Chiara Townley
Contributor
When I self-published my first book I thought it was a one time shot. I didn’t want to become a writer. I just wanted to share the story that took me to the U.S. to inspire and empower people to follow their heart against all odds.
Then something happened and the writer inside me woke up. I started to go to events to meet expat women like me. I was looking for inspiration to build my career in the U.S. I had a Green Card but many of the women I met couldn’t work in the U.S because of the immigration laws.
They were talented and they had quit their careers in their country of origin to follow their husbands. I couldn’t believe the nonsense I was uncovering. No one talked about these issues and I felt it was my mission to do it. That’s when I started to think about a second book but it took me a while to develop the idea.
Photograph via Myles Tan
One day at en event I met a girl from Italy, Enrica Cavalli, also in the U.S. for love. We talked about the difficulties that expat women face to build a career in the U.S and I told her that I was thinking about writing a book on the topic. She told me that she was a filmmaker and that she wanted to help me raise awareness with a documentary.
When I realized that our work could be important and make a difference I considered for the first time the idea that I could become a writer. One year passed by since I understood and accepted my life calling. I interviewed women with different types of Visas and situations and I did a research to understand the roots of the immigration system in the U.S. and its side effects.
The more I think about myself as a writer the more I see a socio-political writer. I’m not an academic, but for this reason, I have a language that can be more approachable to ordinary people.
In the end, I asked myself: “Why do you want to be a nonfiction writer?” and the answer was clear to me: “Create an impact and make a better world.”
I’m about to leave for a round the world trip and obviously I thought about writing a book about the experience. There are so many travel books around. It seems that everybody wants to give you a lesson about what to do and what to see. They tell you at what time they woke up and what they had for breakfast. Don’t get me wrong, I think that you can find inspiration in every travel post and, as a matter of fact, really everywhere.
Photograph via Pablo Garcia Saldana
I personally like very simple and short travel guides like Nomadic Matt and when I write a travel post I try to be on point and avoid too many details about my personal experience. I knew that I wanted to write a different travel book and after much deliberation it hit me.
I want to be a socio-political writer for everyone. I want to travel to take inspiration and bring it back home. I will visit places looking for the best small and big things: from food habits to politics. This is my calling: travel as socio-political commitment.
More About Chiara Townley: Chiara Townley was born in Milan, Italy in 1984. She has always had a passion for foreign languages and travel. She lived in 4 countries to date and she likes defining herself as a citizen of the world. Chiara became an author to inspire and empower. She believes that travel is a passion that can take us to different paths in life – a vehicle to open new horizons. Her motto is: “Fairy tales exist and it depends on us to make them happen.” You can learn more about Chiara at chiarabtownley.com.