—EDIT: This Mini Challenge is CLOSED – winner will be announced soon!—
Reading a book is undoubtedly one of my favorite methods of travel. One page, one sentence, and I am in the world of a story. No matter my mood, a book transports me. I have encountered mythical creatures, unbelievable worlds, and characters that I never want to say goodbye to.
Unsurprisingly, next to reading, another of my passions is travel. As a travel agent, I plan trips to Italy, Hawaii, Australia, even Iceland. But the places I’d most like to travel to don’t exactly exist…
This challenge seems simple: if money and time were no object (you’ve won the biggest lottery jackpot ever, and your boss is totally fine with you taking all of the time off work you need), where would you go to experience your favorite book(s) or series? Fictional places count too, of course.
But now you have to choose: do you explore Narnia before taking in a couple classes at Hogwarts? Do you travel to New Zealand, where they filmed parts of the Lord of the Rings trilogy? Do you trace the route the pilgrims took in The Canterbury Tales, or visit London and the Charles Dickens Museum? Tell me where you’d like to go, why you’d like to go there, and how long you’d like to stay (even though sometimes the answer is “forever!”)
I would spend at least two months at Hogwarts alone, taking detours from learning magic to the enchanting towns of Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. I would spend a few weeks learning from the helldivers of Lykos on Mars in the world of Red Rising. Finally I would return to the “real” world, making a world tour of literary cafés and bookstore restaurants everywhere.
A $10.00 Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com gift card (winner’s choice) awaits you…if you can decide on where you’re going! Leave a link to your response to this mini challenge, and/or and email I can reach you to coordinate your prize. Where do books take you?
Ampersand Read 
No question: Dickens’ London. I know I’ve totally romanticized it in my head, and that the poverty and pollution would be horrifying, but I still want to see it. I went to London for the first time last year, and even though it was amazing and better in so many ways than I’d ever dreamed, there was still a moment to come to terms with the fact that nineteenth century London doesn’t exist anymore. I probably wouldn’t stay longer than a few days, but I wouldn’t hesitate for a second to go.
Easy for me! I’d visit both of Tamora Pierce’s worlds – Tortall and Emelan. Emelan seems like it would have more beautiful scenery, so I could see myself relaxing there long-term, but Tortall has my favorite characters and knights and mythical creatures.
My email is ctmorrison36@gmail.com
Emmelan! Good idea! Seconded! Just, somewhere on the periphery of somewhere that didn’t need to go to war or save the world, I think. But I’d like to meet the characters.
Oh, wow, of course there’s a lot of fictional places I’d love to visit, but if I have to choose, and no matter how much I’d love to visit the world of Harry Potter, I’d actually choose The Night Circus from Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus. That place is absolutely incredible, and so, so, so magical. And I wished it was real so much while I was reading the book…
My mail: sandric,sk at gmail dot com
sorry, my mail is sandric.sk at gmail dot com
Yesssss! The Night Circus is the best idea for this!!!!
My wish is a bit classical. Neverland. I’m not a boy, but my guy friends do refer to me as Big Mama Wendy. And I don’t hate it 😉
I would like to go to the English countryside to sit in a traditional English Garden and read. Somewhere like St. Mary Mead. I would not however want to have a visit from Miss Marple. I don’t want to be anywhere near her to become a murder victim.
Oh, wow- this is a little tough. There are so many places.
For fictional places, I would probably go w/ Hogwarts, since it looks like such a fascinating place. (Plus, I really want to look through the Library.) I’d probably spend a few months there, exploring the grounds, attending classes, getting to know a few people.
For real life places- probably Italy. I’d probably spend a month or two there, enjoying the sites, the art, the food, and learning history. Also, if somebody in my family remembers where exactly in Southern Italy my great-grandparents are from, it’d be nice to visit there.
– Nicole Woods (E-mail: nwoods@ucsd.edu)
Oh I would like to go to Middle Earth, from Lord of the RIngs. The world is so big and there are so many places to explore. There I would like to explore the Misty Mountains, visit the elves in Rivendell and Lothlorien, go to the Shire to visit all those merry Hobbits, but I will end in the Prancing Pony in Bree, to dance and sing with friends and other people I will get to know.
Dude, look at my username. I would sooooo be flying my butt to Neverland, okay? Maybe I’ll just floo powder it to Hogwarts after a month or two. After a three week crash course on magic and shopping trip to Diagon Alley, I’d open a door and find myself in Narnia. Once I sail the seas with Caspian for awhile, the War Doctor will show up with his TARDIS (there’s books!) and take me to meet – and help – Lila and Kell defend the world against some dark Shades of Magic through multiple Londons. Then he’ll bring me right back home to the exact time I left, so I won’t have missed any parts of my real life.
Wow, I’m impressed with how many awesome places you fit in there! I formally crown you the winner *hands off shiny crown and sash* CONGRATULATIONS! An email is impending to see which prize you would prefer. Thanks for participating!
Aside from the obvious: Hogwarts!!! I’d like to study a bit in Brakebills from Lev Grossman’s The Magicians and The Library from Genevieve Cogman’s The Invisible Library, which is an absolute delight for any bookworm. Completely unoriginal answers, I know. but after all we are all spending our weekend readathoning! 😀
I would definitely go to Hogwarts and knock some sense into my fellow slytherins and sense I have all the money I could ever need from winning the lottery I would give Draco a run for his money until he learned to act like a reasonable person. I love his character but that boy needed to be knocked down a peg or two.
Two years ago I would have quickly said New Zealand in its fictional state: tea in Hobbiton, a horseback ride in Rohan, an overnight stay in Lothlorien, followed by a stopover at Minis Tirith and a long rest in Rivendell. But now I include a week (a month?) or more at the Night Circus. Since it changes daily, there’s no end to the wonderment!
Here’s a link to my response: https://www.instagram.com/p/BL4HW9ljttr/
:))
I hope I could ‘cheat’ a bit. I would, of course, start in Terre d’Ange (from the Kushiel’s Legacy series), where I would explore ~everything~ that wonderful place had to offer. Then I would follow the Danube, backwards-tracing the trek of Ayla from the Earth’s Children (or maybe I should say taking Jondalar & Thonolan’s trek, but not so much with them as inspiration).
My email is GratefulStead@gmail.com
My first thought was “Jane Austen’s England,” my second thought was “indoor plumbing” so, it’s back to the drawing board. Rather, I would love a literary tour of the British Isles. To travel paths tread by some of my favorite authors while soaking up history and researching my family tree would be a dream come true.
This has so far been one of my favorite challenges as I love to travel, but rarely have money or time to do it. I have planned multiple trips on paper to literary hot spots over the years and would love to make them all come true. First, I would stay in the US and visit Concord, MA where so many great US classics were written, visit Hawthorne and other authors’ homes as well as grave sites. Then I would be off to England, Scotland and Wales to satisfy my inner child/teen (and adult) and visit places that inspired J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding world of Harry Potter. I wouldn’t stop there either, as a student of the ancient classics, I have always wanted to visit Italy and Greece to see the actual places of Virgil’s Aeneid and the Homeric epics.My Final stop in the real world would be New Zealand to make my inner hobbit happy while visited where Lord of the Rings was filmed.
If I could go anywhere in fiction, I would visit the prestigious school of magic, Brakebills, and the land of Fillory made famous in Lev Grossman’s Magicians trilogy.
Thank you for sharing this amazing mini-challenge.
Having read many non fiction as well as historical fiction books on them, I’ve always wanted to take a Tudor’s tour of Europe and a Marie Antoinette tour of France and Austria. In the purely fictional world, I can’t resist picking Hogwarts. My email is: trishareadsbooks at gmail dot com
If I could go anywhere I would go somewhere where I could float on a clear ocean and read my favorite series, relaxing in the sun.
Aside from the obvious Hogwarts and Middle Earth (particularly the Shire- one day I will make it to New Zealand!), I think a fun fictional world to travel to would be the alternate universe in the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde. There’s time travel, dodos, just all kinds of wackiness, and the ability to travel into books! Which now that I think about it I suppose is kind of like using my wish to wish for more wishes lol.
I have always wanted to visit Scotland, after reading Outlander series I want to go even more. Now if I can do it any way I want, I would have Jamie Fraser (or Sam Heughan) as my personal tour guide! For fictional places, I would like to visit New York in the mid-21st century as portrayed by J.D Robb’s “In Death” series and be privy to all of Roake’s gadgets/properties.
This would be such a hard decision! Hogwarts for sure. And The Night Court (well, Velaris) in A Court of Mist and Fury.
Email: kristymk18@gmail.com
Obviously I’d go to the Wizarding World first. I’d probably stroll through Diagon Alley and stay at the leaky cauldron for 2 weeks or so. Visiting Hogsmeade to go to the Three Broomsticks and making friends with Hogwarts students who were there for the weekend. And then after that, I’d return to the real world and go to the Roald Dahl museum in Buckinghamshire, England to fill up my head with more facts about my favorite author and genius. And just the heck of it, I’d go to Forks for a few days. Gotta please my thirteen year old self with Twilight memories. And finally I’d love to settle down in Prague. Specifically, Karou’s Prague from Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I would stroll through the gorgeous city streets in the morning with a coffee and eat goulash at Poison Kitchen as often as I can and live in a beautiful studio apartment like Karou’s….okay I’m getting rather carried away now haha
Oh and you can contact me on my instagram which is @nushoesocks
I’d want to go to Harry Potters world and go shopping in Diagon Alley. Get a butterbeer, and go to the candy store.
I would definitely go to New Zealand and explore all of the places used in the filming of the movies (based on my favorite books everrrrr). Even if I didn’t love LotR, New Zealand has AMAZING scenery!
I want to go to the Cymru of the Mabinogion, where all sorts of magic and adventure are the order of the day, and poetry is a way of life. I want to see how history and legend can mingle inextricably.
brengwain@gmail.com
Japan for me since I love Japanese literature (Murakami is one of my favorite authors) and I have yet to visit.
I picked a fictional and real location! 🙂
My Hour 8 challenge
I love this question! I’ve already traveled to London and New Zealand in real life (and of course I had to take the LOTR tour)! So I would go to a fictional location. I would travel to Hogwarts to meet some of my favorite people and then stop in Diagon Alley. I’d spend at least three months exploring Harry Potter’s world. Then I’d spend a few nights enjoy The Night Circus. Then I’d visit the Cemetery of Forgotten Books for a week in Barcelona (The Shadow of the Wind). I would spend a month relaxing in Rivendell to finish up my trip.
Hogwarts without a doubt.
Bharti Kircher’s books (Darjeeling, Sharmilla’s Book and Shiva Dancing) always made me desire to go to India. The amazing people, the culture, the life there always intrigued me and I’d visit different areas of the country, starting with Calcutta.
After spending a month there I’d love to go to Antartica. I never thought about the place before until I read Maria Semple’s “Where’d You Go Bernadette?”. It seems to peaceful and clean there. I would end my journey visiting a city I always have on my bucket list, Seattle. That city calls out to me, with its love of technology, the weather and its location. Plus I’m a Mariners fan so that’s a bonus. 😉
Bellecoeur at gmail dot com
I’d go to Hogwarts as well if I was special enough! I’d also like to go to the Civil War era just to see things in the flesh so to speak.
There are a lot of fictional worlds I’d like to visit but my most wanted would definitely be Hogwarts. As a child I always dreamed about it, and actually had a small hope I really get a letter to hogwarts when I turned 11.
So I would travel to hogwarts and stay there as long as I could, discover the castle, visit all the places where Harry Potter and his friends have been, go shopping in the diagon alley (*sigh* that would be wonderful)
But If I had to chose a place in the real world I would fly to new zeeland and visit the lord of the rings set, then a dream would come through.
If I could go anywhere, I would definitively want to go to Scotland and me on stage when the tvshow that I absolutely adore-Outlander. The books are great too and I just can’t stop staring at pictures on google of these beautiful places and landscapes in Scotland. My dream ❤
I would want to visit Malta and Crete. These two Mediterranean island have great climates, if you love sunshine, and the food is supposed to be yummmmmm. I recently read “The Island,” and it awakened a life-long desire to visit Greece and these islands. Maybe Cyprus, too. It may be a long trip.
If money and time were no object I would want to split my time at Hogwarts and the fairy world of A Court of Thorns and Roses. This way my husband and I will both be happy. Plus if I do his world I know he will do mine.
Hogwarts, for sure! I’ve been waiting for my owl and long time 😉
No doubt. I will spend at least a year in Hogwarts, I’d love to learn things about the magic world and having dinner in the super awesome Great Hall! Then I will relax in the beautiful little villages in Great Britain, the ones in which Agata Christie located her novel (possibly without murders, thank you).
To Tuscany, to see all the beauty and the amazing History that Frances Mayes talks about in Under the Tuscan Sun!!!! Plus wine!!!
I’d like to visit Visit Victorian England during the Sherlock Holmes era at Christmas! I’d eat at pubs, spend tons of money at shops and crash the best parties of the season!
fictionstateofmind@gmail.com
First I’d go to Prince Edward Island, either present day or the end of the 19th century (or both!) and enjoy a ramble through Lover’s Lane and Hesther Gray’s garden. Then I’d pop over to England to explore Northanger Abbey to find my own mysterious laundry list. From there it’d be a quick jump to Hogwarts to chat with the portraits and ghosts about Wizarding history. Then I’d travel to a galaxy far, far away and spend a couple of months (or years or decades) exploring all the different planets, even if they have really boring and completely illogical single biomes. I would hang out with Jaina Solo and Jag Fel as much as physically possible.
If time and money were no objects, I would go to the Shire, move into my own Hobbit hole with all of my books and tea, and never come back. Though this sounds like an afterthought, I would also take my cat, Dresden, and the Boyfriend. You can find me at fortifiedbybooks.com.
Who can resist a party? If I could go anywhere, I would visit one of Gatsby’s parties. The glitz, the intrigue…just a weekend would provide enough memories for a lifetime.
shalondamarie (at) hotmail dot com
I did this. I went to Bath and London because of all the Regency romances I’ve read.
I would love to visit Hogwarts and the London of Harry Potter. I think being in a magical castle with moving staircases and pictures that come alive would be amazing. J.K. Rowling did such a fine job of describing the setting of her books, that I feel I almost know it already. Ever since I watched the “Facts of Life” as a teenager, I have fantasized of living in a boarding school. Staying at Hogwarts would be a dream come true.
I would definitely have to spend some time in Terry Pratchett’s disc world. That would be an amazing adventure.
Ah, the Shire or Narnia during a golden age…Prince Edward Island with Anne…or the Island of Thisby, though probably not in November. Heidi’s grandfather’s mountain cabin also has a strong appeal. Lovely question!
(vendija723@Yahoo.com)
I’d either go to Yonkers, New York in 1900 during The Keeping Days series or to Hogwarts! (natashajk@gmail.com)
My first stop is totally Narnia. I’ve always wanted to visit since I read those books in third grade. Once there, I might never leave.
I’m finding my favorite Route 66 books and heading out on the road!
I would take an extended book tour of the UK. Author’s destinations, book shops, a writing retreat. No time limit. Then I would do the Canterbury Tales Pilgrimage.
Even though I’ve already been to the place itself, I’d love to see the parts of Scotland described in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series — in the time period in which they take place. Other than all the warfare (no thanks!) I’d love to see what the place looked like before modernization touched it.