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Heels to Hiking Boots: Exploring the World to Find the Way Home
Home is where the spark is.
Born in rural Pennsylvania to an elegant, but emotionally-distant mother, and a free-spirited, adventurous father, Sue Muller grows up in a home where tears are forbidden. As an exchange student in Chile, she is shocked by her host mother’s range of anger, laughter, and indignation. A world of feelings opens to her, and Sue enters college ready to be someone new.
From falling in love with being in love, to building new friendships, Sue embarks on carefree escapades in Europe that eventually land her in hospital. Forced to reevaluate, she heads home to enter grad school and settle down.
But her restless heart has other plans.
Still searching for a place to call home—in every way—she travels solo to West Africa, immerses herself in counseling and teaching, and treks in the Himalayas. When she finds a love as wild as her wanderlust, Sue can heart and home finally be one?
Heels to Hiking Boots is an extraordinary tapestry of self-growth, hard lessons, and inspiration for anyone yearning for a life of adventure and the courage to pursue what lights them up.
Click ‘Buy Now’ to read book 1 of Sue’s story today!
Born in rural Pennsylvania to an elegant, but emotionally-distant mother, and a free-spirited, adventurous father, Sue Muller grows up in a home where tears are forbidden. As an exchange student in Chile, she is shocked by her host mother’s range of anger, laughter, and indignation. A world of feelings opens to her, and Sue enters college ready to be someone new.
From falling in love with being in love, to building new friendships, Sue embarks on carefree escapades in Europe that eventually land her in hospital. Forced to reevaluate, she heads home to enter grad school and settle down.
But her restless heart has other plans.
Still searching for a place to call home—in every way—she travels solo to West Africa, immerses herself in counseling and teaching, and treks in the Himalayas. When she finds a love as wild as her wanderlust, Sue can heart and home finally be one?
Heels to Hiking Boots is an extraordinary tapestry of self-growth, hard lessons, and inspiration for anyone yearning for a life of adventure and the courage to pursue what lights them up.
Click ‘Buy Now’ to read book 1 of Sue’s story today!
- GenresTravel
326 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 27, 2025
61 people are currently reading
47 people want to read
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January 29, 2025
Heels to Hiking Boots: Exploring the World to Find the Way Home, by Sue Muller Hacking, is a coming-of-age memoir giving an overview of a girl’s life. She realizes she has a love of adventure early and grows up to find a life partner who matches her desire for adventure.
In the opening chapter she’s in a tree imagining herself in the places she sees in National Geographic: Mars, the Sahara Desert, Mount Everest, the jungles of Africa. Growing up on a pig farm in Pennsylvania, she has a mother who rarely shows emotion. Her beloved dog Scout gets killed on the road. The early scenes move fast and soon she has another dog to take the place of Scout, Beauty, who sadly dies from distemper, "before her first shots." This death leads us to the next chapter about many deaths in her family and her mother’s disposition as a Christian Scientist. Her mother, “…could tell me all about the rose Medallion china and the French provincial furniture, but not about her broken heart.” She yearned for her mother’s attention and emotions. Her mother left her books to read instead of talking to her about her female body as she grew into womanhood.
She meets her second mom through her friend Annie, whose family takes in a Chilean girl. Sue travels to Chile, to stay with a family for a summer to study Spanish, she chooses a different family to stay with because she believes this friend knows English too well and she doesn’t believe she’ll learn Spanish well. This insulted her Chilean friend who had prepared a big party on her arrival. The trip didn’t work out as Sue hoped it would. While in Chile she skies in the Andes with other American exchange students and has an accident on the slope. The mother insisted she stay indoors for two weeks due to scars on her face from the accident, which not what she wanted. They had different values about how she looked or presented to outsiders. At home in the states, scars from adventures gave her attention she wanted.
Plus, the family fixed her up on a date to escort her out publicly, someone she wasn't attracted to. She learns the men go to prostitutes before they take their dates out, thereby showing up much later. Of her travel to Chile she writes, “Trust in myself developed gradually as I lived in South America. Travel was like a magic doorway through which we walked, shedding parts of ourselves, revealing others. On the far side, we could shake off masks we’d worn, experiment with being someone we’d never been before, or practice being the person we wanted to be.”
On her return she learns she was accepted at Carnegie Mellon University, for Textiles and Clothing, she didn’t want to go there but she went for the first two years and meets the first man she falls into a serious relationship with, but she’s not comfortable and yearns for adventure which he is not interested in. She feels worldly having traveled the major capitals of South American, and because she lived in Santiago for three months. She meets Eva who becomes a good friend and they apply to Stanford, where they preferred to go to school. Sue gets accepted and transferred, a case of great pride since her high school counselor discouraged her from applying there.
At Stanford she meets Don and they start dating. His friends became her social group, she was aware she would have liked to date others, but didn’t. She reflects,“How different that junior year would have been if I had been free to date others, get into some group activities, explore my interest in
photography and journalism. But no, my one-friend-at-a-time modis operandi was still in control. And that one friend was Don.” They became engaged and she was the perfect girlfriend doing what he wanted to do. When she has an opportunity to spend a summer in the Alps she goes, but tells Don she cannot wear the engagement ring while there. She takes if off, and is on her way to a new adventure. One of the major themes of the book. While there she realized she wanted friends not a boyfriend. Don’s letters of routine daily details don’t help, she longs for romance from a relationship. Here most readers will realize this relationship is over before the author does. When she returns she puts the ring back on even though it’s not right.
It takes her a while to realize breaking up is an act of self-love. And finally she does break up with this engagement to Don. Studying psychology she starts working at a crisis line. Along her path she has interaction with Jane Goodall. She’s dating again and falls for two men. Later she goes off to travel heading to Africa, Jane gives her a letter of introduction to a contact in The Gambia, where they were not expecting her, but she is able to stay there one night. Then she travels on to Sierra Leone to meet up with a man was in the Peace Corps who she once had a passionate kiss with, but at the time she was in a relationship with Don at Carnegie Mellon. When she arrives she learns he's in a relationship. She takes a freighter back to Europe then home to the Bay area. She’s twenty-three, heading back to a workplace, The Bridge, where she worked before leaving, and to finish her master’s in marriage and family therapy. She audits a class with Jane Goodall before deciding she doesn't want to work in psychology.
The book is a fine tale. My critique is that this book doesn't pass the Bechdal-Wallace test, the story becomes about the search for the right life partner and she dissecting each relationship as they come along from about the mid point of the book. One of the counselors at the Bridge, Muzhe, had an apprehension about working with her after reading her journal, “She rolled her eyes and gently teased me. “You wrote so much about Jeremy, I didn’t think you’d have any energy left for the counseling.” And even though she contested that it wasn’t like that, in the reading of the book it does feel like that.
Near the end of the book she shows her allegiance with her father and his sense of adventure. Something I would have liked to know earlier in the book. She travels with him to Calcutta and they were the first Western group allowed entry since the end of World War II. Her mother also went but they went on to Nepal and her mother traveled solo in southern India! This came out of the blue, I didn’t imagine her mother taking off on her own.
She winds up having a choice between two brothers, Muzhe's sons, she has fallen in love with each of them. She selects Jon, the older one, but younger than her. This changes her relationship with her “mother” Muzhe to being less of a confident. Of course she asks for permission to date their son, which is easily granted since she has become part of their family. Jon is a virgin and initiated by our author, but not right away, after they officially start dating. I'm giving away a lot of information in this review so I'm going to hide it since it's might be considered a spoiler. It's an engaging read.
In the opening chapter she’s in a tree imagining herself in the places she sees in National Geographic: Mars, the Sahara Desert, Mount Everest, the jungles of Africa. Growing up on a pig farm in Pennsylvania, she has a mother who rarely shows emotion. Her beloved dog Scout gets killed on the road. The early scenes move fast and soon she has another dog to take the place of Scout, Beauty, who sadly dies from distemper, "before her first shots." This death leads us to the next chapter about many deaths in her family and her mother’s disposition as a Christian Scientist. Her mother, “…could tell me all about the rose Medallion china and the French provincial furniture, but not about her broken heart.” She yearned for her mother’s attention and emotions. Her mother left her books to read instead of talking to her about her female body as she grew into womanhood.
She meets her second mom through her friend Annie, whose family takes in a Chilean girl. Sue travels to Chile, to stay with a family for a summer to study Spanish, she chooses a different family to stay with because she believes this friend knows English too well and she doesn’t believe she’ll learn Spanish well. This insulted her Chilean friend who had prepared a big party on her arrival. The trip didn’t work out as Sue hoped it would. While in Chile she skies in the Andes with other American exchange students and has an accident on the slope. The mother insisted she stay indoors for two weeks due to scars on her face from the accident, which not what she wanted. They had different values about how she looked or presented to outsiders. At home in the states, scars from adventures gave her attention she wanted.
Plus, the family fixed her up on a date to escort her out publicly, someone she wasn't attracted to. She learns the men go to prostitutes before they take their dates out, thereby showing up much later. Of her travel to Chile she writes, “Trust in myself developed gradually as I lived in South America. Travel was like a magic doorway through which we walked, shedding parts of ourselves, revealing others. On the far side, we could shake off masks we’d worn, experiment with being someone we’d never been before, or practice being the person we wanted to be.”
On her return she learns she was accepted at Carnegie Mellon University, for Textiles and Clothing, she didn’t want to go there but she went for the first two years and meets the first man she falls into a serious relationship with, but she’s not comfortable and yearns for adventure which he is not interested in. She feels worldly having traveled the major capitals of South American, and because she lived in Santiago for three months. She meets Eva who becomes a good friend and they apply to Stanford, where they preferred to go to school. Sue gets accepted and transferred, a case of great pride since her high school counselor discouraged her from applying there.
At Stanford she meets Don and they start dating. His friends became her social group, she was aware she would have liked to date others, but didn’t. She reflects,“How different that junior year would have been if I had been free to date others, get into some group activities, explore my interest in
photography and journalism. But no, my one-friend-at-a-time modis operandi was still in control. And that one friend was Don.” They became engaged and she was the perfect girlfriend doing what he wanted to do. When she has an opportunity to spend a summer in the Alps she goes, but tells Don she cannot wear the engagement ring while there. She takes if off, and is on her way to a new adventure. One of the major themes of the book. While there she realized she wanted friends not a boyfriend. Don’s letters of routine daily details don’t help, she longs for romance from a relationship. Here most readers will realize this relationship is over before the author does. When she returns she puts the ring back on even though it’s not right.
It takes her a while to realize breaking up is an act of self-love. And finally she does break up with this engagement to Don. Studying psychology she starts working at a crisis line. Along her path she has interaction with Jane Goodall. She’s dating again and falls for two men. Later she goes off to travel heading to Africa, Jane gives her a letter of introduction to a contact in The Gambia, where they were not expecting her, but she is able to stay there one night. Then she travels on to Sierra Leone to meet up with a man was in the Peace Corps who she once had a passionate kiss with, but at the time she was in a relationship with Don at Carnegie Mellon. When she arrives she learns he's in a relationship. She takes a freighter back to Europe then home to the Bay area. She’s twenty-three, heading back to a workplace, The Bridge, where she worked before leaving, and to finish her master’s in marriage and family therapy. She audits a class with Jane Goodall before deciding she doesn't want to work in psychology.
The book is a fine tale. My critique is that this book doesn't pass the Bechdal-Wallace test, the story becomes about the search for the right life partner and she dissecting each relationship as they come along from about the mid point of the book. One of the counselors at the Bridge, Muzhe, had an apprehension about working with her after reading her journal, “She rolled her eyes and gently teased me. “You wrote so much about Jeremy, I didn’t think you’d have any energy left for the counseling.” And even though she contested that it wasn’t like that, in the reading of the book it does feel like that.
Near the end of the book she shows her allegiance with her father and his sense of adventure. Something I would have liked to know earlier in the book. She travels with him to Calcutta and they were the first Western group allowed entry since the end of World War II. Her mother also went but they went on to Nepal and her mother traveled solo in southern India! This came out of the blue, I didn’t imagine her mother taking off on her own.
She winds up having a choice between two brothers, Muzhe's sons, she has fallen in love with each of them. She selects Jon, the older one, but younger than her. This changes her relationship with her “mother” Muzhe to being less of a confident. Of course she asks for permission to date their son, which is easily granted since she has become part of their family. Jon is a virgin and initiated by our author, but not right away, after they officially start dating. I'm giving away a lot of information in this review so I'm going to hide it since it's might be considered a spoiler. It's an engaging read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 30, 2025
I WILL NEVER FORGET THIS BOOK
I love how Hacking intermixes her emotions, her thoughts, and descriptions. She writes so easily about those feelings, how she connected with others, then reflects back on how her early years formed how she relates. That really makes it interesting. I just wanted to keep reading.
The writing is so easy, flowing and perfect. It just sucks me in. I got lost on each word like being right there. For sure baby boomer readers will find it outstanding. But it will also grab younger generations. The first chapters are an insight of life during the 50s, 60s and 70s. Oh WOW and this is just the first of series! I hope the author is far along on that next book. I will never forget this book.
I love how Hacking intermixes her emotions, her thoughts, and descriptions. She writes so easily about those feelings, how she connected with others, then reflects back on how her early years formed how she relates. That really makes it interesting. I just wanted to keep reading.
The writing is so easy, flowing and perfect. It just sucks me in. I got lost on each word like being right there. For sure baby boomer readers will find it outstanding. But it will also grab younger generations. The first chapters are an insight of life during the 50s, 60s and 70s. Oh WOW and this is just the first of series! I hope the author is far along on that next book. I will never forget this book.
January 31, 2025
Fearless and fun
This real-life life review is an adventure in travel, experimentation seeking self, and moving into life as a compassionate adult who looks forward.
This real-life life review is an adventure in travel, experimentation seeking self, and moving into life as a compassionate adult who looks forward.
February 1, 2025
I enjoyed this book very much on two levels. First, the author brought me right back to the era of the 60s and early 70s--what it was like to be a young person when so much cultural change was going on, around the country, and so many young people were re-thinking their values and relationships, inspired to travel and explore the world. From hot tubs to hitchhiking, San Francisco Bay explorations of new types of music and schools of personal growth, brave travels to remote areas of the world, the story brought the sights, smells and experiences of that time to life. And on the second level, the author's own story of personal growth was poignant, unique and very honest. By the end, she was beginning to fly into adventure. My only disappointment was that I wanted to read more stories of those adventures now (I understand the next book won't be too long in coming.)
January 29, 2025
Sue has shared with us her journey to find her path with heart. Overcoming the stifling constrictions of 1950’s conventions and the emotional repression instilled in her by her less-than-nurturing mother, she discovered a life that is authentic for her, rather than fulfilling expected roles. She tells her story with vivid descriptions that bring overseas locations to life, and with courageous candor, revealing early attitudes (which other authors may have chosen to conceal) that she grew beyond. (Such as when she told her friend that she didn’t care about anything.) Her memoir will resonate with anyone who has made their own journey of self-discovery, but especially with those of us who lived through those times. I’m looking forward to the next installment. Many more adventures and self-realizations to come!
January 29, 2025
The engaging story of an independent, intelligent, and adventurous young woman who refuses to let others define her, and who is willing to take big risks to find her true self in a tumultuous time. Growing up in the 1960s in the restricting environment of an upscale Philadelphia suburb where women are expected to marry well and spend their lives catering to their families, she seeks another path. She finds a passion for immersing herself in other cultures and languages through adventure. This bold, honest, and well written account brings us from Chile, to college in Pittsburgh and California, then on to Germany, Morocco, a village in Sierra Leone, and the Himalayas. An absorbing read.
January 31, 2025
I devoured this book in a couple of days, it finished too soon and I can’t wait to read more. Eagerly awaiting the sequel!
The title of the book hooked me in the first instance; the Himalayas top my travel bucket-list and I especially enjoyed the chapters about the author’s hiking adventures there. But it’s a testament to her writing prowess that even places and activities I have no particular interest in, I found really interesting. My bucket-list is growing.
This is more than just a travelogue though. Bravely candid at times, with many commonalities and coming-of-age experiences I could relate to.
All in all, an engrossing read. I felt like I’d grown up with the author and travelled the world without leaving my house.
The title of the book hooked me in the first instance; the Himalayas top my travel bucket-list and I especially enjoyed the chapters about the author’s hiking adventures there. But it’s a testament to her writing prowess that even places and activities I have no particular interest in, I found really interesting. My bucket-list is growing.
This is more than just a travelogue though. Bravely candid at times, with many commonalities and coming-of-age experiences I could relate to.
All in all, an engrossing read. I felt like I’d grown up with the author and travelled the world without leaving my house.
February 1, 2025
Sue Muller Hacking’s memoir Heels to Hiking Boots takes us on a journey through her adolescent and young adult years as she struggles against personal, family and societal expectations to discover what she wants from her life. Simultaneously, she takes us on a journey through several continents, seeming more comfortable with foreign cultures and languages than with her own emotions. I both laughed and cried identifying with the pain of adolescence and the quest for meaningful love and friendship, never sure what to want or what to ask for. This is a thoroughly enjoyable, well written and emotionally consuming book.
January 27, 2025
This is the story of a young woman finding, and daring to live, the life she wants and not the life expected of her by society. It tells of her travels and the search for that special someone who is prepared to share with her a life of travel and adventure. She opens a vista of possibilities for living a life of authenticity. I highly recommend that you read this book. It is a memoir unlike any other. Marion Bolton.
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February 2, 2025Heels to Hiking Boots by Sue Muller Hacking is an alternately fascinating, humorous, lovely, enlightening, and always honest memoir of her youth and travels. It is also an honest, unflinching recounting of personal growth, missteps and all.
I was particularly fascinated to see the world through the eyes of an intelligent and thoughtful woman and to watch this person growing in depth as the pages turn. In the end I think it is the people Sue encountered and the deft strokes with which she communicated their nuances that remain in my mind.
I was also delighted by her adventures as she traveled through Nepal, but it is always the focus on the people she meets along the way that makes the book so satisfying.
The book has a clean, almost breezy style that is maintained throughout, making this an easy read. Overall, I was struck by the sense of craft - of writing carefully crafted. The writing is coherent, consistent, and always readable.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys stories about travel, faraway places, and most of all, interesting and memorable people.
- K Loftin 3
I was particularly fascinated to see the world through the eyes of an intelligent and thoughtful woman and to watch this person growing in depth as the pages turn. In the end I think it is the people Sue encountered and the deft strokes with which she communicated their nuances that remain in my mind.
I was also delighted by her adventures as she traveled through Nepal, but it is always the focus on the people she meets along the way that makes the book so satisfying.
The book has a clean, almost breezy style that is maintained throughout, making this an easy read. Overall, I was struck by the sense of craft - of writing carefully crafted. The writing is coherent, consistent, and always readable.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys stories about travel, faraway places, and most of all, interesting and memorable people.
- K Loftin 3
February 7, 2025
Sue Muller Hacking’s new memoir, Heels to Hiking, Exploring the World to Find the Way Home is a well-written coming of age story. Ms Hacking also makes the case that travel can expand our understanding of ourselves and the world. I found her story of time spent in California, Europe, Nepal, and Africa especially interesting. She also recounts her internal growth in understanding and coping with the influence of past family dynamics. The book describes her growing understanding of her inner needs, interests, and values while seeking a career path. The effort to choose her own path rather than the one expected by her parents and the society in which she was raised can inspire other people to examine their values and do the same. I highly recommend this engaging and well-written book.
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February 4, 2025Heels to Hiking Boots is a page turner! I didn't want to put this book down. Sue Muller Hacking vividly shares the journey of finding herself. I was fascinated by her experiences and intrigued by the insights she had into her feelings and emotions. Sue shares moments that were embarrassing, awkward, and painful as well as ones that were happy and joyful - all of which help her navigate her way towards finding herself. Along the way she travels to fascinating places (e.g. exchange student in Chile, college student in Europe, solo trekking in West Africa) that are stepping stones on her life's journey. Her story also introduces individuals who help her with self understanding and growth. Sue's journey profoundly touched me. As I read Heels to Hiking Boots, I found myself reflecting on my own life's journey.
February 7, 2025
Shows us a personal and honest perspective on how travel, adventure and risk taking can lead to personal growth and clear decision making. Hit the road and don’t look back! This coming of age story also took place during an interesting time of change in the USA. For living in the SF area in 1969 during the summer of love, I was surprised how very tame it seemed, I expected some really juicy stories from this period. But…she was taught by Dr. Jane Goodall and that is cool! Highly recommended reading, and hopefully there will be another book written to continue the adventure.
July 5, 2025
Sue was brought up by a loving, adventurous father, and a mother that didn't allow crying. I can't imagine how difficult that was, so not surprisingly she had difficulty finding her path in life. Luckily, she encountered people who enabled her to show her emotions. I enjoyed the journeys Sue made: journeying through different countries, and the internal journey to find herself, and to find love.
February 11, 2025
Coming from a similar age group, I am interested in how similar our thinking about finding the right partner to spend life with and sense of adventure at the time was, what was important to young women in those days (70s and 80s etc.)…I wonder if it is different for women in the current era than I felt was the case in our day! I think Sue is very brave in laying herself bare and telling the moles and warts of her young life!
March 4, 2025
Read the book in four sittings! Easy to do when it's so smoothly written with a flowing consistency! What can I say about Heels that hasn't already been said? How about fantastic, spellbinding, rapturous, breathtaking exotic cultural scenes on the road to Chile, Germany, France, Canary Islands, West Africa, Nepal and, yes, the good old Bay Area, USA! Personal growth memoir personified! Highly recommended. Thanks, Subee!
January 31, 2025
Enjoying this autobiography of the first half of Susan Hacking's life was a very rich experience for me. The excellent writing made for smooth and quick reading, and the stories moved along at a good pace. I say stories because of the two entwined narratives, one of widening horizons of travel, exploration, and adventure in the cultural and geographical sense, the other of personal emotional growth in relationships and world view. I look forward to reading the future release of part two.
My appreciation of these stories probably was enhanced by the similarities and contrasts with my own experience over the same time periods and some of the same geography. If you spent some of your youth, and even your old age, backpacking from country to country around the world with good will and a desire to live close to the local people and learn lessons from their culture, or if you aspire to such experiences, you also might relish the vicarious travels with thoughtful Sue. Besides identifying with Sue's travels, my favorite character was Sue's young-at-heart father. He seems to me to be the perfect model of the type of father (and grandfather) that I have tried to be. I'm sorry that I will never have the privilege of meeting him in person.
My appreciation of these stories probably was enhanced by the similarities and contrasts with my own experience over the same time periods and some of the same geography. If you spent some of your youth, and even your old age, backpacking from country to country around the world with good will and a desire to live close to the local people and learn lessons from their culture, or if you aspire to such experiences, you also might relish the vicarious travels with thoughtful Sue. Besides identifying with Sue's travels, my favorite character was Sue's young-at-heart father. He seems to me to be the perfect model of the type of father (and grandfather) that I have tried to be. I'm sorry that I will never have the privilege of meeting him in person.
June 1, 2025
This was an interesting story of Sue growing up. Growing up her mother was cold and didn’t give or show emotion so that is all Sue knew. Luckily she had a dad that loved her and did show emotion. College was expected and that was OK as Sue wa very smart but didn’t really inow what she wanted to do. Her last semester of college was an exchange program and she went to Germany and during vacations traveled to other countries. The travel bug got her (in more ways than one) and she takes us on many journeys to different countries. Sue also had a terrible time trying to figure out what love was and went thru several guys trying to find it—when she thought she found it her mom would say something that would mess with her mind and she would break up. Toward the end of the book she did find love but then her mom said something that made her doubt it and she broke it off but luckily for both of them she found her way back to Jon and at the end of the book they were getting married. The next book is about her life with her husband—it will be interesting to see what they do together and how much traveling they manage.
January 8, 2025
Hacking probes her inner life while exploring the earth's lands. Writing a memoir is a deeply personal journey—a chance to reflect on one's life's ups and downs. She is a gifted storyteller. I laughed. I cried. I learned. I am not a world traveler but lived vicariously in her 'heels and boots.' It is so fun to explore the world through her eyes and stories. What struck me most about her writing was her exceptional ability to paint a picture with words. For example, "There was a peacefulness in not having to prove myself all the time. I knew I could travel hard, study hard, play hard, drink hard," I was right there in her heels/boots! When I dare to write my memoir, Hacking's book will be right before me as one of my reference guides. She is a seasoned writer with the guts to share her vulnerabilities: "I didn't like being challenged. I put on a bright face, embraced my cavalier attitude, and said, "I don't care about anything." Robust disclosure of her humanity! I encourage you to read HEELS TO HIKING BOOTS for your next read; you won't regret it. Anna Christine
January 29, 2025
This insightful book highlights how 'growing up' is no cakewalk, rather a long process in self-discovery to find one's 0wn inner equilibrium. The riveting memoir highlights how "growing into adulthood" gives way to experimentation with life, often resulting in decisions based in emotions rather than logic. Sue, the youthful protagonist, suffers from mixed, upset feelings based in childhood messages that are a mismatch to her authentic self. Through purposeful recklessness, unconstrained by the conventional morality of her upbringing, Sue's venturesome personality takes the reader through global travels, sexual experimentation, and the Haight Ashbury scene of the 70s. Gifted with the unconventional mind of an explorer, the author captures the confusing struggles of being young, lonely, and seeking love. Don't miss this thought provoking read! You will learn: It's important to discover what you don't want to find what suits you best.
March 4, 2025
This memoir is a mix of adventure, self-discovery, and the search for purpose. Sue takes us from her small-town roots in Pennsylvania to some of the most incredible places in the world—West Africa, Chile, Europe, and even the Himalayas. Along the way, she’s not just traveling; she’s figuring out who she is and what she wants out of life.
What makes this book stand out is the way Sue writes about her experiences. It’s not just about the places she visits, but how those places shape her. You can feel the excitement, the struggles, and the life lessons woven into each chapter. If you love travel stories that go beyond just sightseeing—ones that dive into personal transformation—this book might be for you.
Since it was just released, there aren’t many reviews yet, but it has all the makings of an inspiring read. If you pick it up, expect a heartfelt journey that might just spark some wanderlust—or at least make you think about your own path in life.
What makes this book stand out is the way Sue writes about her experiences. It’s not just about the places she visits, but how those places shape her. You can feel the excitement, the struggles, and the life lessons woven into each chapter. If you love travel stories that go beyond just sightseeing—ones that dive into personal transformation—this book might be for you.
Since it was just released, there aren’t many reviews yet, but it has all the makings of an inspiring read. If you pick it up, expect a heartfelt journey that might just spark some wanderlust—or at least make you think about your own path in life.
February 1, 2025
This book is a gem. From Pennsylvania to Chile to Germany to Africa to the Himalayas, the author takes us on an emotional journey of a young woman’s self-discovery. Brought up by a mother who expects conformity and docility, and a father who encourages adventure, she has much to resolve as she seeks to find her place in the world. Vivid descriptions of both her external world and her internal doubts, fears, and growing self-confidence make the book a real page turner. With admirable honesty she chronicles set-backs and failures along with steps forward as she sorts through the bundle of contradictions that make up her personality. Anyone who has gone through adolescence will find themselves in these pages and as readers we emerge from the book with respect for the author and insight into our own experiences. Highly recommended.
February 13, 2025
What I most enjoyed about this book were the edges between different cultures - both generational and geographic - that the author navigated with a spirit of openness and adventure. She faced the difference between her mother's expectations and her own drives. This was back in the late 1960's and early 1970's when the expectation divide could be very wide. She traveled to places where people thought in ways she found surprising: to Chile where young girls had different expectations of the boys they dated, to Africa where she was almost arrested because of the way she dressed and rode a bus with a chicken at her feet and a stranger's child in her lap, to Sikkim where guides could carry weights at high altitudes that she learned she couldn't manage. As she takes us along, she makes our worlds a little bit larger.
March 24, 2025
Finding Her Purpose
The expectations placed on the author growing up didn’t match with her insides. She was raised in a time when social values were more conservative. But then the 60s and 70s happened with the wild and wonderful cultural expressions of that era.
Her personal life journey was awakened through her wanderlust. It was fascinating to read of her self discovery. Traveling to South America as an exchange student, later to Germany, on to Africa and eventually hiking in the Himalayas, her travels opened her to the desires of her heart, not just for a life companion but for finding her purpose. Over time and through challenges of health as well as her trips to new places with mental, emotional and physical challenges. Sue writes wonderfully and it was easy to visualize her adventures.
The expectations placed on the author growing up didn’t match with her insides. She was raised in a time when social values were more conservative. But then the 60s and 70s happened with the wild and wonderful cultural expressions of that era.
Her personal life journey was awakened through her wanderlust. It was fascinating to read of her self discovery. Traveling to South America as an exchange student, later to Germany, on to Africa and eventually hiking in the Himalayas, her travels opened her to the desires of her heart, not just for a life companion but for finding her purpose. Over time and through challenges of health as well as her trips to new places with mental, emotional and physical challenges. Sue writes wonderfully and it was easy to visualize her adventures.
February 2, 2025
I’m usually not a fan of memories but this book was so engaging I couldn’t put it down. Starting with her preteens Sue Muller Hacking takes on a journey of her life, as she describes the people and places around the globe in search of what is the best for her.
The raw sharing of thoughts and feelings that brought us into her inner emotional wrestling of what is “right for a woman ” and what life “should look like” for a woman, it is a triumph for all who don’t always follow the path of least resistance.
Thank you.
The raw sharing of thoughts and feelings that brought us into her inner emotional wrestling of what is “right for a woman ” and what life “should look like” for a woman, it is a triumph for all who don’t always follow the path of least resistance.
Thank you.
January 28, 2025
Sue's life is filled with challenges, perceptions, and values layered on since childhood. The engaging, informal narration carries a delightful sense of humor and self-deprecation while taking us through a series of life experiences. From the first page, I cared about her story and where she might end up. Interesting, well-paced, and inspiring, "Heels to Hiking Boots" reminds us of what is important and gives us hope for tomorrow.
February 7, 2025
I loved reading Hacking's book! When I started, I didn't know this would read as a memoir of her love journey, and of coming-of-age in the 70's. I love how she sorted out the significance of her parent's impacts on her thoughts and relationship behavior. I thoroughly enjoyed reading how she grew emotionally and physically stronger with each travel adventure. I especially relate to "taking the mountains with you". I look forward to reading more of Hacking's stories.
February 26, 2025
What a journey of self discovery!
The author is just a few years older than me, coming of age in the 1970's, as did my older brother.
What struck me most is the TRAVEL done! My favorite travel she wrote of was the Nepal trip with her father. Question to the author: Have you been to Antarctica?
And cheers for continual self-examination, education, and simple living!
The author is just a few years older than me, coming of age in the 1970's, as did my older brother.
What struck me most is the TRAVEL done! My favorite travel she wrote of was the Nepal trip with her father. Question to the author: Have you been to Antarctica?
And cheers for continual self-examination, education, and simple living!
November 11, 2025
This is an honest, inspiring memoir. Sue Muller Hacking discovers a love for adventure and travel as she tries to figure out a career and relationships. She describes her adventures in vivid detail, making you feel as if you’re there, and I enjoyed her travels vicariously. This is a well-written memoir that kept me turning pages. I really enjoyed this book.
May 10, 2025
Would like the energy to cost the places in the book
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