WHERE TO?: How I Shed My Baggage and Learned to Live Free

by Jennifer B. Monahan

When Jennifer Monahan announced her intention to leave her well-established career as a business strategy consultant and give up her rent-controlled apartment in San Francisco to do a global walkabout for an undetermined amount of time, her friends and family thought she was insane. But Jennifer was excited about taking the time to truly explore and immerse herself in a variety of cultures, so their scepticism didn’t faze her; plus she was used to traveling alone as a woman with only one carry-on bag. What she didn’t count on was discovering all the excess baggage she had been carrying with her from her past.

WHERE TO? chronicles one year of Monahan’s life, primarily in the Guatemalan jungle, but also in Japan, Cambodia and Thailand. Living in a thatched-roof hut in a tiny village, Monahan connected with local shamans and participated in their ancient rituals, became fully integrated into the daily life of a local family, and ultimately faced down some of the greatest losses and long-buried pain she had experienced. WHERE TO? shares the six steps she took to heal and courageously create the life of her dreams, and includes a workbook for readers to do the same.

236 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 23, 2019

Reviews

[Lisa J Shultz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title attracted me because I like the concept of traveling lightly and letting go of baggage in my past. The author was open and revealing about her decision to explore Guatemala and ultimately buy a house there. She shared why she liked the simple living there. She also took the reader around with her as she visited historic Mayan sites and connected with the local people and their customs as well as ancient rituals of the Mayans. It was interesting to follow along with a single woman's journey from the US to Guatemala and then Asia. She left an established career and bravely set out to find where her heart would lead her.
The backstory in the second half of the book of an adoption that did not work out interrupted the flow for me but the story did provide an example of the healing deep pain from the past.
If travel and healing are subjects that appeal to you, this book might be a good fit!

[Kathryn Ramsperger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great insights into how travel enhances life

A woman's travels echo her shamanic journey. Being a spiritual traveler myself, I realize how travel can lighten our load and enlighten us as we dig deep into ourselves and the people we encounter in the journey. My only problem was the grammatical tense mistakes gave me pause and took me out of the story. But the story itself, with all its twists and turns, kept me engaged. If you want to travel or have gone through trauma you want to heal, read this book! It will give you courage and inspire you to see the world, and the world living in you!

[Gene Desrochers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book grabbed me from the start because of the author's struggle to master her demons and the demons hoisted upon her by the events in her life. People struggle and she openly shares her struggle. Most importantly she shares how she dealt with that struggle bravely. She worked through and continues to work through limiting beliefs to achieve a new and better existence where she helps people through shamanic teachings and continues to grow by living in new places and exploring what is possible through an open-minding embracing of other cultures' spiritual beliefs. The book gives hope to me for the world and for myself as a person trying to achieve a higher consciousness.

[Sara Strand · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and her journey around the world. Though the book meanders a bit in parts that feels a little sluggish but overall this is a really fascinating read which travelers of the world and us homebodies can appreciate.

Full review, and more, can be found on my blog: Stranded in Chaos