Nearly 8 years ago, when I published my first book, The Shooting Star, I was pretty sure I would never embark on the long and lonely journey of being an author again. I was overwhelmed to hear from readers how the book touched them and changed their perspective on travel. But the realities of the publishing world and the chase of other creative pursuits dissuaded me from going down this path again.
However, as the years went by and I built a slow(er) life in the mountains of Himachal Pradesh, my restless mind found some solace and that inner calling to write another book began to bubble up within me again. I attended writing workshops, joined a writing group, held workshops on travel writing, and for a while there, lived the idyllic writing life.
Every morning, I tried to show up at my writing desk with a large glass window overlooking the fields and mountains beyond. At first, I began writing a fictional novel with travel as a backdrop. But as I worked on the plot, I realized that many of my personal experiences travelling in remote places around the world were stranger than fiction! I’m talking about fleeing from a morality police raid in Iran, living for over a month on one of the world’s most remote islands 700 kilometers off the coast of Chile, motorbiking with two complete strangers across off-the-grid villages in Myanmar that don’t exist on Google Maps…
As I continued to write, the world outside my window changed from snow-dusted hills to young green wheat fields to wild cherry blossoms to golden maize harvests. Several seasons later, I finished the first draft of my manuscript (and also my love affair with that desk ;-)).
And after another year of navigating the world of editing and publishing, I can finally share my big news with you: My second book, Rootless and Restless, released on April 30th, 2026. You can order your copy here!
About Rootless and Restless
“What happens when you leave behind the familiar and follow your curiosity to far corners of the world?
In Rootless and Restless, Shivya Nath trades comfort for adventure and sets off on a deeply personal journey to some of our planet’s most remote places. From a tiny island deep in the Arctic to off-grid Indigenous communities in Myanmar and the stark mountain deserts of Uzbekistan, she travels in search of stories, traditions and ways of life that are rarely written about.
Along the way, Shivya finds herself tangled in a morality police raid in Iran, discovering centuries-old traditions in Japan, and coming face-to-face with the last living member of an entire species in the Pacific Ocean.
In a world shaped by social media, cultural divides and climate change, Rootless and Restless is a reminder that travel can be more than ticking destinations off a list. It can open doors to remarkable people, unexpected lessons and perhaps even transform the traveller herself.”
Rootless and Restless book tour
I loved meeting so many of you and signing your copies during the first leg of my book tour across India! From June to August, I’ll be hosting virtual book events and reader meetups, and joining book club gatherings.
Media Features
“In Shivya Nath’s reflective travel memoir, landscapes become living witnesses to climate anxiety, human kindness, inherited displacement and the ethics of movement.”
~ Yauvanika Chopra, Garhwal Post
Mint Lounge: Poetry, public transport and slow travel in Iran
India Today: From Iran to Robinson Crusoe Island: Shivya Nath on travel for connection, not checklists
Scroll: Book excerpt: An Indian woman writes about travelling solo in Uzbekistan?s Tashkent (and elsewhere)
Economic Times: The Return of Reading: This year’s best and next year’s musts
Garhwal Post: Recognizing one’s changing self
The Millenium Post: Journeys Through A Burning World
Indian Masterminds: At the Ends of the Rainbow: A Memoir of Slow Travel, Soulful Encounters and Survival
Indigo 6E
Inflight magazine (April 2026 issue)
“In a world obsessed with curated itineraries and picture-perfect destinations, Nath’s travel memoir invites readers to pause, wander deeper and rediscover the true meaning of travel.”
Deccan Chronicle
(Print, 25th March 2026)
Noteworthy Reviews
Dia Mirza
Actor, producer, UNGoodwill ambassador and eco investor
“Rootless and Restless is a rare kind of travel memoir, one that doesn’t chase destinations but listens deeply to people, landscapes, and the quiet questions we carry within us. Shivya Nath writes with courage and tenderness about moving through remote places while searching for a sense of belonging, dignity, and connection.
What moved me most is Shivya’s honesty – about vulnerability, about being a woman navigating freedom and fear, and about the responsibility that comes with witnessing lives shaped by history, politics, and climate. Her journeys remind us that travel, when done with humility, can become an act of empathy. This book stays with you long after the last page, like a conversation with the earth, and with yourself.”
Saumya Kulshreshtha
Director, Dehradun Literature Festival
“I fell in love with the world and travel in a completely new way, thanks to this book.
First of all, Shivya, congratulations on a remarkably inspiring book. I have so many favourites in this series of travel essays, that I cannot possibly let you know in a small post – but I have to say, that the ability to find meaning and purpose in how one desires to live their life, that must be learnt from you. This one is so much larger than a travel memoir. I have learnt significant things about ecology, food preferences, political movements, social standards and gender dynamics through the essays which come together in this book.
I loved travelling to Iran with you, Shivya. So layered, so complex and in its essential humanity – so simple. I loved the culture of Cocodrilo – and I guess I gleaned more from your work than what Google could offer me about that island. The vagaries of Robinson Crusoe island affected my heartbeats personally. And the Izakaya in Japan – I can only hope I am able to go there someday and discover the same delights you did.
So wholesome, in every manner possible. Highly recommended.”
Shruti Sharma
Founder, Books on the Delhi Metro and The Earth Book Club
If there’s a fourth thing that we love after roti, kapda and makaan, it’s probably travel.
Especially as we see more people traveling around the globe and post their mesmerizing reels. If you’re wondering what’s a travel memoir doing in The Earth Book Club, please keep reading.
Shivya travels the remotest corners of the world not as a tourist but as a student learning the history, the ecology, the quiet conservation battles being fought, and the communities holding it all together. Every destination she visits, she lives in local homestays, eats their local vegan food, and through its people unfolds its layered, living history. To me it’s almost like becoming one with the world.
To me, Rootless and Restless is the kind of travel writing that feels like conservation work.
If you travel to understand a place, its geography, its stories, its soul, this is your next read.
A note of gratitude
It takes a village to bring a book to life, and I’m deeply grateful to have found mine (again!) in the team at Penguin Random House India, especially my editors Archana Nathan and Manasi Subramaniam. I owe all my gratitude to my literary agent Kanishka Gupta and his team at Writer’s Side for being true allies. This book wouldn’t be the same without my editor (and long time friend) Shubhodeep Pal.