Just because I am usually towing my two children with fistfuls of fruit snacks and small toys doesn’t mean that I don’t dream about being swept away to a far-flung destination with my husband.    We got married right out of college and spent our first few years together working and putting down roots so most of our grand adventures have included our children. 

We like to imagine ourselves selling everything to journey around the world with our children when they are a little older and I would be lying if I said we never had the occasional “what if” moment.  We often dream together about the trips that we will take when our children have packed up and left us to follow their own dreams.  For now though, I am content with what travel we do get to do and dreaming about travel through books when we are based at home.

Recently, I had some free time on my hands (ha!) and purchased Swept: Love with a Chance of Drowning by Torre DeRoche for my Kindle.  I follow Ms. DeRoche’s site, The Fearful Adventurer, and have been looking forward to reading her story.   Torre met a man, Ivan, in a bar and eventually decided to sail across the Pacific Ocean with him even though she is afraid of the ocean.  She is afraid of the ocean and lived on a sailboat where she didn’t see land for days at a time!  It has been awhile since I read a book that made me laugh out loud.  As I read her story, I found myself laughing out loud constantly. 


This is a great love story but my favorite part of the book was how she faced her fears so many times throughout the story.   Every time Ivan pushed or supported Torre and she conquered a fear, I cheered with her. 

Though I have no intention of stepping on a sailboat to cross the Pacific anytime soon, I found myself imagining what I would say to my daughter if she decided to do this.  I hope that I could find the strength and courage to be supportive of her dream and remember all of the adventures that my husband and I did have.  Then, I would hurry up and buy a plane ticket so that I could meet her at one (or more!) of her destinations.

I love the writing style of Swept.  The descriptions of the places they went and the people they met are so vivid that you feel like you are there, too.  As I turned the pages of my Kindle, I felt like she was telling me the story over a cup of coffee.  I couldn’t put it down and finished it in two days.  My laundry, on the other hand, suffered but it was worth the few hours that it took for me to get through this book.  If you are ready to escape to an island far away, I recommend that you add this to the books on your bedside table.

  

Jennifer Close writes about her adventures on her family travel blog, Two Kids and a Map, and writes about exploring Pensacola at Pensacola with Kids.  

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