Marianne C. Bohr, freelance writer and former travel blogger, married her high school sweetheart and travel partner. She has two grown children and is the eldest of 11. She follows her own advice and hits the road at every opportunity.

She wrote her first book, Gap Year Girl: A Baby Boomer Adventure Across 21 Countries, over the course of the yearlong sabbatical she and her husband took to explore Europe. It was published by She Writes Press in 2015. Kirkus Reviews said, “Bohr shines…providing glimpses of herself as a whole person, not simply a traveler. Gap Year Girl is an excellent choice…a travelogue filled with historic places, but its personal stories provide its highlights.” Marianne’s illustrated article on her gap year, The Year of Living Spontaneously, ran in Bethesda Magazine in 2013.

The author’s second book, The Twenty: One Woman’s Trek Across Corsica on the GR20, tells the story of hiking across the mountainous French island with her husband to celebrate their sixtieth birthdays. In this past-the-blush-of-youth adventure story, Marianne and her husband hike the 124-mile GR20, Europe’s toughest long-distance footpath. They find themselves confronted with universal themes: coming to terms with aging, surmounting physical limitations, and being kind to oneself along the way. The Twenty will be published by She Writes Press in June 2023.

Several of Marianne’s travel essays received Solas Awards from travel publisher, Travelers’ Tales, honoring excellence in travel writing. Me Llamo Mariana, an essay which celebrates the author’s Hispanic heritage, is included in Solamente en San Miguel 2017, an anthology about the extraordinary city of San Miguel De Allende, Mexico.

Marianne started her career working for the French National Railroad (the SNCF) in New York City, selling Eurail passes and mapping itineraries for travelers to Europe. She graduated from The College of the Holy Cross (Phi Beta Kappa); received her MBA from the University of Maryland; and earned a Masters in Secondary Education. Marianne lives in Park City, Utah, where after decades in publishing, and many years following her Francophile muse to teach middle school French, she skis, hikes, and writes.