There are two different ways to travel: we can either travel to remote places which still retain an aura of adventure by using tour organizations; or we can travel to locations which are not only geographically but also culturally remote by ourselves, guided solely by our sensitivity and curiosity. These are, in a nutshell, the contents of the two travel reportages by writer and journalist Laura Leonelli. Siberia per due is the reportage of a trip organized by a tour leader of the place. By contrast, in Lem. Viaggio iniziatico di un piccolo Buddha nothing is organized. Thanks to the friendship with a man of the place started during a previous trip to Laos, Leonelli returns to that country to follow the admission of a boy, Lem, in a Buddhist monastery. The text moves away from the mere travel story and invites the readers to penetrate unknown territories and experience a journey in and out of themselves along with the narrator. However, although representing the two sides of travelling, both books highlight how this activity is always linked to the perception and acceptance of the 'other'.