Nowhere for Very Long by Brianna Madia (5 ★)

Nowhere for Very Long by Brianna Madia

“All my life, I’d assumed it was only brave people who did brave things. I’d never once considered how many of them were absolutely terrified.”

Nowhere for Very Long is a memoir about a woman who buys a huge, ugly orange van to live in/out of with her husband and two dogs. The book follows Madia through the many decisions, both big and small, that led her to the life of freedom she envisioned. In between gorgeous descriptions of desert and sandstone, gleeful accounts of embracing the wild with her dogs, and the trials of van life, Madia also writes beautiful reflections on often traumatic and emotional memories from her past and how they shaped her unconventional life.

I started to read this book because it was obviously a travel memoir, my niche, but didn’t think the writing style was for me. I glanced at the Goodreads page and saw the massively high rating (4.32) and skimmed through a few of the reviews to find out what made this book so special, and found out that Brianna Madia was an instagram influencer. To be fair, some of the reviews are rated one star and talk explicitly about her popularity on Instagram, but I was intrigued enough to give it another look, and I’m so glad I did!

I understand how this sort of travel book may not be for everyone, but it is right up my alley. I loved the romantic and sad writing style, I loved following the meandering curves of Madia’s memories, and her poetic descriptions of lessons learned and understandings gleaned from hindsight. I laughed and cried while reading about her husband, Neil, and her dogs, Bucket and Dagwood, though I can see how some of her Instagram followers may have had some prior knowledge and accompanying baggage with those subjects.

Madia is living life with the kind of attitude and courage I hope to embody and reading her book was an absolute pleasure. It led to a lot of journaling on my own upcoming travel plans and made me think more deeply about the roots of my own wanderlust. I highly recommend it to people who aspire to long-term travel and women, especially.

My favorite passage from the book: “As I drove south out of the bounds of the city and up the canyon road that had been spitting me into the desert weekend after weekend after weekend, it suddenly dawned on me that I didn’t ever have to go back. There were no payments, no meetings, no appointments, no presentations or due dates. Sunday night was not coming for me. “

Rating: ★★★★★
5/5 stars