SEVEN BLANK PAGES

Joy chronicles a bold act of self-reinvention through world travel in this debut memoir.

After making the heartbreaking decision to end her marriage and leave the only life she has ever known, Joy sets the goal of filling the final seven pages of her “married” passport in an effort to figure out who she is and what she truly wants; only then will she reclaim her maiden name and forge a new path. Living an adrenaline-fueled life of outdoor sport in Vail, Colorado, Joy realized she was living her husband’s dream more than her own. An Eleanor Roosevelt quote ("You must do the thing you think you cannot do”) emblazoned on a gift from her grandmother took on personal meaning when a confident voice said, “Leave your marriage.” In short order, Joy ends her marriage, leaves her home, and loses her decade-long career at a high-end jeweler. Testing the theory of “get[ting] lost to be found” she listens to yet another voice telling her to “go,” which launches her into a solo journey that carries her from Europe to Asia and beyond. Although she sees Paris, the Swiss Alps, the Andaman Sea, India’s sacred spaces, and New Zealand’s coastlines, these touristic sights become secondary to the focus on the inner transformation she undergoes. With candor and emotional clarity, Joy documents how grief, disorientation, and financial uncertainty can give way to resilience, intuition, and a reclaimed sense of purpose. What distinguishes this memoir from the many “escape through travel” narratives is its balance between external adventure and internal reckoning. The book’s gentle insistence is that meaning isn't found, but embodied, through small moments of courage and surrender. Readers are not invited to marvel at exotic destinations but instead recognize themselves in Joy’s struggle to let go of the familiar. The writing is direct and emotionally open, allowing the lessons on synchronicity, manifestation, and empowerment to feel lived rather than prescribed. Comparisons to Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love are inevitable, but Joy’s work transcends such facile comparisons by emphasizing the applicability of her journey to the reader’s own life.

A go-to guide for readers navigating loss, reinvention, or the desire to live more authentically.