From Rucksack to Backpack

About the Book

From Rucksack to Backpack is composed of recollections of Juliane Heyman´s travels, adventures and life from the 1940s to 1960s. She describes her experiences as a Western woman in newly independent India. In 1952 she drove with two young Swiss men through Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey and the former Yugoslavia to Italy. Her stories from Vietnam in 1957 deal with her job as library advisor to the country. Later Heyman worked in Pakistan and El Salvador and visited Peace Corps volunteers in Nepal. The emphasis is on a woman´s perspective, but historical, political and social conditions at the time are intertwined in the memoir.

About the Author

Juliane Heyman had a varied career as librarian, researcher, teacher, trainer and international development consultant. She worked on different international projects in Asia, Africa and Latin America. She was a founding member of the Peace Corps staff in 1961, and for many years worked on international population projects. Heyman graduated from Barnard College and received two Masters degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. She is an avid traveler, hiker, skier and swimmer. She lives in Santa Barbara, California ,and Aspen, Colorado.