Hi, it’s Vanessa, your ENLIGHTENMENT host,

I love to travel, and read books about other amazing places I love and would love to visit. I’m hoping there are other travelers, both active and armchair, who feel the same. So for us, here is the Wanderlust Book Club, which will alternate every month with the Golden State Club (books about California).

The special twist about my book clubs: I invite a special guest to each club meeting, someone who is very connected to the theme of the book and can answer our questions about the topic. So even if you haven’t finished / opened the book, you can still ask questions and be part of the conversation.

Tied into this month’s Philosophy Cafe, about the value and ethics of travel, I’m picking a book that’s a globe-trotting tour of philosophy — The Socrates Express: In Search of Life Lessons from Dead Philosophers, by Eric Weiner.

My special guests will be travel writers who’ve visited many of the places where Weiner traveled to learn about famous philosophers. They’ll talk with us about how we too can wonder like Socrates, walk like Rousseau, see like Thoreau, and how travel makes philosophers of us all.

Below is the book description of “The Socrates Express.” Join me at Ruhstaller BSMT for a book discussion over drinks, and help me pick the next one.

Ruhstaller BSMT has a variety of beers on tap, as well as wine, kombucha and nonalcoholic drinks — feel free to BYO food.

Claim your seat - Register here on our Eventbrite page.

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Eric Weiner, New York Times bestselling author of The Geography of Bliss, combines his twin passions for philosophy and global travel in a pilgrimage that uncovers surprising life lessons from philosophers around the world, from Marcus Aurelius to Arthur Schopenhauer, Confucius to Montaigne. Traveling by train (the most thoughtful mode of transport) he traversed thousands of miles, making stops in Athens, Delhi, Massachusetts, Coney Island, Frankfurt, and points in between, to recapture philosophy’s original purpose: teaching us how to lead wiser, more meaningful lives. From Socrates and ancient Athens to Simone de Beauvoir and twentieth century Paris, Weiner’s chosen places and thinkers provide important signposts as we navigate today’s chaotic times.

In The Socrates Express, Weiner invites us to voyage alongside him on his life-changing pursuit of wisdom and discovery as he attempts to find answers to our most vital questions.