A hostage situation in Bangladesh. Hiking the Inca Trail with my best friend. A silent meditation retreat right in my home town. A week of violent tantrums with my 3-year-old in Costa Rica. Moving to Brazil for a year by myself at 21. A visit to an ashram in India. Chartering a private yacht through the Greek Islands.

Career changes, friends who come and go, going from single to married to motherhood - through it all, travel has been the only unchanging part of my life. And through travel, I have grown, changed, gotten to know myself and the world.

An Accidental Pilgrim, a memoir-in-essays, takes you on a journey through a lifetime of personal and spiritual growth through travel: mine.