Nowhere for Very Long: The Unexpected Road to an Unconventional Life

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She posted a video of her husband Keith during a medical crisis, and then LEFT HIM to go on her planned 30th birthday trip to Mexico. Then she essentially outed him with her Al-Anon post about addiction ripping apart her “little family.” What does all of this online drama have to do with her book, the casual unfamiliar bystander might ask? Since the reveal of the truth behind the accident, additional questions have come to light about Brianna, her authenticty, behavior, and whether the story she presents to her viewers is "real". So which is the truth? I suppose it depends who you ask. The people that feel cheated by her believe she's an unreliable narrator who did not legitimately earn this platform, and the people who support her feel she's paid her dues and is currently the victim on an online smear campaign. Some minor issues: the memoir flows along chronologically for the most part, but some placements are a bit off – this is more noticeable toward the end where it is apparent a conclusion is being fumbled for. These misplaced sections are jarring and detract from the general feel of the memoir; it’s clear they are important sections, they just don’t really have a home in the work. In this beautifully written, vividly detailed memoir, a young woman chronicles her adventures traveling across the deserts of the American West in an orange van named Bertha and reflects on an unconventional approach to life.

Nowhere for Very Long - HarperCollins Australia Nowhere for Very Long - HarperCollins Australia

Brianna knew her road would be the one less traveled from an early age. Rejecting the competitive and capitalistic path set out before her, she chose to seek a different version of happiness, a road scary, uncertain, and entirely her own. But pursuing a life of intention isn’t always what it seems. In fact, at times it was downright boring, exhausting, and even desperate—when the van overheated and she was forced to pull over on a lonely stretch of South Dakota highway; when the weather was bitterly cold and her water jugs froze beneath her as she slept in the parking lot of her office; when she worried about money, her marriage, and the looming question mark of her future. But she was living a life true to herself, come what may, and that made all the difference. In this beautifully written, vividly detailed memoir, a young woman chronicles her adventures in an orange van named Bertha traveling across the deserts of the American West and reflects on an unconventional way of life Madia is completely detached in some of the sections, especially the section concerning Dagwood’s incident. She writes from what I recognize as a place of self-preservation, one step removed, but it still reads raw.

However, pursuing a life of intention isn’t always what it seems. In fact, at times it was downright boring, exhausting, and even desperate - when Bertha overheated and she was forced to pull over on a lonely stretch of South Dakota highway; when the weather was bitterly cold and her water jugs froze beneath her as she slept in the parking lot of her office; when she worried about money, her marriage, and the looming question mark of her future. But Brianna was committed to living a life true to herself, come what may, and that made all the difference.

Book — Brianna Madia

Madia is an excellent writer. You can’t ask more from a writer than to be as funny and honest as she is about her personal life, to be able to take a bad experience and laugh at herself in retrospect, to be truthful about not knowing what the hell she was—and is—doing half the time. But she did it anyway, trying and failing, and then trying again anyway. Her bravery shines through each pitfall.If you know Madia’s story, she does frankly talk about the controversy surrounding her dog being hit by a car, though not enough that would satisfy her critics. I had never heard of Madia before this book, so I didn’t feel betrayed by her mistakes. Instead, I was caught up in her unique voice in describing the beauty of the Utah deserts. However, pursuing a life of intention isn't always what it seems. In fact, at times it was downright boring, exhausting, and even desperate--when Bertha overheated and she was forced to pull over on a lonely stretch of South Dakota highway; when the weather was bitterly cold and her water jugs froze beneath her as she slept in the parking lot of her office; when she worried about money, her marriage, and the looming question mark of her future. But Brianna was committed to living a life true to herself, come what may, and that made all the difference. However, pursuing a life of intention isn’t always what it seems. In fact, at times it was downright boring, exhausting, and even desperate—when Bertha overheated and she was forced to pull over on a lonely stretch of South Dakota highway; when the weather was bitterly cold and her water jugs froze beneath her as she slept in the parking lot of her office; when she worried about money, her marriage, and the looming question mark of her future. But Brianna was committed to living a life true to herself, come what may, and that made all the difference. Nowhere for Very Long is about getting lost and finding yourself along the way. It’s about wearing the go-go boots, swimming naked, and getting a third (or fourth) dog. It’s about falling in love and growing apart. It’s about trauma and fear and guilt and shame. It’s about letting go and living. It’s about healing your inner child. It’s about hope. I was quite impressed with how she handled her ex-husband throughout the work. It’s respectful and delicate. Her memories, even the bad ones, are soaked in the love she had for him – the love they had for each other. They were both Lost Boys; tragedy forced him out of Neverland and her further in.