Unbound
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Harper Wave (January 24, 2017)
A young woman follows winter across five continents on a physical and spiritual journey that tests her body and soul, in this transformative memoir, full of heart and courage, that speaks to the adventurousness in all of us.
Steph Jagger had always been a force of nature. Dissatisfied with the passive, limited roles she saw for women growing up, she emulated the men in her life—chasing success, climbing the corporate ladder, ticking the boxes, playing by the rules of a masculine ideal. She was accomplished. She was living "The Dream." But it wasn't her dream.
Then the universe caught her attention with a sign: Raise Restraining Device. Steph had seen this ski lift sign on countless occasions in the past, but the familiar words suddenly became a personal call to shake off the life she had built in a search for something different, something more.
Steph soon decided to walk away from the success and security she had worked long and hard to obtain. She quit her job, took a second mortgage on her house, sold everything except her ski equipment and her laptop, and bought a bundle of plane tickets. For the next year, she followed winter across North and South America, Asia, Europe, and New Zealand—and up and down the mountains of nine countries—on a mission to ski four million vertical feet in a year.
What hiking was for Cheryl Strayed, skiing became for Steph: a crucible in which to crack open her life and get to the very center of herself. But she would have to break herself down—first physically, then emotionally—before she could start to rebuild. And it was through this journey that she came to understand how to be a woman, how to love, and how to live authentically.
Electrifying, heartfelt, and full of humor, Unbound is Steph’s story—an odyssey of courage and self-discovery that, like Wild and Eat, Pray, Love, will inspire readers to remove their own restraining devices and pursue the life they are meant to lead.
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| *New Zealand's Mount Ruapehu largest and most active volcano. |
I now realized why I have never read a book pertaining to skiing before there is not much to it but going up and down mountains. That's not much of a fun book now is it? Wait! Don’t stop it gets better. As the story begins the motive behind Steff’s journey is to prove she is just as worthy as any “man” mainly her father who she inspires to impress including obtaining his approval. I found the writing rather philosophical the book's main focus goes beyond just skiing to what Steph is learning about herself and the changes that are taking place inside her such as her process of discovering her own femininity.
Perhaps it seemed easy because the conditions were perfect. Perhaps it was because my aura was vibrationally balanced from the gong therapy. Perhaps it was because I’d eaten close to a dozen bison burgers since arriving. Or perhaps it was because over the last two months, through Japan and all of Europe, I had placed all of my fears on the ground. I’d been carrying around so many ideas about success, and what I thought it meant to be a woman, and I’d finally pried all of that loose from the clutches of my precious little ego, pried it all out like you would a stubborn oyster from it’s shell, shucking, cracking, and scraping so it could be released and replaced with something true. Although I had been looking for a more rugged tale the one told is not half bad. It is chocked full of humor, including some creative ways that get a skier to the top of the hill my favorite being the one in New Zealand called a Nutcracker. Oh no, I’m not even gonna give you a hint. Nope, you gotta read it for yourself. Whereas at points it did get redundant with the same atrocious hotel rooms, bad skiing conditions also how many times can you complain to the reader regarding your ski bag weighing 80 pounds. Nonetheless, if you are looking for an uplifting, inspiring book with some skiing mixed in this one could be for you. |
Steph Jagger splits her time between Southern California and British Columbia where she dreams big dreams, writes her heart out, and runs an executive & life coaching practice. She holds a CEC (certified Executive Coach) degree from Royal Roads University and she believes courageous living doesn’t happen with one toe dangling in, but that we jump in, fully submerge, and sit in the juice. Think pickle, not cucumber.
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⛷⛷Tour Stops:
Wednesday, January 25th: Cait’s Cozy Corner
Tuesday, January 31st: Jathan & Heather
Thursday, February 2nd: She’s Got Books On Her Mind
Monday, February 6th: Wining Wife
Tuesday, February 7th: Bibliotica
Wednesday, February 8th: Dwell in Possibility
Sunday, February 12th: Readaholic Zone
Tuesday, February 14th: Tina Says…
Wednesday, February 15th: Writing and Running Through Life
Thursday, February 16th: Eliot’s Eats
Monday, February 20th: Book Dilettante
Wednesday, February 22nd: In the Garden of Eva
Friday, February 24th: Sara the Introvert
Monday, February 27th: Read Till Dawn
I found the New Zealand leg HILARIOUS!
ReplyDeleteI'm not much of a skier but I do enjoy stories about self-discovery.
ReplyDeleteThanks for being a part of the tour!