Michelle Simone ‘SiiM’ Clarke releases debut memoir ‘Gallivant’

When Michelle Simone ‘SiiM’ Clarke talks about Gallivant, she isn’t simply describing her debut memoir; she’s revisiting a younger version of herself she never expected to meet again. “These stories were sitting quietly in my life for decades,” she shared. “Finding the writings in my kitchen last year felt like bumping into my past self. She had so much to teach me, not just about travel, but about bravery, curiosity, and the ways we surprise ourselves.”

With an official Jamaican launch on November 20 at the Jamaica Food and Drink Kitchen on Barbican Road in St Andrew, Gallivant brings together journal entries, reflections, and observations from Clarke’s year-long journey from Jamaica to Europe and Asia between 1998 and 1999.

This journey started long before she boarded a plane; it began with a moment of truth. “I was in my 20s, thinking seriously about settling down, marriage, and all of that, and something in me said, ‘Go. Now.’ And I knew if I didn’t do it right then, I might never do it,” said Clarke.

Before she ever packed a suitcase or mapped a route, her journey was shaped by loss, love, and a promise she never expected to keep. “My father disappeared at sea when I was seven. He was a practical man and had taken out an insurance policy that paid out when I turned 21. For years, I didn’t touch it. But I remembered that he always said we’d travel the world together, and I just knew: this is what the money was meant for. Like it was his voice saying, ‘Go now, gyal. Go learn about yuh-self.’ So I went,” she shared.

With no fixed itinerary, Clarke moved through countries guided by instinct and the unexpected. “Every time I thought I had a plan, life changed it,” she said, laughing. “There was a strange freedom in that, though. It taught me that detours are gifts — opportunities.”

HOW THE BOOK FOUND ITS NAME

The title Gallivant emerged the way the best Jamaican ideas often do: unplanned, unforced, and full of laughter. Clarke describes the moment with fond amusement. “I was chatting with friends on my verandah, trying to find a name, explaining how I was just moving around the world with no real plan, just pure curiosity. Someone said, ‘So what, you were just gallivanting?’ and we all burst out laughing. It felt so right! The name stuck immediately. No branding exercise, no debate, just a veranda conversation and a good laugh,” she said.

Although Gallivant spans continents, the emotional anchor of the memoir is its ‘Jamaican-ness’, our innate generosity as a people, and our ability to access inner strength by finding humour in the tragic and the absurd.

“As far as I would travel, I always found myself reflecting on my ‘Jamaican-ness’. No matter where I landed, being Jamaican was like a key that opened a magic door to meaningful connections with random strangers,” she said.

So Gallivant, the book, wasn’t an intentional thing; it was a happy accident. The journalling that forms the backbone of the book was intentional, however, because even then Clarke understood how quickly memories fade, how quickly we misremember and how fluidly we re-invent our past. She journalled then so that she would have a true record of events, and an imaginary friend who would travel with her and listen without judgement.

“In publishing, I discovered that I had forgotten so many things, things that in the moment seemed unforgettable, but that had quickly been obscured by everyday life,” she reflected. Publishing gave her the chance to see her life’s trajectory from that curious young woman to the accomplished professional she is today.

“I am amazed at how much change I have endured and how resilient I have become. And in this moment, reflecting on Jamaica, my roots and my personal struggle, I realise that tragedy, catastrophe and circumstances beyond my control have repeatedly given me the opportunity and the permission to reinvent myself stronger, better each time. Trauma stripped away my moorings, cleaned house and gave me the chance to grow beyond my previous confines and this is what I wish for Jamaica: that we, as a country, in this time of tragedy, clear away the remnants and ruins of boundaries and walls, physical and mental fences that have stunted our national growth and see the opportunities to design forward in strength,” said Clarke.

lifestyle@gleanerjm.com