About the Book

My Marriage Sabbatical:

A MEMOIR OF SOLO TRAVEL AND LASTING LOVE

This is a book about honoring important dreams, about marital friendship and cherishing imperfect relationships.

This memoir documents Leah’s yearlong solo sabbatical at the age of sixty-one to pursue a personal dream that her husband did not share. We follow her journey, her long-distance relationship and reunions with her husband as well as her surprising discovery of new possibilities for long-term marriage in the second half of life.

My Marriage Sabbatical will invite you to reflect, inspire courage, and perhaps convince you that later life is a perfect time for fulfilling important dreams, renegotiating long-term relationships, and allowing yourself to fully blossom.

Book Interviews with Leah

  • Nancy's Bookshelf

    October 30, 2024 • #758

    Traveling to witness life and beyond. Nancy Wiegman interviews authors Leah Fischer and Douglas Keister. Two experienced travelers have suggestions for their readers. Retired psychotherapist Leah Fisher witnessed cremations in Indonesia among her solo travels, and CBS Sunday Morning called Chico author Douglas Keister “America’s chief cemetery tourist.”

  • The Kathryn Zox Show

    December 11th, 2024 • #1719

    A Marriage Sabbatical. She wants to travel the world; he wants to keep working. At sixty, Leah Fisher is ready to love, honor and negotiate. The result is a long-married couple’s decision to commence an unconventional experiment. She takes readers on two journeys: an intriguing global journey—her year of solo travel—and the relational journey she and her husband embark upon as they skillfully negotiate their different priorities and preferences.

  • The Life Shift Podcast

    January 14, 2025

    The Courage to Dream Again: Leah Fisher's Transformative Marriage Sabbatical. Leah Fisher shares her transformative journey of self-discovery, which began after her father's death and culminated in a life-changing solo marriage sabbatical in her 60s. For over 40 years, she held a dream of joining the Peace Corps but let societal expectations steer her away from it.

What People Are Saying

  • “A marriage sabbatical! What a brilliant idea! With courage, goodwill, psychological know-how, and a golden, wide-open heart, psychotherapist Leah Fisher dared to propose, negotiate, and carry out a year off from her thirty-year marriage, and managed to enrich herself, her marriage, and the people she met in her travels. Readers will be captivated by this bold, original, audacious experiment, colorfully described with zest, a shrewd, observing eye, and breathtaking honesty.” 

    — Judith Viorst, author of Necessary Losses and Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

  • “Leah Fisher tells a tale of two fascinating journeys. The first involves a negotiation with her husband that reshapes their marriage. The second journey includes charmingly described accounts of living in a series of Asian and Latin American cultures. Both parts of this unusual exploration are beautifully written. My Marriage Sabbatical has much to teach us about the challenging but rewarding opportunities for partners to follow their independent dreams within long-term marriages.”

    — Carolyn and Philip Cowan, directors of the Becoming a Family Project and authors of When Partners Become Parents

  • “Long a trusted source for the media on sustaining a successful marriage, Leah Fisher now brings us a kind of Eat, Pray, Love for the faithfully married set. This book is a feast of wisdom for anyone struggling to balance midlife self-expression with marital commitment, and it is essential reading for spouses considering a breakup as balm for a restless soul. Leah not only knows how to counsel couples on marriage—she demonstrates firsthand what it takes to sustain a vibrant, lifelong union.” 

    —Sue Shellenbarger, former Work & Family columnist for The Wall Street Journal

  • “With the insights of a longtime couples therapist, the exuberance of a woman in her sixties pursuing her path, and the sensitivity of a wife committed to her marriage, Leah Fisher inspires us by sharing her solo adventures during a grown-up gap year. In Costa Rica, Guatemala, Colombia, Cuba, and Indonesia, Fisher combines community service with exploring new cultures and making friends of all ages. This book is a dynamic blueprint for readers ready to address their own heartfelt desires.”

    —Elizabeth Fishel, author of The Men in Our Lives and Getting to 30: A Parent’s Guide to the 20-Something Years

  • “Leah Fisher has written a book that will touch your heart, open your eyes, and excite your imagination. Her journey is one that many women would love to take. She and her husband reach an agreement that brings a deeply meaningful dream to life. Read this book; you may discover a dream of your own!”

    —Lynne Twist, cofounder of the Pachamama Alliance and author of The Soul of Money and Living a Committed Life

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