I've Never Been Here Before

I’ll admit: I rolled my eyes at the premise. *Another* privileged family quits their jobs to “find themselves” abroad? But Ashley Campbell’s memoir disarmed me within chapters. This isn’t *Eat Pray Love* with kids—it’s a scrappy, budget-constrained odyssey where the “magic” often looks like a toddler melting down in a Vietnamese pharmacy or Campbell white-knuckling a scooter in Thailand. Naughton’s narration sells it; her voice carries the weary optimism of a mom who’s just survived her third airport layover that week. She nails Campbell’s self-deprecating humor (the chapter on “divine provision” via a dubious street meat vendor had me laughing out loud) and the quieter moments, like when Campbell describes praying over a sick child in a foreign hospital, her voice cracking just enough to make it real. The pacing mirrors the trip itself—some sections drag (do we *need* every border crossing mishap?), but the payoff comes in Campbell’s reflections on faith as an active verb. Her take on “sacred discomfort” isn’t preachy; it’s earned through stories like her husband’s panic attack in a Peruvian market or her own reckoning with control when their savings dwindle. My main critique? The audiobook’s structure occasionally meanders like an overpacked itinerary. A tighter edit on the logistical details (we get it, budget travel is hard) would’ve let the spiritual insights breathe more. Still, by the end, I was weirdly jealous—not of the destinations, but of the Campbells’ gutsy, imperfect pursuit of *something* beyond the suburban script. If you’re craving a travel memoir with teeth (and a side of theological wrestling), this delivers." "tags": [ "faith-based travel memoir