Two O'Clock on a Tuesday at Trevi Fountain: A Search for an Unconventional Life Abroad

by Helene Sula, Blue Star Press (Produced by)

Overview

"An inspiring yet relatable read for anyone ready to stop settling." —Nina Ruggiero, Travel + Leisure

In this inspiring travel memoir—the antidote to the “just quit your job and ditch all your belongings to backpack the world” mentality—a young woman explores how she took calculated risks to follow her dreams: traveling and living abroad without sacrificing stability and comfort.

Like many young professionals, Helene settled into a steady 9-5, watching the clock tick by and dreaming of seeing the world one day. But after a climbing accident leaves her bedbound for months, she finds a new voice connecting with others online and starts a blog to write about her true passion: travel. When her blog takes off and a sponsored trip overseas opens her eyes, she wonders: could she lead a stable life while traveling the world?

From skinny dipping in the icy Baltic and hiking Germany’s storied Black Forest, to wrestling with visa applications and apartment hunting in medieval Heidelberg, Helene shares the realities—both the magical and the mundane—that come with chasing bold dreams and learning that home is where you make it. For those who fear change, the secret lies in taking calculated risks.

Uplifting yet candid, this travel memoir will inspire others to take chances and transform their own lives. But you don’t have to uproot your life to find meaning—just have the heart to take a leap.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781958803714
Publisher:	Blue Star Press
Publication date:	04/09/2024
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	136,793
File size:	9 MB

About the Author

After breaking her ankle and leg rock climbing, Helene Sula started a blog that set her on a path she never dreamed possible: she became a travel content creator with a hugely popular website and social media account, "Helene in Between." Helene quit the corporate world and packed up two suitcases, two dogs, and she and her husband moved from Dallas, Texas to Heidelberg, Germany—a country she’d never stepped foot in. The purpose was to travel Europe, write about her travels, and encourage others to live out their dreams. Now, she's living in Oxford, United Kingdom and is continuing to blog and travel through Europe. Helene has a passion for photography and capturing the moment. She has helped 1,000s of other creators and small business owners build and grow their brand through tried and tested strategies she learned while working in digital brand strategy, social media marketing, and advertising. Helene has been featured on national and international TV, radio, and in Business Insider for the growth of her blog and online presence.

Editorial Reviews

"Helene's story is an important reminder that we don't have to settle, and our dreams are within reach if we're willing to go for them."
—Anna Kloots, New York Times Bestselling Author of Live Your Life and My Own Magic

“It's rare that a book can provide both escapism and motivation, but that's exactly what Sula's memoir provided for me. Helene is proof you can have an adventurer's soul and also find stability too." 
—Taylor Wolfe, author of Birdie and Harlow

“Helene brings the same genuine energy from her lovable blog to her memoir, weaving her backstory with her trademark voice, equally witty and heartfelt. She takes us along on her global adventures—and misadventures!—not just as a sidekick but as a true travelmate, reminding us all to live in the moment—even if we always feel like we’re caught in between.”
—Rachel Chang, travel and pop culture journalist

"Helene Sula is proof it’s possible to think with both your head and your heart—and that you can change direction without losing yourself. An inspiring yet relatable read that speaks to both the dreamers and the planners, and above all, anyone ready to stop settling for the status quo."
—Nina Ruggiero, Travel + Leisure


“Millennial-meets-world in this memoir of persistent planning to live the life you desire.”
—Kirkus

“Author Helene Sula’s memoir is well-written and enticing as she shares secrets about how she made her dream of living abroad come true. This story isn’t about throwing caution to the wind and just leaping blindly into the abyss, but one of taking smart calculated steps to succeed with patience and tenacity.”
—Readers' Favorite

From the Publisher

2024-02-13
In Sula’s memoir, after narrowly avoiding the London bombings of 2005, a young woman opens her eyes to the vastness of the world beyond her home in Dallas, Texas.

In this millennial’s remembrance, the travel bug, the nagging dissatisfaction of multiple soulless office jobs, and a climbing accident leave the author fearing a life lived in regret. Sula’s married to her high school sweetheart, Michael, and together they dream up a goal: to live abroad. The couple lead a mundane life in Dallas with a mortgage, two dogs, and a sense of belonging in the city where they’ve lived their whole lives. To uproot and delay starting a family by moving to an unfamiliar country sounds like a strange undertaking to their friends and relatives. Despite challenges including Michael’s mother’s terminal cancer diagnosis and Sula getting fired from her remote job, she eventually turns a travel blog into a business and accrues a solid following on social media. The idea is to adventure through Europe without forfeiting the stability of a conventional lifestyle: “The risk we often overlook is waiting to pursue our dreams, pushing them off to a future that we hope will bring us closer to them. We make countdowns for the grand events in our futures, but we risk wasting our lives when we don’t pursue now, today, what truly matters to us.” Sula and her husband move to Heidelberg, Germany, with their dogs, where they continue to build her blog, travel at every opportunity, and wade through a labyrinth of visa applications. While the prose is energetic throughout, the narrative is often hampered by a haphazard structure. The chapters tend to begin in the middle of the action, abruptly flashback to a memory, and offer tangential commentary on random topics. The writing is conversational and indifferent to conventional grammar. The theme itself—Gen Y leveraging social media to gain economic and geographic freedom—is tempered by genuinely expressed excitement for new experiences. The book’s major strength is in the details of places and events that could inspire anybody to book that vacation that’s been on the back burner for too long.

Millennial-meets-world in this memoir of persistent planning to live the life you desire.

Kirkus Reviews