MONTCLAIR, NJ — At its core, The Traveling Diary Tour is an exercise in "humanness." And according to the Montclair woman who created it, that's a powerful lesson in the midst of a worldwide pandemic.
Kyra Peralte recently reached out to Patch to share the story of the diary, which has expanded from its humble New Jersey roots into a collaboration between more than 100 women across several continents.
The concept is simple. One person scribes a story, message, idea or even artwork into the notebook, sharing their feelings about the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on their lives. They then pass the notebook on via snail mail to the next author, who continues the process.
The inspiring effort began in April 2020, when Peralte, a mother of two, was simply trying to find an outlet for her overflowing emotions as she quarantined along with the rest of the state.
Peralte explains more about the origin story of the traveling diary in a 2020 blog post. She wrote:
"The idea came to me one night when I was up late, just having a conversation with my partner about ways to help people connect more deeply during this time of isolation. I began to wonder about what other women in different countries, states, cities, towns, cultures, and areas were experiencing during this isolation period in their own words. I wanted to learn some of the things that they might be experiencing culture-wise, particularly women — how they were managing family, how they were managing work, other responsibilities, things that they felt like they were responsible for, but maybe, in reality, they really weren't."
She continued:
"I thought that it would be interesting to see if different women from all over the world would be interested in participating in an experience that felt like it was NOT the year 2020 — one that has a nostalgic element to it. I decided it would be something as simple as using the snail mail. We threw out different words, and travel, diary, came up and I thought, 'Wow! I think that's it! I think that a traveling diary could do it.'"
And that was when she reached for an "old school" black and white composition book.
"I thought that it could be used as a vessel to capture people's thoughts, hopes, dreams, ideas … information that they wish to share during this time in isolation with other women," Peralte said.
The idea was that this vessel would then protect that experience and pass it on to the next person on the tour, all in an environment that felt safe, welcoming and warm.
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Quotes from the diary include a mixture of humor and serious introspection. As seen on its website:
- "I am starting at the centre because that's where I've had to bring myself back to so often."
- "But it doesn't stop the feeling, the very uncomfortable feeling of being uprooted even when your tree is rotten."
- "The saying is true, 'Every cloud has a silver lining.' Even the one we're experiencing right now with COVID-19.
- "There are still good things, decent people, kind gestures." Woodpeckers, foliage, kayaks fastened to the tops of cars."
- "I'm healthy. My kids are thriving. I haven't killed my husband."
The effort has since filled the original black notebook and spawned six others. Peralte told Patch that every entry in the notebooks are "beautiful and unique," with different handwriting, artwork shared or experiences by women from around the world.
Are there plans to publish the notebooks one day? Not at the moment, Peralte said – but she didn't close the door on the possibility.
In the meanwhile, she's helped to organize virtual meetings so that the women who have shared their innermost feelings with each other can stay in touch.
"We're being exposed to the same thing that's happening and it just feels like barriers are broken down and our humanness is coming forth to where we can relate to one another or at least, if we cannot relate, even in the midst of this, but we can do something that is very, very important to every human — and I think that is to be heard," Peralte says.
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