Memoirs of a Traveling Mama is one very down-to-earth, middle-aged woman's account of her experiences in motherhood and the realization that she never seems to stop moving while awake. Her "travels" include not only trips back and forth from the kitchen to the dinner table every night, but also tales about the more exotic locales like Ireland and Mexico she is fortunate enough to visit. Often funny in retrospect, sometimes heart-wrenching while experiencing them, you will surely relate to these stories and probably find either yourself or another mama you know within them. For anyone who is a mama, or who has one, this book provides a light, comical, and contemplative read.

This rich and multifaceted collection is Grace Paley's vivid record of her life. As close to an autobiography as anything we are likely to have from this quintessentially American writer, Just As I Thought gives us a chance to see Paley not only as a writer and "troublemaker" but also as a daughter, sister, mother, and grandmother. Through her descriptions of her childhood in the Bronx and her experiences as an antiwar activist to her lectures on writing and her recollections of other writers, these pieces are always alive with Paley's inimitable voice, humor, and wisdom.

One woman’s journey of discovery as she travels the world on a budget with her young son.A free spirit by nature, Marnie has always been too adventurous for a suburban life or middle-class marriage. Her attempt at a conventional lifestyle gnawed at her spirit and left her frustrated with not fitting in. After her divorce, a brief, unsuitable relationship produces her miracle child, Toby. Marnie begins to see her world through the eyes of an impressionable child and realizes trying to conform to normal society is disheartening and downright painful.When Toby is two, Marnie decides to take charge of his upbringing rather than letting society, strangers, and daycares raise him. She believes travel is the best teacher—so the single mom swaps her car for an RV, and she and Toby set off to explore what is possible within their limited means.After six months on the road mixing with kindred spirits, Marnie and Toby struggle to reassimilate into the lifestyle that society expects. It’s clear that normality and conformity just aren’t for them!Hungry for unique experience and intrigued by “world schooling,” they take the plunge into a nomadic existence. They’re all in! This time there’s no going back. Soon they’re wandering the globe on a tight budget with adventure and life lessons around every corner.Through spiritual development and self-employment, a traumatic brain injury and a pandemic, Marnie breaks away from others’ expectations and learns to live life on her own terms. She would never have guessed when she set out to educate her son that she would also find her own truth.If there's one thing Marnie has learned, and one lesson that can be gleaned from her experiences, it’s that as you navigate the road of life, you will always encounter speed bumps. These speed bumps are little tests of your resolve to remain on your current path. If you are constantly running into roadblocks, rather than speed bumps, it's entirely likely that you are on the wrong road and it's time to take a different one. You, and only you, have the power to turn left when society is saying turn right. There is only one person that can change your trajectory—and that's YOU!

With sprinkles of southern humor, Sara W. Manis shares stories of short trips she took with her Mama over a 22-year period -- a journey that built a storehouse of memories.

A mother, a daughter, and a life-changing adventure around the world . . . Their bestselling memoir, Come Back, moved and inspired readers with the story of Mia Fontaine's harrowing drug addiction and her mother, Claire's, desperate and ultimately successful attempts to save her. Now it's a decade later and Claire and Mia each face a defining moment in her life, and a mother-daughter relationship that has frayed around the edges. At fifty-one, Claire's shed her identity as Mia's savior but realizes that, oops, she forgot to plan for life after motherhood; Mia, twenty-five and eager to step outside her role as recovery's poster child, finds adult life isn't all it's cracked up to be. Determined to transform themselves and their relationship once again, the pair sets off on a five-month around-the-world adventure. What awaits them is an extraordinary, often hilarious journey through twenty cities and twelve countries—one that includes mishaps, mayhem, and unexpected joys, from a passport-eating elephant to a calamitous camel ride around the Pyramids—and finally making peace with their tumultuous past in the lavender fields of France, where they live for the last four months of the trip. Seeing how self-possessed and community-minded twentysomethings are in other countries broadens Mia's perspective, helping her grow, and grow up. Claire uses the trip to examine her broken relationship with her own mother, a Holocaust survivor, and to create a vision for her second act. Watching her mom assess half a century of life, Mia comes to know her as Claire has always known Mia—as all mothers know their daughters—better than anyone else, and often better than themselves. Wiser for what they've learned from women in other cultures, and from each other, they return with a deepened sense of who they are and where they want to go—and with each embracing the mature friendship they've discovered and the profound love they share. Alternating between Claire and Mia's compelling and distinct voices, Have Mother, Will Travel is a testament to the power and beauty of the mother-daughter relationship, one that illuminates possibilities for our own lives.

Traveling from the highland desert of northern Mexico to the steaming jungles of Honduras to the seashore of the Caribbean, Mary Morris confronts the realities of place, of poverty, of machismo, and of self. "One gutsy woman and one fantastic writer".--"Cosmopolitan".

Discover the power, joy, and love of living a present, authentic, and intentional life despite a world full of distractions. If technology is the new addiction, then multitasking is the new marching order. We check our email while cooking dinner, send a text while bathing the kids, and spend more time looking into electronic screens than into the eyes of our loved ones. With our never-ending to-do lists and jam-packed schedules, it's no wonder we're distracted. But this isn't the way it has to be. Special education teacher, New York Times bestselling author, and mother Rachel Macy Stafford says enough is enough. Tired of losing track of what matters most in life, Rachel began practicing simple strategies that enabled her to momentarily let go of largely meaningless distractions and engage in meaningful soul-to-soul connections. Finding balance doesn't mean giving up all technology forever. And it doesn't mean forgoing our jobs and responsibilities. What it does mean is seizing the little moments that life offers us to engage in real and meaningful interaction. In these pages, Rachel guides you through how to: Acknowledge the cost of your distraction Make purposeful connection with your family Give your kids the gift of your undivided attention Silence your inner critic Let go of the guilt from past mistakes And move forward with compassion and gratefulness So join Rachel and go hands-free. Discover what happens when you choose to open your heart--and your hands--to the possibilities of each God-given moment.