Gap Year: How an Empty Nest Led Me to Grow Wings

After a rough divorce, the difficulty of single parenting, and a love affair that broke her heart, Catherine decided to take a year to travel. But her fantasies did not include being lost in multiple countries, having bedbugs, or awkward one-night stands.

Across a landscape ranging from villas and livery stables in Spain to surf shacks and Mayan ruins in South America, Catherine exchanged work hours for room and board while navigating the ins and outs of vagabonding.

A year of travel. A gap year in which the routine of normal life is suspended to sample a different kind of existence. Through the trip, the reader has a glimpse of what it might be like to abandon the working world, temporarily, to take a deep dive into sightseeing the unfathomable self. But first it's necessary to navigate the habit patterns, the self-doubt, and the neurosis that keeps us each from getting to know who we really are at the core. This word-journey takes the reader there, against a backdrop of foreign places and colorful characters that are embraced and relinquished as Catherine navigates her inner journey.