The Perfect Memoir for Opting Outside
If you know me, you know I LOVE the Friday after Thanksgiving and celebrate it like it’s a holiday all by itself.
Why? Because it’s Opt Outside Day — a tradition started by outdoor retailer REI in 2015 and now celebrated by nature-loving folks all over the US as a way to publicly recognize the beauty and healing powers of nature.
On this day, thousands (dare I say millions?) of people will forego the Black Friday madness and opt to spend the day outside in nature instead. Also, it’s the best excuse for people who hate shopping (me) to ignore their Christmas gift lists one more day and get outside instead. A win-win, for sure.
I’ve written about this a few times before ⤵
Today, I’m here to tell you I’ve found the absolute PERFECT memoir for opting outside — The Salt Path by Raynor Winn⤵
It’s a book my friend Anna from Leave the Map Travel suggested while we were hiking together at the Well + Wander Retreat. I remember we were talking about how much we both love being outside and hiking in different places and how my family’s current living situation was starting to make me feel a little homeless (although I know I’m not). “You’ll love it,” she said.
I loved it so much — here’s why⤵
#1 — It’s a love story about college sweethearts growing old together and finding a way forward when they lost everything.
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#2 — It’s a sobering story about what it feels like to find yourself truly, embarrassingly homeless through no fault of your own and how it feels to be treated as less-than-human because of it.
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#3 — It’s an overcoming story where two people discover how physically (and dare I say, miraculously) healing a long walk in the woods can be and how it led them to not only find what might be a cure for an incurable disease but also a respite from their financial loss, as well.
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#4 — I read the audio version, and Raynor Winn’s voice, thick with emotion at times, truly makes the story that much more powerful.
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#5 — My own family is currently in what I’m officially calling “the messy middle” of our on-the-road-again adventure. After three months of being house-less, we’re starting to long for our own home again. We’ve also encountered some unexpected challenges on this leg of the journey. So this memoir and its perspective-giving, whine-busting powers came into my life at just the right moment.
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Here’s the Bookshop.org blurb for The Salt Path ⤵
The true story of a couple who lost everything and embarked on a transformative journey walking the South West Coast Path in England
Just days after Raynor Winn learns that Moth, her husband of thirty-two years, is terminally ill, their house and farm are taken away, along with their livelihood. With nothing left and little time, they make the brave and impulsive decision to walk the 630 miles of the sea-swept South West Coast Path, from Somerset to Dorset, through Devon and Cornwall.
Carrying only the essentials for survival on their backs, they live wild in the ancient, weathered landscape of cliffs, sea, and sky. Yet through every step, every encounter, and every test along the way, their walk becomes a remarkable and life-affirming journey. Powerfully written and unflinchingly honest, The Salt Path is ultimately a portrayal of home--how it can be lost, rebuilt, and rediscovered in the most unexpected ways.
I highly recommend it.
Wherever you find yourself this morning, whatever you have planned for today, I hope you’re in a place to take some time to #OptOutside. And if you’re in the mood for a memoir to inspire you, I hope you’ll give The Salt Path a try.
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Hope to see you out there!
Celeste
P.S. Check out my new favorite bookish t-shirt!! ⤵
If you’re buying gifts for an audiobook lover (absolutely including yourself) this year, here’s where you can get your own Libro swag (I’m not affiliated with them in any way other than being a very happy monthly subscriber listening to audiobooks through the Libro platform and happy to support local bookshops while doing it.)