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Adventure After: A Journey in Search of Me
Born and raised in a loving home, Trudi seemed to have the perfect life. Until one day when she was eleven years old, a tragic death in the family changed the trajectory of her life forever. As if that wasn't enough, further devastation crashed through Trudi's life, leaving her without any close family by the time she reached her mid-thirties. She was all alone.
What follows is an inspiring transformation, as Trudi built a new life by going where her heart and her feet lead her - from country music concerts in Nashville and hockey games in Canada to thermal springs in Iceland and the legendary Camino de Santiago.
Adventure After is Trudi's story of how she faced her grief throughout the years. With her adventurous spirit, she searched the world to discover what mattered the most to her and found her way back to herself.
A compelling read for those who have experienced the loss of a dear family member(s). An honest, raw look at the author's resilience in building a full life after she lost her family.
Trudi is a life-after-grief coach. Her superpower is her ability to let you be seen and heard by listening deeply and tapping into her intuition. She loves to connect women back to their inner power so they can be their best selves. She lives in Colorado with her husband and their cherished dogs.
What follows is an inspiring transformation, as Trudi built a new life by going where her heart and her feet lead her - from country music concerts in Nashville and hockey games in Canada to thermal springs in Iceland and the legendary Camino de Santiago.
Adventure After is Trudi's story of how she faced her grief throughout the years. With her adventurous spirit, she searched the world to discover what mattered the most to her and found her way back to herself.
A compelling read for those who have experienced the loss of a dear family member(s). An honest, raw look at the author's resilience in building a full life after she lost her family.
Trudi is a life-after-grief coach. Her superpower is her ability to let you be seen and heard by listening deeply and tapping into her intuition. She loves to connect women back to their inner power so they can be their best selves. She lives in Colorado with her husband and their cherished dogs.
396 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 1, 2021
1 person is currently reading
4 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 20, 2022
What would you do if your whole world was turned on its head, leaving you completely alone and in the deepest grief imaginable? Losing every member of your immediate family by the time you’re in your 30s is rare, but choosing to keep forging on is just as unique. How many of us would - understandably - give up completely and lose all hope? Deciding to recreate your life after losing those you love most takes courage, tenacity, and strength, a sick personality-trait test that none of us ever want to take. In her memoir, Trudi shares not only the long journey to process her grief but also how she designed a new life to honor her best self and the memories of those she loves.
Ugh, my heart.
Full disclosure, I know Trudi personally. I’m certain that impacted my emotional response to her novel. I went to the same elementary and high schools as Trudi but am a few years behind her, so although I’ve always known about the deaths of her immediate family members, I had no concept of what her internal journey looked like.
For me, the most impactful part of her story was hearing how she struggled to process the loss of her brother as she was just a child at the time. I cried openly as she explained her interactions and experiences within those first years after his death, leading her to believe that she was inadequate compared to the level of sainthood to which her brother was elevated posthumously. No one ever wants to feel like a consolation prize, but Trudi’s willingness to share this painful belief helped me to understand how we can unintentionally make others feel “less than”.
Throughout the novel, Trudi shared many insights that are helpful in understanding what grief feels like and how challenging it is to process. Her commitment to unlearning some of her hard-wired beliefs is inspirational. She didn’t shy away from sharing moments that are shameful either, and I’m thankful she didn’t because it made her story feel much more real and relatable despite her unique set of losses.
Another beautiful aspect of Trudi’s story is her finding the ability to give herself grace and permission to feel. It is obvious that this wasn’t always instinctual for her, but the reader can clearly see the benefits that followed when she applied this mindset.
This memoir gives a zoomed in view of the pain of grief and the emotional distress that comes with it, but it’s also so much more than that because Trudi takes us with her on her many adventures that ultimately lead to healing.
Inspirational, relatable, enlightening. Thank you, Trudi, for sharing your story.
Ugh, my heart.
Full disclosure, I know Trudi personally. I’m certain that impacted my emotional response to her novel. I went to the same elementary and high schools as Trudi but am a few years behind her, so although I’ve always known about the deaths of her immediate family members, I had no concept of what her internal journey looked like.
For me, the most impactful part of her story was hearing how she struggled to process the loss of her brother as she was just a child at the time. I cried openly as she explained her interactions and experiences within those first years after his death, leading her to believe that she was inadequate compared to the level of sainthood to which her brother was elevated posthumously. No one ever wants to feel like a consolation prize, but Trudi’s willingness to share this painful belief helped me to understand how we can unintentionally make others feel “less than”.
Throughout the novel, Trudi shared many insights that are helpful in understanding what grief feels like and how challenging it is to process. Her commitment to unlearning some of her hard-wired beliefs is inspirational. She didn’t shy away from sharing moments that are shameful either, and I’m thankful she didn’t because it made her story feel much more real and relatable despite her unique set of losses.
Another beautiful aspect of Trudi’s story is her finding the ability to give herself grace and permission to feel. It is obvious that this wasn’t always instinctual for her, but the reader can clearly see the benefits that followed when she applied this mindset.
This memoir gives a zoomed in view of the pain of grief and the emotional distress that comes with it, but it’s also so much more than that because Trudi takes us with her on her many adventures that ultimately lead to healing.
Inspirational, relatable, enlightening. Thank you, Trudi, for sharing your story.
November 23, 2021
Although our stories and life experiences are different I felt like the author was talking about me. I was so moved by this memoir that I have started to do things for myself that are out of my comfort zone. For example: I signed up to do a Polar Plunge for Special Olympics in honor of my 2 children who both have special needs. I’ve also started looking into finally getting the right help that I need to process the grief of losing 4 loved ones (my father, my godfather, my great-uncle, and my friend )within a time frame of 6 months as well as losing the idea of what a “normal” child should be by my daughter being born with Down syndrome. I am so grateful to this author for sharing her story.
December 4, 2021
This book puts words to the grief I’ve felt but never quite understood. It doesn’t try to explain away grief or give you “tips and tricks” for moving forward after loss. Instead it gives a real-life example of how grief shapes a life and never really goes away. A heartbreaking story and beautiful memoir.
December 29, 2021
Ah I so loved reading Trudi's story! I didn't want to put it down and stayed up all night finishing the second half of the book. Is it cliche to say the last sentence was my favorite? It hit me so powerfully. "I am my favorite transformation story." What a privilege it is to know such an incredible human. Thank you for sharing your life with us Trudi. ❤️
November 9, 2022
I loved it. The first night I stayed up until 0130 reading it. It gives you insight into your own thoughts & behaviors, & how taking soul searching journeys are very therapeutic. It definitely inspired me to plan more travels. It also provided me much needed insight to dealing with death for those close to you. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
November 22, 2021
A great journey: I felt like I entered in to my own journey of introspection while walking alongside Trudi’s journey. Worth the read!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews