Excerpt from the Preface The cooler is loaded, the car is packed, and you’ve checked the stove at least three times to make sure it’s off. You hop in, turn on the radio, and drive—right into the thick of afternoon traffic. It takes some time, but the six-lane highway slowly shrinks to two lanes until finally the concrete jungle fades away into the rearview mirror. Eventually the radio signal starts to get staticky, so you turn off the tunes, roll down the windows, and reach your arm out to ride the air waves. You take a big breath, and there it is, that feeling, the reason you make a point of getting out of town whenever you can.
That feeling is the common thread that motivates so many of us to escape the routine of our very full everyday lives. It might be a seasonal getaway at your family cottage on the lake, a one-off weekend with friends at a swanky mountain rental, or a solo week-long escape to a rustic cabin in the woods.
Whether you call it a cottage, cabin, chalet, lake house, camp, or trailer, the experience is universal. It’s about getting away from the daily grind, taking a breather, and spending time surrounded by nature. Where the passage of time is earmarked not by emails and to-do lists but by morning swims, hammock naps, campfires, and whatever else brings you back to that feeling. Dare we name it? Joy? Contentment? Freedom? Here’s to the place, whatever you call it, that allows you to rediscover over and over again that indescribable feeling where you can let go of daily expectations and escape the routine of everyday life.
Copyright © 2025 by Andrea Buckett. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
