Square Up by Lisa Dailey Review

While reading ‘Square Up’ by Lisa Dailey I didn’t realize how much I would be able to relate to her story of loss. Although our family hasn’t suffered the amount of loss she has we have experienced loss ourselves. My niece took her own life on November 2, 2020, after a 10 year battle with drug abuse as well as mental health issues. She was only 23 years old.

Disclosure: I received these items in exchange for my honest review. Opinions are 100% mine.

Prior to that, her Dad had been in a terrible vehicle accident on January 10, 2020, when the truck he was driving hit black ice and hit a tree. He was airlifted to a hospital 45 minutes away where he underwent surgery for a brain injury, broken eye socket, broken nose, broken ankle, among other injuries. After 18 months and many surgeries, Craig (my brother-in-law) passed away on July 15, 2021. Somehow this has torn our family apart and caused a lot of hurt in our family. People not talking to one another, things not being talked about or communicated. I see quite a few similarities between my sister and Lisa in what they are going through.

Major differences for Lisa are that she has her husband and her two sons to lean on. My sister does have her adult daughter who is her oldest, her son-in-law, and their 2 daughters (her granddaughters who are 11 and 7 years old). She also has her adult son and his fiance’.

About My View of Lisa Dailey

Lisa’s loss of many family members in a short period of time including her mother and younger (much younger) brother has taken a huge toll on her life. Her upbringing by her Mom and lack of presence of her Dad in her life has left her anxious and lost. Her Dad’s tour in Viet Nam was a very hard time in his life and left him with a lot of terrible memories.

Feeling like I was a part of Lisa and her family’s trip was like being on quite a journey. I too struggle with anxiety and I am bipolar. So the thought of going on a trip like Lisa and Ray were taking their boys on made me nervous, to say the least. I kept thinking how did she do that? I cannot imagine having gone through what she had just gone through. THEN taking a trip like they were. To visit Hawaii, Guam, Vietnam and the list goes on and on.

The experiences, the places, the food, and the insight that Lisa shared. One of my favorite quotes or passages that Lisa mentioned in the book was when she said:

The key was surrounding yourself with people who would forgive your mistakes and build you up as you faced the next set of challenges

Lisa Dailey

Square Up: 50,000 miles in search of a way home by Lisa Dailey

Publisher:  Sidekick Press, (March 30, 2021)
Category: Memoir, Travel, Family Travel, Adventure Travel, Grief
Tour dates: January 17-February 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-1734494556
Available in Print and ebook, 272 pages

Description Square Up by Lisa Dailey

Have you ever wished you could run away and leave your life behind? Born on the “Day of the Wanderer,” Lisa Dailey has always been filled with wanderlust. Although she and her husband had planned to take their family on a ’round-the-world adventure, she didn’t expect their plans to come together on the heels of grief, after losing seven family members in five years.

Square Up shows us that travel not only helps us understand and appreciate other cultures, but invites us to find compassion and wisdom, heal from our losses, and discover our capacity for forgiveness, as well as joy.

Disclosure: “As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.” Some of the links in this post are ‘affiliate links.’ This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission.

Praise Square Up by Lisa Dailey

“Lisa Dailey weaves an extraordinary and fascinating tale of her journey around the world with her family. But this is far more than a travel story; it’s a merciful, compassionate story of how traveling experiences can offer insight, perspective, and healing. As a therapist, I can say that I’d recommend this book to anyone who has struggled with profound loss or serious anxiety. It is a story of self-compassion, not self-pity, with moments of charm and humor that delight throughout. If you loved Cheryl Strayed’s Wild, you’ll adore this story.”-Betsy Graziani Fasbinder, author of Filling Her Shoes

“Lisa Dailey is a woman after my own heart. She understands that both the discomfort and adventure of travel can change and heal us. In Square Up, in the throes of grief after several family deaths, Lisa and her husband, Ray, take their children around the world to places as far-flung as Cambodia, Myanmar, and Ghana. For the rest of her family, the trip is an opportunity to see the world and stretch their worldview (they visit a temple filled with rats and venture into the culinary enterprise of eating tarantulas, after all). And while all of this is riveting, indeed a treat for lovers of travel writing, what really captures the heart in this memoir is the way the narrator finds her way, after nearly being crushed by her recent losses, to peace of mind and self-compassion. Square Up is full of grace and love and gentle warmth-an authentic story of the love of self, family, and, of course, travel.”-Cami Ostman, author of Second Wind: One Woman’s Midlife Quest to Run Seven Marathons on Seven Continents

Square Up by Lisa A Dailey is a memoir that will capture the hearts of fans of travel and adventure, but the story is far more spiritual than entertaining. Dailey shares her grief and the pain she experienced after losing family members within five years—her parents and twenty-three-old brother included. The void their loss left in her heart was huge. But then traveling around the world with her family—her husband and two sons—changed everything. They had planned the trip for years and had looked forward to it with excitement. In seven months, this family would travel to thirteen countries and across four continents. What makes it a unique experience? There is a lot of excitement reading this book as the reader follows the itinerary of the author and her family, but there is far more to that. Lisa A Dailey’s travels across different countries brought her into contact with different cultures and people, and the encounter with new places, with nature, with people, provoked something deeper in her, an inner journey towards healing. Lisa A Dailey understood that the world is filled with life and a lot to celebrate, and each step they took away from home led her further away from her pain. The author writes in a mesmerizing and exciting voice and it is interesting to follow how she explores her emotions. Square Up is observant and the author pays attention to detail, offering tips that travelers can use and recreating wonderful sights that readers would want to visit. It is both entertaining and very informative.”- Ruffina Oserio, Readers’ Favorite

“For someone who hasn’t traveled more than a few miles from she was born (that would be me) this book was a grand adventure around the world. I enjoyed myself immensely as I was able to touch, taste, smell, and see each destination and its mysteries through the narrator’s stunning descriptions. As well, the underlying story of how the narrator struggled with her deep sense of grief mixed with anger at all the loss of life she’d witnessed, tugged at my heartstrings. This story will allure you with its travel, break you open with its pain, and send you away feeling stronger and more hopeful than ever before.”- Lorinda Boyer, Author of Straight Enough: A Memoir

About Lisa Dailey

Lisa Dailey is an avid traveler and writer. In her time abroad, she unearthed new ways of looking at her life through her discoveries in remote corners of the world and she continues to enrich her life through travel. She is currently working on a recipe anthology as well as her first work of fiction. A native Montanan, Lisa now makes her home by the ocean in Bellingham, Washington, but returns to her roots every summer for a healthy dose of mountains and Big Sky. Lisa is the owner of Silent Sidekick and Sidekick Press where she helps guide authors through their publishing journey.

Author Website: https://lisa-dailey.com/ Travel Blog: https://northwestrambles.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nwrambles Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisadailey1724 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisad1724/  & https://www.instagram.com/nwrambles/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/nwrambles/

Buy Square Up by Lisa Dailey

Amazon BarnesandNoble Indie bound Powell’s

Giveaway Square Up by Lisa Dailey

This giveaway is for 3 print copies One for each of 3 winners. This giveaway is open to the U.S. only and ends on February 12, 2022 midnight, pacific time.  Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway is for 3 print copies One for each of 3 winners. This giveaway is open to the U.S. only and ends on February 12, 2022 midnight, pacific time.  Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.

Square Up Web Tour Schedule

Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Jan 17 Kickoff & Interview

Becky Life as Rog Jan 18 Review

Gud Reader Goodreads Jan 19 Review

B. Lynn Goodwin Writer Advice Jan 20 Review & Guest Post

Lu Ann Rockin’ Book Reviews Jan 21 Review

Andy K. Amazon Jan 24 Review

Denise D. Amazon Jan 25 Review

Betty Toots Book Reviews Jan 26 Review & Excerpt

Jas International Book Promotion Jan 27 Review

Katy Celticlady’s Reviews Jan 28 Guest Review & Excerpt

Am Goodreads Jan 31

Suzie M. My Tangled Skeins Feb 3 Review & Guest Post

Laura Lee Bound 4 Escape Feb 4 Guest Review

Bee Book Pleasures Feb 7 Review & Interview

Karen T. Goodreads Feb 9 Review

Michael L Amazon Feb 10 Review

Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Feb 11 Review