Meet the Minnesota native searching for family history in her Scamp

Karen Babine teaches in Chattanooga, but as Memorial Day draws near each year, she heads back home to Minnesota.

“As soon as I can get out of here, I do. One hundred degrees from June to October is not particularly fun,“ joked the Nevis native by phone from Tennessee. ”Once pollen season here calms down, I head straight to pollen season in Minnesota."

Some of her journeys — which she makes in a retro-fitted, Minnesota-made Scamp camper — are documented in her new “The Allure of Elsewhere: A Memoir of Going Solo.” In it, the self-appointed family historian travels from Minnesota to Nova Scotia (where her ancestors settled hundreds of years ago), accompanied only by cats Galway and Maeve and a ready sense of humor (“The only reason God invented shins was so that we could find our trailer hitches in the dark.”)

Babine’s (rhymes with “way-wine”) first two books, “All the Wild Hungers” and “Water and What We Know,” both won Minnesota Book Awards and both had a lot to do with her mother’s side of the family, which boasts many great storytellers. The new one finds her looking into relatives of her dad, who are more circumspect.

“There is so much pain there in the recent past, whether that’s the murders of my great-grandma and uncle or the suicide of my grandfather. There were reasons the stories weren’t being told,” said Babine, who knew the family’s roots were in eastern Canada. “I said to myself that I wouldn’t write these stories ‘til those people were gone. Then, I decided, ‘I’m going to go to Nova Scotia,’ and I packed up my camper and two very unenthusiastic cats.”

In essence, she studied her family’s history while making new history of her own. “Allure” shifts between Babine’s travels and her recollections of family stories, ranging from details about tragic events to sweet memories that anchor her to home: “When my Minnesota grandparents got married, they came from different party affiliations, but decided they would discuss and vote together, so as not to cancel out the other’s vote.”

As the subtitle suggests, “Allure” also reflects on Babine’s decision to be a single person and single traveler (unless you count unenthusiastic cats).

“I was very conscious of how we create stories and how we tell them, in terms of creating a legacy. A lot of that legacy is children, passing down from parent to children and grandchildren, and I have very deliberately chosen to remain solo,” said Babine. “There are no kids, so it’s been at the forefront of my mind: How do we create our own stories? Part of it, for me, was not letting my life happen to be my default. That was one reason I got the Scamp in the first place: I was tired of waiting for somebody to give me permission to go.”

Writing the book, which kept going in directions she did not expect, helped clarify for Babine that not marrying or having kids was the right path for her.

“Once the book all came together, I could see that the idea of the stories and people who are responsible for the way I’m existing in the world also translated into how I’m living my life. And, hopefully, influencing people around me to make their life choices deliberately,” said Babine.

Of course, Babine isn’t just writing about herself. Although she says her family has always been supportive of her work, knowing what to share about them was the trickiest part of creating “The Allure of Elsewhere.”

“My family got to read it before it got finalized and they had veto power over things. I don’t even inadvertently want to press on something that hurts,” said Babine. “This is my dad’s history, his grandma and uncle. It’s living history for him. So I didn’t want to cause any pain. I had to really watch how I wrote about some issues in the book.”

Eventually, she and her family landed on the idea that, while they talk about some subjects freely, they’re meant to stay between them — it’s what Babine calls “the difference between secret and private. It was interesting to find that line.”

Babine often tells English students at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga that it’s time to put their “ethics caps” on, something she reminded herself when writing the book. She says teaching and writing often feed into each other in that way: Currently, she’s figuring out what the theme will be for a nonfiction class this fall and she’s leaning toward walking. Which might also find its way into whatever she writes next.

Meanwhile, she has travel plans for the summer, and book events in Minneapolis and Park Rapids. Sadly, she probably won’t drive that adorable Scamp to the events but it won’t be far away. It’ll be parked at her dad’s house in New Hope, awaiting her next adventure.

The Allure of Elsewhere: A Memoir of Going Solo

By: Karen Babine.

Publisher: Milkweed Editions, 257 pages.

Event: 6 p.m. May 21, in conversation with Marya Hornbacher, Open Book, 1011 Washington Av. S., Mpls. Free but registration encouraged.