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The Road to Sedona: A Family Odyssey Across America.
Jobless in the wake of 9/11, this adventurous story follows a young family who sets out to discover a new home in America. They cross North America six times in their quest, peripatetically wandering the country from Maine to Alaska to Baja and the southwest. On the road, they discover that home is something you take with you, despite the money running out and plans crumbling before their eyes And like the Joads in Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath, they have to reinvent themselves and let go of their past. Throughout this unique memoir, the narrator reflects on earlier travels that prepared the way.
335 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 2, 2016
20 people are currently reading
315 people want to read
About the author
Robert Louis DeMayo
23 books75 followersRobert Louis DeMayo is a native of Hollis, New Hampshire, U.S.A., but has lived in many corners of the planet. He traveled to nearly a hundred countries before he was thirty, crossing many of them overland. He began writing at the age of twenty when he left his job as a biomedical engineer to explore the world. His extensive journaling during his travels inspired five of his novels and far-reaching work for the travel section of The Telegraph, out of Nashua, New Hampshire, as well as the Hollis Times. He is a member of The Explorers Club and chair of its Southwest Chapter.
His undying hunger for exploration led to a job marketing for Eos Study Tours, a company that serves as a travel office for non-profit organizations and offers dives to the Titanic and the Bismarck, Antarctic voyages, African safaris and archaeological tours throughout the world. For several years following that role, Robert worked as a tour guide in Alaska and the Yukon during the summer and as a jeep guide in Arizona during the winter. He was made general manager of the jeep tour company but eventually left the guiding world to write full-time.
Robert is the author of eight novels that have collectively won ten national awards. His printed books and eBooks are available on Amazon, KDP and Ingram. In addition, several of his stories are available as audiobooks on ACX.
He resides in Sedona, Arizona, with his wife Diana and three daughters: Tavish Lee, Saydrin Scout, and Martika Louise.
His undying hunger for exploration led to a job marketing for Eos Study Tours, a company that serves as a travel office for non-profit organizations and offers dives to the Titanic and the Bismarck, Antarctic voyages, African safaris and archaeological tours throughout the world. For several years following that role, Robert worked as a tour guide in Alaska and the Yukon during the summer and as a jeep guide in Arizona during the winter. He was made general manager of the jeep tour company but eventually left the guiding world to write full-time.
Robert is the author of eight novels that have collectively won ten national awards. His printed books and eBooks are available on Amazon, KDP and Ingram. In addition, several of his stories are available as audiobooks on ACX.
He resides in Sedona, Arizona, with his wife Diana and three daughters: Tavish Lee, Saydrin Scout, and Martika Louise.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 23, 2016
MY THOUGHTS
Can you even imagine that in two years crossing North America six times, over twenty thousand miles and finally setting roots. This story is about two young children and their parents were left with very little money and not much hope for a job. This was after 9/11. They go on the search for a new home and a new life. They travel North America six times from one corner to the other corner of the map. Most of us don't like change. It makes us unsure, afraid even when we know it's for the best. Sometimes change isn't our choice but life's choice. We go along because we have no choice. The reader makes you take note that home isn't where you live or where you're going to live, but home is having the ones you love with you. That's what makes a home. This couple and their children made plans and the plans fell apart. There wasn't ever enough money and times were hard at best. But they traveled on, searching for what was best for them and their family. It was a journey but it wasn't about the journey but where they would end up. Often times we think we need the big expensive house and all the trimmings to make us happy. We don't stop to think, what if that was all taken away in a heartbeat. What would you do, no house, no job, nowhere to go? You'd strike out searching for that place that would truly be home, no matter where, no matter what kind of living quarters it was, so long as you were together. The book contains some great pictures such as Erawan Falls in Thailand, On the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal, Healy, Alaska, The Chase House in Alaska, The DeMayo family in 2003, and more. The author takes you, the reader along as a traveler in this quest for a place to settle. You get to see all the different places the family traveled to in the vivid descriptions the author provides. What a ride, what a journey, what a FIND!
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author and voluntarily decided to review it.
Can you even imagine that in two years crossing North America six times, over twenty thousand miles and finally setting roots. This story is about two young children and their parents were left with very little money and not much hope for a job. This was after 9/11. They go on the search for a new home and a new life. They travel North America six times from one corner to the other corner of the map. Most of us don't like change. It makes us unsure, afraid even when we know it's for the best. Sometimes change isn't our choice but life's choice. We go along because we have no choice. The reader makes you take note that home isn't where you live or where you're going to live, but home is having the ones you love with you. That's what makes a home. This couple and their children made plans and the plans fell apart. There wasn't ever enough money and times were hard at best. But they traveled on, searching for what was best for them and their family. It was a journey but it wasn't about the journey but where they would end up. Often times we think we need the big expensive house and all the trimmings to make us happy. We don't stop to think, what if that was all taken away in a heartbeat. What would you do, no house, no job, nowhere to go? You'd strike out searching for that place that would truly be home, no matter where, no matter what kind of living quarters it was, so long as you were together. The book contains some great pictures such as Erawan Falls in Thailand, On the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal, Healy, Alaska, The Chase House in Alaska, The DeMayo family in 2003, and more. The author takes you, the reader along as a traveler in this quest for a place to settle. You get to see all the different places the family traveled to in the vivid descriptions the author provides. What a ride, what a journey, what a FIND!
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author and voluntarily decided to review it.
November 15, 2019
3.5
Travelogue memoir includes Alaska, Thailand, Nepal, and several African countries areas of interest. The author traveled extensively as a young single and continues to rough it with his soon-to-be-wife. After children, the family lived in an RV and traveled cross country several times. Amazing how successful they were living on a shoestring budget!!
Several glaring errors could have been fixed with tighter editing.
Travelogue memoir includes Alaska, Thailand, Nepal, and several African countries areas of interest. The author traveled extensively as a young single and continues to rough it with his soon-to-be-wife. After children, the family lived in an RV and traveled cross country several times. Amazing how successful they were living on a shoestring budget!!
Several glaring errors could have been fixed with tighter editing.
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August 24, 2017I loved this book and found this family fascinating as they faced each new challenge. Even though I can't imagine taking young children on such an adventure, they seemed to thrive just fine. What they taught their children about the world around them was far more interesting that what most kids get to experience. I really liked his descriptive writing.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews