Review of The Purpose of Getting Lost
- jodiwebb9
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
I've always been a bit grumpy about Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir Eat, Pray, Love because she sold the idea and used an advance to fund the experiences the book is based on instead of having amazing experiences and then writing a memoir about it. So I was happy to find a truly authentic travel memoir. Tracy Smith began traveling for many reasons, discovered many things along the route about herself and then wrote a memoir every woman will identify with in some way.
More about The Purpose of Getting Lost
The Purpose of Getting Lost is a reflective memoir about identity, belonging, and the courage to question the life you’ve carefully built. As Tracy Smith enters midlife—navigating the end of a long marriage, children growing up, and a growing sense of disconnection—she realizes she has spent years performing for expectations rather than listening to herself.
Through solo travel across more than thirty countries, Tracy doesn’t search for reinvention or escape, but for clarity. In unfamiliar places and quiet moments in between, she begins to notice her patterns, longings, and the stories she’s lived by—some worth keeping, others ready to be released.
Told with honesty, warmth, and insight, The Purpose of Getting Lost explores what it means to stop waiting to belong and start building a sense of home from the inside out. It’s a book for anyone who has ever felt out of place, questioned who they are becoming, or sensed that getting lost might be an essential part of finding their way.
More about Tracy Smith
Tracy Smith, Ph.D. is a writer exploring the intersection of travel, identity, and belonging. Her work focuses on the small, often uncelebrated moments when women begin choosing themselves—sometimes quietly, sometimes far from home.
Through personal narrative and place-based storytelling, Tracy examines what happens when certainty loosens, expectations fall away, and life is allowed to remain unresolved. Her writing is less about escape and more about attention: noticing how freedom, acceptance, risk, and community take shape in everyday lives across cultures and landscapes.
She is the author of The Purpose of Getting Lost and the creator of The Geography of Connection, an ongoing project that follows these themes through travel, essays, and lived experience. Tracy’s work speaks to readers navigating reinvention, midlife change, and the courage it takes to live without a neat ending.
Follow the author
Substack: https://substack.com/@tracysmithauthor
Website: https://tracysmithauthor.com/
Thoughts about The Purpose of Getting Lost
This book is satisfying on two levels. First, it allows the reader to explore the world from their armchair, including many places off the beaten path. The writing paints beautiful pictures that reach beyond the picture postcard to the emotions and energy connected to different destinations. Second, we are invited to join author Tracy Smith as she muses about life. Why she travels. How it has changed her life. What was missing in her life. Finding herself as a 50+ single woman. Adjusting to being less mother and more friend to her children. I don't even have a passport but I recognized many of Tracy's emotions and experiences as my own.
Occasionally, I was confused by Tracy's pulling experiences and revelations from different trips together in non-chronological order but, in a way, it reflected the confusion about life Tracy herself feels. That we all feel. I can't think of one woman who wouldn't find something interesting in this memoir.
Ready to Read?
Join the Tour
April 6 @ The Muffin
Join us at the Muffin as we celebrate the launch of The Purpose of Getting Lost by Tracy Smith. We interview the author and give you a chance to win a copy of the book.
April 9 @ Rachael's Thoughts
Join Rachael for her review of The Purpose of Getting Lost by Tracy Smith.
April 10 @ What Is That Book About
Join Michelle for her spotlight of The Purpose of Getting Lost by Tracy Smith.
April 18 @ Boots, Shoes and Fashion
Visit Linda's blog for her in-depth interview with author Tracy Smith.
April 22 @ Writer Advice
Join B. Lynn Goodwin for a guest post by Tracy Smith on finding purpose in uncertainty and “in-between” seasons.
April 23 @ Words by Webb
Jodi shares her review of The Purpose of Getting Lost by Tracy Smith.
April 23 @ Knotty Needle
Visit Judy's blog for her review of The Purpose of Getting Lost by Tracy Smith.
April 25 @ A Wonderful World of Words
Visit Joy's blog for a guest post by Tracy Smith on midlife reinvention: identity, courage, and starting again.
April 27 @ World of My Imagination
Join Nicole for her review of The Purpose of Getting Lost by Tracy Smith.
April 30 @ Words by Webb
Jodi responds to our tour prompt of something she learned about herself later in life that surprised her.
May 1 @ A Storybook World
Join Deirdra for her spotlight of The Purpose of Getting Lost by Tracy Smith.
May 3 @ Bookwoman Joan
Stop by Joan's blog for her review of The Purpose of Getting Lost by Tracy Smith.
May 5 @ Sarandipity's
Stop by Sara's blog for her spotlight of The Purpose of Getting Lost by Tracy Smith.
May 6 @ Bring on Lemons
Visit Crystal's blog for her review of The Purpose of Getting Lost by Tracy Smith.
May 7 @ Balance and Joy
Visit Sheri's blog for her review of The Purpose of Getting Lost by Tracy Smith.
May 8 @ Boys' Mom Reads
Join Karen's blog for her review of The Purpose of Getting Lost by Tracy Smith.
May 9 @ Just Katherine
Katherine joins us for a review of The Purpose of Getting Lost by Tracy Smith. She also shares Tracy's guest post writing memoir from lived experience without polishing the truth. Katherine also responds to the tour prompt about what does “belonging” mean now and how that has changed over time.
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