When Kathy decides to leave her abusive marriage, she is 59 years old. She’s unprepared to live on a reduced income when her estranged husband hides his assets from the court. She’s shocked by the cost of rentals in Southern California. She didn’t realize how impossible it would be to land a job at her age and after being out of the market for two decades while she raised her kids. She hasn’t anticipated that her nearly grown children would be mad at her for finally standing up for herself. And she certainly hasn’t expected the way that the prolonged stress of her marriage would fragment her psyche, making her long to not wake up in the morning.

The only time she feels halfway sane is when she is riding her horses, and so, with a truck and horse trailer paid for with money borrowed from her dad, Kathy decides to hit the road, riding in each of the lower 48 states until she finds a new place to call home and finds a calm within herself again. She names the journey SHLEP: Soul-searching, Home seeking, Liberating, Equestrian Party.

On her 13-month adventure, most of it solo, she confronts physical challenges and emotional demons. She deals with the dying of both her parents, re-bonding with her sister, and making peace with her three children. She meets so many women who are in the process of remaking their lives after their plans and dreams were shattered; these women are inspired by Kathy’s journey and in turn provide her with support and sustenance. Perhaps most importantly, she reestablishes her relationship with God and begins to rely on his grace to sustain her. 

In the process, she makes peace with the “mess of her life” and gains a deeper confidence than she has ever known.