What if you could choose a life of adventure without sacrificing the life you’ve already built?

In this inspiring memoir—the antidote to the “just quit your job and ditch all your belongings to backpack the world” mentality—a young woman explores how she took calculated risks to follow her dreams: traveling and living abroad without sacrificing stability and comfort.

Helene Sula always knew she wanted to pursue something a little different from a “normal life”—not an outright rejection of the conventional path many of her peers embraced but one that empowered her to experience other cultures and corners of the globe. To lead a stable life and travel the world. To seek adventure and still be happily married.

From skinny-dipping in the icy Baltic Sea and hiking Germany’s storied Black Forest, to wrestling with visa applications and apartment hunting in medieval Heidelberg, Helene shares the realities—both the magical and the everyday—that come with chasing bold dreams and learning that home is where you make it.

If you’ve ever felt stuck in a mundane career or routine and want a fresh start without completely starting over, Helene’s story will prove that you don’t have to uproot your life to find meaning—just have the heart to take a leap.