How did I come up with the idea for “The Anywhere Hotel”?
Let’s rewind a little, to the place and time where this book first started to take shape. It was during the peak of the pandemic. In an unexpected twist, my husband and I found ourselves making a home in a charming townhouse in Port Douglas, in Far North Queensland, Australia, right where the oldest rainforest in the world kisses the sea.
Work would wrap up in our makeshift home office, and then we’d be off on our daily stroll along Four Mile Beach. Beautiful, but no chance for a dip: the “salties”, or saltwater crocs, put a quick stop to that idea. We’d walk and talk about the world outside our small bubble, the places we would go if only we could, and the friends and family we hadn’t seen in far too long. (By the end of the pandemic, I hadn’t seen my family in Germany for over three years.)
It was on one such walk that the idea for this book found its way into my mind. For the next couple of years, it would become a deep dive into research, writing, and editing, a project close to my heart.
I’ve been blessed to visit many of the places featured in this book – there’s a fat check in the privilege box for me, for sure. However, there are many spots in this book I’ve only travelled to in my imagination, amongst them Costa Rica, Mexico, Florida, the Pantanal, Cappadocia, Cuba, and Santa Monica. My last trip to Rome also feels like a lifetime ago. I’ve done my best to capture these places authentically through research, but if you’re a local or a fellow traveller and you find something factually wrong (say a local landmark’s name, a mispronounced delicacy or a street going the wrong way in the narrative), please feel free to get in touch.
One of my favourite locations in the book, Marley’s Café, sprung fully formed from my imagination. If I were to run a café, Marley’s would be it. When I was backpacking in my twenties, coffee shops became my safe places, where I could rest my tired legs or catch up with friends and family back home. I’ve picked the best aspects of every café I’ve ever been to and mashed them into one.
There’s a bit of real-life magic in Marley’s, though. Back in Far North Queensland, my husband and I once discovered a lovely little pub where each order was tied to a Daintree Rainforest animal. At Marley’s, each order is linked to a creature or flower from Costa Rica.
A quick note I would also like to mention is about a location called ‘Pomboo Beach’ in Zanzibar. I have taken a bit of a creative liberty here – this is a fictitious place. Zanzibar is already grappling with the effects of mass tourism, and there are few untouched havens left. In my humble opinion, they deserve to stay that way.
Lastly, should you ever find yourself in the Port of Trapani, Sicily, thirsting for a cup of coffee, make sure you visit the ‘Brigantes Café’, the sail-shipped coffee company which I have visited and which inspired my ‘Aldilà’ (I believe you can order their coffee online as well). And if you’re itching to set sail, another fantastic project I found during my research is the “Avontuur”, a sailing cargo vessel inviting you to become a shipmate on one of their passages.
Thank you for coming on this journey with me. It’s been a voyage of discovery, passion, and – at times, not going to lie – intense doubt if I would ever finish. From one travel lover to another, here’s to more adventures and tales from the road.
Cheers!
Hi ♥️, I’m Gisele Stein, author of feel-good novels with a little magic and places like characters, which i craft from my cosy cabin on Wadandi Boodja in Western Australia. Have a look at my books here. I’m also podcasting as The Earthy Writer, to document my rewilding year: Every new moon, I set a new rewilding intention for the month, and every full moon I share my learnings with you…