Open Road

A Midlife Memoir of Travel Through the National Parks (Memoir Series, Book 2)

De: TW Neal

Narrado por: Sara Malia Hatfield

Fans of Cheryl Strayed's Wild, Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods, and Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love will enjoy author Toby Neal's road trip travel memoir of self-discovery as she and her husband journey through the National Parks!

I had a dream to live a "normal" life and I attained it; but along the way, I lost myself.

My story began in Freckled: a Memoir of Growing up Wild in Hawaii, but it continued after I married the man of my dreams, completed my education with multiple degrees, had a successful career, and raised two beautiful children.

I sacrificed to get to where I was. Though I didn't regret anything, flat on my back in the doctor's office on the cusp of my fiftieth birthday, my health was crumbling. I no longer recognized myself.

I turned my head and saw a calendar on the wall: Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah beckoned me with its mysterious sandstone hoodoos.

A road trip traveling through the National Parks was just what I needed to rediscover the girl I'd been; it could help me turn a corner into my new career as a writer, and my husband would enjoy a chance to photograph the natural wonders we saw. Sometimes, a twelve-thousand-mile road trip is also a personal quest.

©2021 Toby Neal (P)2021 Toby Neal

Good story, poor narration.

I enjoyed the stories of the road. I found the narration to be cringe worthy. Every time dialog was read it sounded like a 7 year old child doing baby talk, and very loud and forced. The pronunciation of southwest words was very strange and "off" as well. An Arizona mesa kept being pronounced as mess-ah over and over, as just one example. The narration really grated on me, but of course others may have a different reaction to it.

Midlife Travel Gem

I loved the components of the memoir that focused on Toby and Mike's travels and experiences; I less enjoyed the interludes about her career interactions.
The narrator's style is kind of a fit-and-start type of cadence; almost a halting-faltering reading that takes some getting used to that overemphasis pauses and thoughtful moments. It was so distracting to me that it took me a few chapters to tune it out and enjoy the story, but worth pushing through.