In this stunning and triumphant memoir, the author of the New York Times bestseller Nowhere for Very Long continues her story: a tale of a woman reckoning with the decision to live alone and unburdened in the desert Southwest, in a trailer without running water or electricity, with nothing to her name and no one for company except the four dogs in her pack. In her debut memoir, Nowhere for Very Long, Brianna Madia reflected on her solitary life as a nomad, free to roam some of the most beautiful land in America. In Never Leave the Dogs Behind, the van life adherent and nature enthusiast faces unfathomable darkness, her only solace the support of her dogs. Moving from her pared-down van into a pared-down trailer, Brianna reckons with her decision and what it means to be alone in the desert, living on a small patch of dirt on the dusty outskirts of a small town in Utah, accompanied by her four precious dogs, Bucket, Dagwood, Birdie, and Banjo, made famous on Briana’s social media posts. A powerful and poignant portrait of a life on the road less traveled, Never Leave the Dogs behind is about finding the courage to start over when the dream life you thought you were living collapses around your feet. Her remarkable insights on what is truly important in life hold profound meaning for us all.  

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER • USA TODAY! BESTSELLER In this beautifully written, vividly detailed memoir, a young woman chronicles her adventures traveling across the deserts of the American West in an orange van named Bertha and reflects on an unconventional approach to life. A woman defined by motion, Brianna Madia bought a beat-up bright orange van, filled it with her two dogs Bucket and Dagwood, and headed into the canyons of Utah with her husband. Nowhere for Very Long is her deeply felt, immaculately told story of exploration—of the world outside and the spirit within. However, pursuing a life of intention isn’t always what it seems. In fact, at times it was downright boring, exhausting, and even desperate—when Bertha overheated and she was forced to pull over on a lonely stretch of South Dakota highway; when the weather was bitterly cold and her water jugs froze beneath her as she slept in the parking lot of her office; when she worried about money, her marriage, and the looming question mark of her future. But Brianna was committed to living a life true to herself, come what may, and that made all the difference. Nowhere for Very Long is the true story of a woman learning and unlearning, from backroads to breakdowns, from married to solo, and finally, from lost to found to lost again . . . this time, on purpose.