Book excerpt: Why didn’t life work out as I planned? My plan was great! I would grow up with a loving family. I would have many friends to make pinky promises with. I would get top grades through school and be popular to boot. I would study for a degree I was passionate about, and I would meet . . . “The One” (sigh) . . . we would get married and have children who looked and behaved like baby angels. Oh, and I’d live happily ever after, of course. Was that too much to ask? I didn’t plan for my parents to divorce. I didn’t plan to change schools because of bullying. I didn’t plan for university to fill me with doubts about whether I was good enough. I didn’t plan to be single at 28. I didn’t plan to run away to the other side of the world. But look where I’ve ended up. Life is never the smooth and straightforward journey we expect. Along the way, things slow us down and turn us around. Speed Bumps and Roundabouts is a story of those things: Hope. Vulnerability. Apathy. Gratitude. Beauty. Boundaries. Waiting . . . The journey is worth it, the scenery can be captivating, but we’ll never know unless we keep going . . . over the speed bumps and around the roundabouts.