The Kalamazoo community knows Joanna Parzakonis as the owner of this is a bookstore and Bookbug. She is always ready to invite readers to make discoveries and go on journeys within the covers of great books. On this journey, however, Parzakonis – along with 18 family members of various generations – traveled to South Africa. Her discoveries span not just geography, but also cultures and family dynamics.
“It came about as a result of family members who chose to use travel as a way to both honor the transitional experiences of the younger members of the family and ensure that a legacy of and an appreciation for travel and the world and communities beyond our own and care and systems of organizing selves and countries could be appreciated,” Parzakonis says.
Preparing as much as one can for the adventures and misadventures of
travel, the family toned down expectations. They realized discomfort in dealing with different circumstances that those accustomed to at home can be a part of travel. Friction quite naturally can come up among the best of families. Yet the beauty of the journey overcame all.
For Parzakonis, some trepidation at coming up against large wild animals put her on edge prior to the journey—but she soon overcame that as their guide educated them and guided them through the wild of Africa.
“We were left with even more awe at what we were able to see and discover,” she says. “A lot of what was surprising to me and younger generations, it wasn’t the magnificence of the elephants or the wild beauty of a lion hunting its prey … it was the strange—strange to us—birds that we would see frequently. Or the way that the birds were interacting frequently with other animals, cleaning them or playing with them. I can remember the younger generation being so captivated.”
Back home, Parzakonis now carries more books about African wildlife, culture and history at this is a bookstore than before. She hopes to continue such multi-generational family travels and adventures. For now, however, she is back to planning events at this is a bookstore to entire travel through books.
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