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Empty-Nest Joyride: Hope, Love, and Purpose on the Road to Contentment
Reignite Your Marriage, Rediscover Yourself, and Embrace the Empty Nest with Joy!
You’ve been parenting for years, and now face the sudden realization that this ride, and your role, are about to change. Like exiting a busy highway, you might look forward to a slower, gentler, and more relaxing pace. Or, perhaps the quiet path ahead fills you with uncertainty and the dread of emptiness.
You’re about to embark on an unfamiliar journey. What lies around the bend is a mystery.
Linda Hanstra has been around that bend. In Empty-Nest Joyride, she shares a heartfelt collection of personal stories inspired by bike rides through the Midwest countryside. Ride along as she reflects on the challenges and blessings of this midlife stage with humor, warmth, and wisdom.
Whether you’re approaching the empty nest or already in the midst of it, this book will encourage you to:
-Reach for new opportunities in personal and spiritual growth
-Ignite and rekindle the spark in your marriage
-Dream of ambitions you put on hold during the parenting years
-Engage in healthy, fulfilling relationships with your adult children
Hit the trail with Linda Hanstra and discover how you can fill life’s next chapter with love, laughter, and unexpected joy!
You’ve been parenting for years, and now face the sudden realization that this ride, and your role, are about to change. Like exiting a busy highway, you might look forward to a slower, gentler, and more relaxing pace. Or, perhaps the quiet path ahead fills you with uncertainty and the dread of emptiness.
You’re about to embark on an unfamiliar journey. What lies around the bend is a mystery.
Linda Hanstra has been around that bend. In Empty-Nest Joyride, she shares a heartfelt collection of personal stories inspired by bike rides through the Midwest countryside. Ride along as she reflects on the challenges and blessings of this midlife stage with humor, warmth, and wisdom.
Whether you’re approaching the empty nest or already in the midst of it, this book will encourage you to:
-Reach for new opportunities in personal and spiritual growth
-Ignite and rekindle the spark in your marriage
-Dream of ambitions you put on hold during the parenting years
-Engage in healthy, fulfilling relationships with your adult children
Hit the trail with Linda Hanstra and discover how you can fill life’s next chapter with love, laughter, and unexpected joy!
236 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 15, 2025
1 person is currently reading
6 people want to read
About the author
Linda Hanstra
2 books3 followersA true Midwest farmer's daughter, Linda Hanstra grew up in northwest Indiana and spent her youth gathering eggs, hoeing corn out of beans, and trimming Christmas trees. After high school, she left the farm to study at Calvin College (now University) and went on to graduate school at Purdue University.
After working as a speech-language pathologist in hospitals, clinics and schools for 35 years, Linda now enjoys being semi-retired. She is living happily ever after-the-kids with her husband, Tom, in southwest Michigan. They spend summers at the lake in northern Minnesota—their home away from home. On quiet evenings and summer afternoons, you might find her reading, knitting, cycling, or kayaking.
As a mother of four, and now "Lala" too, her family and faith bring her the deepest joy. The author of "Lent through the Little Things," Linda has been writing, blogging, and encouraging readers for over ten years. You can find her work on her website, on Substack, and at other online publications
After working as a speech-language pathologist in hospitals, clinics and schools for 35 years, Linda now enjoys being semi-retired. She is living happily ever after-the-kids with her husband, Tom, in southwest Michigan. They spend summers at the lake in northern Minnesota—their home away from home. On quiet evenings and summer afternoons, you might find her reading, knitting, cycling, or kayaking.
As a mother of four, and now "Lala" too, her family and faith bring her the deepest joy. The author of "Lent through the Little Things," Linda has been writing, blogging, and encouraging readers for over ten years. You can find her work on her website, on Substack, and at other online publications
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 3, 2025
Linda’s memoir, Empty Nest Joyride, is a heartfelt, relatable, and richly layered reflection on marriage, parenting, aging, and rediscovering purpose in the empty nest years. From the very first chapter, I was hooked—curious about her husband’s accident and captivated by the biking metaphor that winds beautifully through every page.
Linda masterfully parallels the ups and downs of biking with real-life challenges, using humor, honesty, and vulnerability to invite readers into her story. Whether she’s navigating marital communication, letting go of grown children, or adapting to the realities of aging, her reflections are both deeply personal and universally resonant.
Each chapter offers wisdom wrapped in storytelling—highlighting the beauty of long-haul love, the faith it takes to release control, and the joy that can be found in unexpected seasons. Her openness about struggles, both hers and her children’s, will bless and encourage many, especially those walking through similar seasons.
What I appreciated most was Linda’s humility and grace. She shares both victories and failures with warmth and insight, offering practical takeaways and encouraging spiritual truths. Readers will laugh, tear up, and most of all, feel seen.
This memoir is a gift to any reader stepping into—or already in—the empty nest season, especially those looking for a renewed sense of purpose. Linda has done a wonderful job weaving life, faith, and biking into an inspiring ride toward contentment.
Linda masterfully parallels the ups and downs of biking with real-life challenges, using humor, honesty, and vulnerability to invite readers into her story. Whether she’s navigating marital communication, letting go of grown children, or adapting to the realities of aging, her reflections are both deeply personal and universally resonant.
Each chapter offers wisdom wrapped in storytelling—highlighting the beauty of long-haul love, the faith it takes to release control, and the joy that can be found in unexpected seasons. Her openness about struggles, both hers and her children’s, will bless and encourage many, especially those walking through similar seasons.
What I appreciated most was Linda’s humility and grace. She shares both victories and failures with warmth and insight, offering practical takeaways and encouraging spiritual truths. Readers will laugh, tear up, and most of all, feel seen.
This memoir is a gift to any reader stepping into—or already in—the empty nest season, especially those looking for a renewed sense of purpose. Linda has done a wonderful job weaving life, faith, and biking into an inspiring ride toward contentment.
May 22, 2025
This is a fun, quick, easy, read. And all those things are compliments! I don't usually read non-fiction. I prefer to get away from real life in fiction. But as a recent empty-nester, and since Linda is a friend, I wanted to read this. Also, I almost never write reviews, because I don't have a way with words. But Linda does! This is the second book of hers I have read and I like her style. I enjoyed the biking theme in this, even though I myself am not a biker (at least not road biking...my husband and I own a Harley and ride together that way). Lots of short chapters with lots of tips and wisdom. I definitely recommend this!
September 5, 2025
Most media makes an empty nest look like an identity crisis while Empty-Nest Joyride elevates it to an opportunity. By focusing on self and marriage, parents can strengthen their ties to their adult children and enrich the next phase of one's life. I connected to so many of the stories related to raising teens and enjoyed the reflection questions that pulled me deeper into the story.
May 13, 2025
Lots of personal stories of life and love and how we can find contentment in the years after children leave home. An enjoyable read!
May 20, 2025
Enjoyable read. Gave me ideas to ponder, & insight into Linda’s life events that I knew of, but wanted to understand more fully.
May 27, 2025
This book has come at such a great time for me. It is definitely not just for empty nesters! It's a story of a beautiful life with all its challenges, joys and hardships.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews