What Is Wander, Wonder, Write?
Wander, Wonder, Write is a weekly newsletter for curious people.
I mostly publish travelogues on the amazing places I visit such as the Galápagos Islands and Japan. I pay attention to how we change the world by moving through it, and how the world changes us each time we feel moved. I also write personal essays, recommend books, share thoughts on writing, and ask uncomfortable questions. My writing seeks to enlarge our comprehension of culture and our empathy for others.
I wander, because I’m a nomad, slow-traveling the world. I’m drawn to the unfamiliar and like being transformed.
I wonder, because I feel ageless and alive when something piques my interest. Once upon a time, I majored in philosophy and I still reflect upon everything I encounter.
I write, because there was never a moment I didn’t tell stories. Writing is my way to hear what I think, make sense of the world, and connect with others.
Why This Newsletter?
I publish Wander, Wonder, Write because I want to take people like you with me on my journeys. Knowing I have an audience makes me more mindful and motivates me to report on incidents and insights that might have otherwise passed me by. Your questions are always welcome. Being in this together will make us pay more attention to the world.
“In an age of distraction,” Pico Iyer wrote in The Art of Stillness, “nothing can feel more luxurious than paying attention.”
Who Are You?
I’m Claire Polders (she/her), a Dutch author writing in English. I studied literature and philosophy in the Netherlands and in Paris at La Sorbonne. I published five novels and 100+ essays and stories. My latest book is A Whale in Paris (Atheneum, Simon & Schuster) co-written with my American husband, Daniel, who is also my in-house photographer. My short prose has been published in journals such Slate, Electric Literature, and Tin House. I’m finishing a memoir on elder abuse, revising a multi-generational novel on the dark Dutch colonial past, and have a flash fiction collection forthcoming in July 2025 with Vine Leaves Press: Woman of the Hour: fifty tales of longing and rebellion.
My work includes editing essays and stories for other writers, manuscript consulting, and creative coaching. Please message me for more information.
My literary agent is Marie Lamba.
My Life Mottos
Live now, don’t wait
Allow chance and curiosity to guide you along with your goals and common sense
Seek and value connections
Be kind and vulnerable
Never say no to dark chocolate or Japanese green tea or ripe avocados
Who is Wander, Wonder, Write For?
Fellow travelers, explorers, expats, and nomads
Armchair travelers
Readers interested in culture, nature, philosophy, language, art, food, and books
People wanting to learn more about things that often come with the second half of life: aging, grief, and making more conscious and authentic life choices
Thinkers concerned with colonialism, injustice, inequality, climate change, and other moral issues
Writers looking for inspiration, craft essays, and insights into the creative life
What Can I Expect?
I will send you at least one newsletter a week on Thursday. You’ll receive this as an email in your inbox, in the Substack app, or both. You can select your choice in your settings. Occasionally, I’ll publish an extra essay early in the week, depending on how busy I am and how many reader questions I feel compelled to answer publicly.
Each newsletter falls into one of the following categories:
# Travelogues: essays on destinations, cultures, and my nomadic life. This is the majority of what I publish. I’ve written on the Galápagos, Japan, Italy, Vietnam, Colombia, France, Sri Lanka, Bali, Korea, the Netherlands, and the United States.
⌂ Memoir: essays on grief, family dysfunction, marriage, health, anxiety, mindfulness, and more. For example: Italy Stands for Love: Marriage in 7 Acts and My Dysfunctional Family Screwed Up: Here’s How to Protect Yours.
🎶 Artists in the Wild: introductions to some of the interesting people I meet on my journeys. The first in the series is about an ikebanist.
🔎 How Whatever: life hack essays such as “How to Feel at Home in a Foreign Country” and “How to Calm Anxiety by Learning New Languages.” I veer toward existential questions, but also give practical advice on packing and staying connected abroad.
🖇️ The Writing Life: essays to empower you on your journey toward publication. For example: A Route to Being Less Fearful and More Authentic or Life-Changing Advice from a Literary Agent: Break Down the Wall.
🗝️ La Chambre Claire: my room full of wild cards such as,
Roundups of reading recommendations
Excerpts or cut darlings from a larger manuscript
Essays that don’t seem to fit elsewhere such as this one on AI
Guest author essays on traveling, culture, language, mindfulness, and more—pitch me!
If you don’t want to receive posts in a particular category, you can adjust your settings in your Substack account.
Every now and then, I’ll add concrete travel tips in my newsletters, especially if I can promote local people and businesses, but if you expect best-of lists every week that tell you where to drink cocktails, you’re going to be disappointed.
What Do Others Say?
about Wander, Wonder, Write: “Wonderful stories about inner and outer travels.... The familiar and unfamiliar dance together, creating a panoramic sense of life and of the self.” calls Wander, Wonder, Write inspiring and beautifully written. “Claire and her husband live very differently, and many of us would never dream of doing that. Thank you, Claire, for sharing your world with us!”Is it Free or Paid?
You can become a free or a paid subscriber to Wander, Wonder, Write. You can choose to contribute monthly ($5) or annually ($50) or become a founding member.
If you cannot contribute financially or prefer not to do so at this point, that’s totally fine: I’m happy to have you on board! You can support my writing by showing up here, liking my posts, leaving comments, or sharing my writing with others. I’m grateful for your help in whatever form it comes.
If you publish a Substack and would like to exchange paid subscriptions, please get in touch.
What Do I Get Extra For the Paid Version?
Occasionally, I will issue a special post for paid subscribers only and I plan to add more features in the future, such as chats. But the biggest extra you get for being a paid subscriber is my sincere appreciation for your financial support. I don’t take it for granted. You are a patron of my creative work.
What Will You Do With My Money?
The more income I’ll derive from Wander, Wonder, Write, the more time I’ll dedicate to my essays. I’d like to:
Do more research about the places I visit, dig into history, interview locals, and obtain more insights into cultures.
Initiate chats and digital meetings to bring readers and travelers in contact with one another. I’d like my publication to become a community.
Why Did You Become a Nomad?
In 2018, after nearly two decades of living in Paris with my American husband in a charming yet moldy atelier, our French landlady wanted to sell our home. We couldn’t afford to buy it, so we had to pack up and leave. Yet where should we go?
We were writers and could work from anywhere. But each place we considered had its downsides, and none felt like the right one for us. Perhaps we hadn’t yet discovered our ideal home, we thought, because we had’t yet seen enough of the world.
Could we postpone our decision and look around for a while? Could we live nowhere and travel the world? Could we go… everywhere?
In my essay “Taking the Plunge into Nomad Life,” I explain in more detail how we made our choice. In the essay “Uplifting Takeaways from 6 Years of Nomad Life,” I write about how that decision has changed me.
Where Can I Read More About You?
Jon DiSavino from Short Story Today (podcast) did an in-depth interview with me about my writing and my nomadic existence. He also created an audiobook production of my short story “The Men on the Fence,” originally published by Triquarterly.
Megan Harlan from Farsickness interviewed me on traveling and the meaning of water in my writing.
Rolf Potts asked me questions on the challenges of travel writing while living a nomadic life.
Sommer Schafer from The Forge wanted to know what I thought of writing about grief and how to avoid sentimentality.
Jonathan Cardew from Connotation Press interviewed me on the role of myth in my writing, the creative process, and the books I’d save from the burning flames of the apocalypse.
Ariana Calvo from SmokeLong Quarterly asked about my writing in a second language and my story “Copycat.”
Tommy Dean invited me for his interview series on writing flash fiction.
I Want to Come Along
I’m Not Yet Convinced
Perhaps you want to read a few of my personal favorites first:
Where Else Can I Find You?
My editing and coaching services for writers
My photos, videos, news, and other posts are on Instagram, Facebook, and occasionally on Threads and X.
All the book recommendations from my newsletters in one store
Browse my website for anything else.
