- Barry
Sharing a coffee in Port Sudan, Sudan
Saudi tourists from Riyadh in Southern Saudi Arabia
"Connection for me, in my travels, is the sense of reaching a common understanding and feeling of mutual care between people
despite coming from different places, cultures, religions and stages of life."
- Barry
Students at a mudbrick Mosque in Hausa village in Niger
Security detail in Hadramawt Valley, Yemen
"Connection for me, in my travels, is the sense of reaching a common understanding and feeling of mutual care between people
despite coming from different places, cultures, religions and stages of life."
- Barry
With Bushmen in the Kalahari Desert, Botswana
My guide Rogers in the Okavango Delta, Botswana
a world of connections
BHUTAN
This Himalayan Kingdom steeped in Buddhist culture that you feel everywhere you go in the people, the architecture, the dress….you can’t help but be calmed by it.
A sampling of countries
A sampling of countries
DOMINICA
Sure, it has the best hiking trails, up rugged jungle peaks, in the Caribbean, waterfalls, rivers and hot-springs flowing everywhere, the nesting place of the Sperm Whales, but is the people who made Dominica Conde Naste’s friendliest country in 2023, that make this place special.
A sampling of countries
MONGOLIA
Mongolia is a compelling country: its vastness, Buddhism, rugged beauty, fascinating cultures and history of the Mongols. I will not soon forget the scale of expansiveness I felt driving through Western Mongolia, leaving impressions of awe and stunning beauty.
A sampling of countries
IRAQ
The place of one of the world’s firsts civilizations and the shrines of Mohammed’s son-in law and grandson, yet still tainted in the perception of many. A place of mind-blowing contrasts.
A sampling of countries
CHAD
The Gerewol Festival is unlike anything I’ve seen and as authentic a cultural experience as one could hope for with men from the Woodaabe clan beautifying themselves to earn the right to be chosen by a woman.
A sampling of countries
NIGER
The pastoral scenery is as good as it gets in Africa, the ubiquitous mudbrick mosques, roaming camels, women in colorful abayas balancing loads on their head walking to market.
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