Alison O’Leary was happily working as a journalist and magazine editor in the Boston area when the 2008 recession struck. The next year, the country’s woes hit home for her. “The economy was just not recovering very quickly. I got laid off, and my magazine was closed,” she told me recently.
“It was a pretty big blow after many years of journalism,” O’Leary said. “It was difficult to get another job.”
She soon found a bright side to unemployment, however. “I had all this free time. I started spending it mountain biking and exploring trails and doing things I had never had time to do.” She started a blog to recount her adventures and share her outdoor tips.
A few years later, O’Leary started dating Michael J. Tougias, the author of a number of outdoor-oriented books, including the Appalachian Mountain Club’s nature-walks series. “When we got together we said, ‘Doesn’t it make perfect sense that we share our interests and our writing in a book?’” O’Leary recalled.
The resulting volume was “Inns and Adventures: A History and Explorer’s Guide” (On Cape Publications, 176 pages, $14.95). The book details a variety of trips the two have taken — and recommend that readers consider taking — in Vermont, New Hampshire, the Berkshires and our own local hilltowns.
O’Leary will speak about some of the experiences described in the book in a talk titled “Hidden Gems of New England” on Tuesday, March 29, at 6:30 p.m. at the Dickinson Memorial Library on Main Street in Northfield.
Her program, which is free and open to the public, is billed by the library as appropriate for both “the outdoor enthusiast and the armchair traveler.”
The geography covered in “Inns and Adventures” made sense to the authors. “It just seemed most logical for Massachusetts,” O’Leary explained. (She lives in Plymouth; Tougias, in Mendon.) “We know our audience and where people tend to travel from our area: the mountainous states and western Massachusetts.”
O’Leary has always loved the outdoors, she told me. “I am number six of seven children,” she elaborated. “Believe it or not, my parents used to pack all of us in a station wagon and drive up into the mountains and go on hikes ….
“The best part of [having enjoyed the outdoors as a child] is that it made it feel accessible. If you’re exposed to these things young in life, you always feel, ‘I can go back and do that.’” Clearly, O’Leary never intends to stop going back outdoors.
The book she and Tougias produced is informal and readable. It uses first-person narrative. That first person is sometimes plural when describing the features of a trip the two took together, but it’s usually singular.
“Inns and Adventures” doesn’t specify whether the “I” writing a particular section is O’Leary or Tougias. I would recommend that in future collaborations each claim credit for individual contributions. Nevertheless, the tone of their two voices meshes nicely.
When we spoke, Alison O’Leary indicated that the pair carefully planned the book to show off a variety of outdoor activities — hiking, swimming, mountain climbing, fishing, and so on — and a range of destinations.
“Inns and Adventures” tries to fulfill a variety of functions. It offers practical tips for readers who want to climb mountains or paddle kayaks. It describes accommodations that range from simple bed-and-breakfast establishments to spas.
It shares much of the history of the places the authors have visited; they demonstrate a contagious fascination for the past. It touches on spots in which readers can dine, shop, meander, or just gaze at the world around them.
“My parents used to take us on vacation to farms in Vermont,” O’Leary told me. “This was the epicenter of the book as well as to my early life, exploring around the farms and the streams and the vistas, the things that are seared in my memory from way back.”
I asked Alison O’Leary whether she had a favorite activity in the book.
“That’s a tough one to nail down,” she noted. “We each have our favorites. Mike is really into fishing. And I had been doing a lot of hiking and mountain biking. It made a nice combination. He exposed me to the rivers that he fishes on. I found that fantastic … And I took him mountain biking.
“One place where our interests and enjoyment overlapped very, very well is the Ammonoosuc Rail Trail, which is a 20-mile-long trail from Littleton to Woodsville, N.H. You can choose how much of the rail trail you want to do. It runs along the most gorgeous river, the Ammonoosuc River.”
She said someone traveling on the trail could swim, fish, walk, or just find a fun place to eat.
“It’s very, very accessible for a range of people’s abilities. And it’s one of our favorites.”
I also asked O’Leary what people might expect from her talk in Northfield.
“There will be practical information and inspirational information about just getting out there and finding your own adventures,” she said.
“Also a lot of humor,” she added with a lilt in her voice. “I tell people that if you approach (a task) with a sense of humor, it always comes out right in the end.”
Above all, she said, she wants to share her passion for the richness of our area with her audience.
“I am continually surprised at how much New England has to offer,” she enthused. “Even though I’ve lived here for most of my life, writing the book and doing the presentations just inspires me anew, again and again, because there are so many ways to look at — to divide up — your adventures in New England.
“There are so many things you can do and a variety of each. And the cultural opportunities. There’s something for everyone.”
Matt Atwood, the director of programming at the Dickinson Memorial Library, told me he is looking forward to O’Leary’s program.
“I think it will appeal to a diverse group of people because in every place she visits, she talks about an outdoor activity — fishing or hiking or kayaking — but also a cozy place to stay,” Atwood said.
For more information about Alison O’Leary’s presentation, call the library at 498-2455.
Tinky Weisblat is the author of “The Pudding Hollow Cookbook” and “Pulling Taffy.” Visit her website: www.TinkyCooks.com