Heidi Brown is a woman of reinvention. At 55, she has lived multiple lives: first as a lawyer, then a law professor, later a public speaker and the author of three well-being books for law students and lawyers. Now, she steps boldly into her fourth evolution as a debut travel memoirist, releasing her first memoir, The Map I Draw: A Memoir of Travel as a Passport to Self. In this powerful narrative, she traces her journey of healing from relationship trauma through the transformative lens of travel learning to tear up the maps handed to us by others and instead draw her own.

Raised as a minister’s daughter under the constant warning that her soul was at risk, she spent years untangling expectations, identity, and faith. After marrying her college boyfriend and later divorcing at 30, she left Virginia for New York and rebuilt her life from the ground up, not once, but twice after another eight-year relationship ended in her thirties. In the book’s opening, she recounts the moment her father declared, “You’re not going to find your soul in Rome.” At 43, she boarded a plane anyway and found her soul there.

A believer in living boldly, she began boxing at 47 and has traveled the world to attend more than 50 U2 concerts across five countries. Her life now reflects the fullness of her calling as a teacher, a self-made author, and a speaker passionate about growth, courage, and self-discovery.

The Map I Draw is not just a memoir—it’s an invitation to rebuild, rediscover, and return home to oneself.

About The Map I Draw: A Memoir of Travel as a Passport to Self

Roam. Write. Heal. Age powerfully.

Seven years pre-pandemic, in a sticky parking lot in South Florida in the United States, Heidi’s father—an Episcopal minister—lays down a gauntlet: “You’re not going to find your soul in Rome.” What begins as a quest to prove her pious parents wrong—that she’s not irreparably broken, lost, unworthy—morphs into an adventure of relationship-trauma-recovery through the lens of travel.

Heidi hops on the back of a carabiniere police officer’s motorcycle in Rome, bangs a shaman’s drum inside an Indigenous sweat lodge in Vancouver, climbs a precarious mountain peak in Peru, jumps up and down at U2 concerts in multiple countries, and snorkels with a reef shark in Australia. She untangles fears, discerns unhealthy attachment patterns, expunges decades of misplaced shame, and erases property lines drawn by others (family, toxic law firm bosses, men) on her body, mind, and soul.

The pandemic temporarily robbing Heidi of one of her four well-being pillars (travel, boxing, writing, and U2’s music), she finally books a one-way ticket to Croatia, one of only two European countries accepting vaccinated Americans without quarantine. She reboots her mojo in Split, rewilds in Spain’s Canary Islands, then resurges anew in Rome, celebrating her fiftieth birthday a year late.

Throughout these adventures, Heidi identifies travel as her utensil of agency and rebellion. In exploring the world, she reconstitutes her soul’s DNA. She deletes a life soundtrack of criticism, rejection, and management of her body by others. She nurtures a love of languages, learning, and lushness of mid-life femininity.

www.heidikristinbrown.com 

What inspired you to step into your power as an author and share your story with the world?

I first began writing in the memoir genre when I transitioned from a career as a lawyer to a law professor and noticed that many of my students were grappling with similar anxieties, fears, and self-doubts that I had wrestled with for two decades. That led me to research and write a trilogy of books about well-being for law students and lawyers: The Introverted Lawyer, Untangling Fear in Lawyering, and The Flourishing Lawyer. In writing those books, I realized I have four pillars of personal well-being: writing, boxing, U2 music, and solo travel. When the COVID pandemic hit, and I couldn’t travel, I began writing about some of my prior trips as a form of healing from past relationship trauma. That writing project turned into my most recent book, and the one I’m most proud of a travel memoir called The Map I Draw: A Memoir of Travel as a Passport to Self.

Every great book starts with a spark. What moment or message led you to begin writing your first book?

The spark that led me to write my most recent book (not my first one) was a pivotal moment during a trip to visit my family twelve years ago. I was struggling emotionally, having gone through yet another messy relationship break-up. My parents were very frustrated with me; they believed that their religious beliefs solved every problem. In a sticky, humid Florida parking lot, my dad laid down a gauntlet, saying, “You’re not going to find your soul in Rome.” Three weeks later, I flew to Rome for the first time and indeed DID find my soul. That trip sparked my travel memoir ten trips spanning eight years, beginning and ending in Rome.

The publishing journey isn’t always easy. What challenges did you face bringing your book to life, and how did you overcome them?

While I had an official legal publisher for my trilogy of well-being books, I had trouble getting literary agents and traditional publishers to take a chance on my travel memoir. I tried for two years to publish it through the traditional route, but ultimately decided to release The Map I Draw under my own imprint. My other books took me about one year to write, but the travel memoir took five years from initiation to launch. Even though I have been a professional legal writer (and editor and proofreader) for 31 years, I hired a proofreader, interior layout designer, and cover illustrator. I designed the book cover myself, and the illustrator captured it perfectly. I am very happy with the final product. I’m glad I pressed forward to publish the book; the project was too important to me to just stick in a drawer.

As women in business, visibility is everything. How did you approach marketing and positioning your book to reach your ideal readers?

I learned through my trilogy of law books that relying on the publisher to market my books would only take me so far. My marketing approach is three-pronged: (1) I take a copy of my book with me everywhere I go, capture artsy and fun photos, and post regularly on Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, and TikTok, (2) I do a lot of podcast interviews on shows devoted to travel, female empowerment, and writing, and (3) I blog about solo female travel on Substack (@heidiography) and mention my book when I promote my blog pieces. I also include The Map I drew in all my promotional materials related to my law-related public speaking gigs.

Storytelling is a form of influence. How do you hope your writing empowers or impacts women who read your work?

In The Map I Draw, I share my experiences navigating two major relationship endings and deep familial conflict over religion and politics. Through travel and writing, I found my voice. My book urges readers to take control, rewrite imposed maps, and age powerfully.

Behind every successful author is a tribe. Who or what has been your biggest source of support throughout your writing and publishing process?

My “power squad” of female friends has been vital reviewing drafts, sending encouragement, amplifying my posts, buying and gifting my books, and sharing selfies with my book on their travels.

From manuscript to movement: how has your book opened new doors for you personally or professionally?

My travel book has opened new doors for me on the national and international public speaking stage, through podcast appearances and paid public speaking gigs about empowerment. Ironically, my Introverted Lawyer book thrust me (a quiet introvert with a robust blushing response) onto the public speaking stage in 2017, doing paid talks at law schools, law firms, bar associations, and international conferences about amplifying our voices authentically. I kept that momentum going with my two other well-being books, and now my travel memoir is leading me down new paths with public speaking engagements related to travel as a form of healing and empowerment.

Balancing purpose and profit can be tough. What advice do you have for women who want to turn their passion for writing into a brand or business?

Give yourself permission to “identify” as a writer. Whenever I fill out forms asking me for my “occupation,” I always scribble the word “writer” instead of my “fancier” titles of “lawyer” or “law professor.” I commit to a daily writing practice; I do Julia Cameron’s recommended ritual of “Morning Pages” from The Artist’s Way (three pages of longhand journaling every day), and I commit to two-hour writing sessions every day I’m working on a project. Because my books and public speaking engagements don’t (yet) earn enough money to sustain me financially without a “day job,” I happily teach law, but I tie my salaried job to my “writer identity.” I teach legal writing, and I shape every workday around the important role writing plays in my life.

Your story is your legacy. What do you want readers to remember most about your message and your journey?

My life story is a rather “unpretty” one. I write about relationship trauma, both romantic and familial. My story is raw and vulnerable at times. But I want readers to feel that I endeavor to own my truth, be honest with myself about my past stumbles, and learn and grow through my writing and traveling processes. In each chapter of The Map I Draw, I did something scary, and I lived through each experience. Each adventure made me stronger. I want my readers to believe they can do the same thing and know that I’m rooting for them.

Looking ahead, what’s next for you as a writer, creator, and woman on a mission?

I am excited to begin writing travel memoir #2! I’m working on designing the arc of this new book; it likely will have ten chapters like the first one, with trips to places like Iceland, Naples, Crete, and of course, my beloved Rome. In this new one, I aspire to explore three themes: (1) choosing healthier romantic relationships at the age of 55, (2) healing from “spiritual trauma,” and (3) continuing to age powerfully. My mission is to try to get my books into airport bookstores! I’m also continuing to write shorter travel stories on my Substack blog @heidiography.

Social Media Handles:

• Instagram: @introvertedlawyer and @heidiographia
• Bluesky: @themapidraw.bsky.social
• TikTok: @Heidiography
• Threads: @introvertedlawyer
• LinkedIn: Heidi Kristin Brown (https://www.linkedin.com/in/theintrovertedlawyerbook/)

Website: www.heidikristinbrown.com

Substack: https://heidiography.substack.com/