We all have a purpose in this life, but our purpose is not an end result. The journey from our first pitiful cry to our last breath and sigh—the challenging road trip that is life—is what brings us excitement, meaning, and lasting grace. In The Road Trip: A Travel Guide for Life’s Journey, teacher and author Kathleen Graviano shares the many lessons she has learned along life’s way and helps us discover the skills and attitudes to not only survive our journey but to actually enjoy the ride. While we might embark upon our lifelong road trip without a map or even a destination, Graviano gives us a guide for understanding both in her conversational, insightful style. Each chapter’s “travel-log” prompt asks us to relate these universal wisdoms to the twists and turns of our own experience, no matter where we are on the journey. At times, life will have us in the driver’s seat, cruising along, and at other times we will have to get out and push. How we learn from the good times, the bad times, and the eternal changes will determine whether we can eventually lean out the window and shout, “Wow—what a ride!”

In the universe there are many things that are beyond our control, like the passing of time and the changing of the roles we play within it. At various plateaus in our lives, we find ourselves redefining the roles we have played thus far, for they are not stagnant but constantly overlapping or changing altogether....Much like the chrysalis of a butterfly, we are forced to emerge into a different version of ourselves in order to thrive. How well we accept and adjust to these transformations depends on how well we perceive our self worth and the extent of our personal happiness at these times of transition.

Kathleen Graviano was a teacher for more than thirty-four years. She inspired her students to be lifelong learners, just as her hundreds of students inspired and taught her. Kathleen and her husband of forty years have two children and three grandchildren. They reside on Long Island.