STARTING TODAY: FEBRUARY 27, 2024: Brave-ish is now an AudioBook!
Order now ⟶
From Recorded Books, Tantor Audio, Mosaic Audio and Post Hill Press:
NARRATED BY LISA NIVER!
Buy on AUDIBLE
FROM Barnes & Noble:
BRAVE-ISH: ONE BREAKUP, SIX CONTINENTS AND FEELING FEARLESS AFTER FIFTY
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Although Lisa Niver has traveled in far-off locales from Vanuatu to Nepal and received numerous accolades for both her writing and her top ranked website, what people don’t realize is that this began from the wreckage of a rotten romance.
Newlywed Niver was on the adventure of a lifetime. She had quit her job, rented out her condo, and was traveling around Asia. To the outside world, Niver was a woman living out her dreams of exploring ancient ruins in Cambodia and seeing orangutans in Borneo. In private, she was keeping a dark secret. But, when she found herself lying on a sidewalk in Thailand, looking up at the sky in severe pain, she knew things had to change. At age forty-seven, Niver found the courage to set course on a new life.
Feeling like a failure, pushing fifty, and moving home to her parents’ house to start again from scratch, Niver started taking one tiny “brave-ish” step at a time to take her life far away from the old one and into the adventurous world of travel writing. These small hurdles led to the challenge of trying fifty new things before turning fifty. From diving into shipwrecks, swimming with sharks, bobsledding at 3 Gs, to indulging in wild escapades, Niver found herself traversing the world on a journey of reinvention, personal growth, and discovering what it actually means to be “brave.”
While Brave-ish chronicles Niver’s inspiring expeditions to distant corners of the world including Myanmar, Cuba, Morocco, Kenya and Mongolia this is more than a travelogue. Niver’s story is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of perseverance. Brave-ish inspires readers to dream big, take risks, and embrace the unknown to create a life filled with wonder and excitement, even when courage seems elusive.
Featured in Conde Nast Traveler Women Who Travel Book Club: 10 New Books We Can’t Wait to Read this Fall ⟶
As seen in Forbes Best New Non-Fiction ⟶
I am honored that my book, Brave-ish, is a semi-finalist for the 2023 Hearten Book Awards for Inspiring & Uplifting Non-Fiction ⟶
Goody Business Book Awards Winner / Self-Help – Memoir ⟶
The Zibby Awards Finalist – Best Book For The Strong Woman ⟶
- LOVED THIS BOOK!Niver’s book has inspired me to be more Brave-ish in my everyday life. I consider myself a well-traveled person but after reading about her travel adventures I have added more items to my bucket list. I think this would be a great read for book clubs.JENNIFER ZEPERNICK
- ENGAGING AND ENTERTAINING TRAVELOGUE, AND INSPIRATIONAL FOR DIVORCED WOMEN EVERYWHEREI thoroughly enjoyed reading this engaging and entertaining account of the adventures that author Lisa Niver experienced during her international travels, particularly backpacking throughout Asia, and the fears she overcame in order to experience the adventures of becoming a diver—even swimming with the sharks! Niver has inspired me to set some challenges for myself! I’d also like to say that Niver’s book is also a journey of the soul, as she details the beginning, development, and dissolution of her marriage with Fred. The fact that she could emerge from that relationship without vitriol or vindictiveness directed at her former husband is a testimonial to her loving spirit. Niver simply accepts lessons learned and moves on with a life of positivity and productivity. She is a role model for divorced women everywhere. Brave-ish is definitely a book worth reading, no matter how old you are, or what your marital status is.TLMARZELL
- INSPIRATIONAL MEMOIR OF A WOMAN’S JOURNEYThis was an inspirational memoir of a woman’s journey from a very low place in her life to finding her own inner strength and going on the most amazing adventures. It is easy to lose our way and as she points out is never too late to re-center ourselves. I really admire her strength, determination and grit. It also shows that even the strongest have self crippling doubt that can prevent us from living our best lives. I am very appreciative that Lisa shared her story and was able to accomplish so much after her horrible marriage and divorce.LIZ TAYLOR
- BRAVE + INSPIRING. A GREAT READ FOR SOLO TRAVELERS, ASPIRING TRAVEL WRITERS, & TIMID TRAVELERS.Lisa Niver makes the extraordinary relatable. Her voice is that of a friend you haven’t spoken with for ages. She’s made the bad choices and ignored the signs that so many of us do – you know, the ones that, in hindsight, were so strong that they might as well have been flashing neon signs – and come out stronger with an inspiring story to tell. Niver’s book inspires more than emotional strength and perseverance; as a travelogue should, it filled me with more wanderlust and a new list of places to put on my travel bucket list. I’ve been through bad relationships and ignored the flashing neon signs myself. I also started dipping my toes into the travel writing waters in my 40s, so I found Niver’s story extra encouraging.MELISSA PETERSON
- BRAVA: HOW TO BE BRAVEThere is nothing ish about it!!! Lisa Niver’s Brave-ish is simply brave. Niver’s writing draws you in as a co-traveler. Experience the challenges and joys life might bring us. Gain insight into the dynamics of happiness, anger, sadness, fear, and excitement of one life lived as a survivor and thriver. Yes. Lisa Niver has written a compelling memoir of her lived experiences and generously shares her life lessons with anyone brave- ish enough to read, reflect and let it in. I am glad I did.BODHI
- INSPIRATIONAL AND FUN READI read Lisa’s book in 2 days! She is my hero! She has done so much in such a short amount of time and has inspired me to want to do more for myself. Being defined by other people is not the path to happiness but being true to yourself and really accepting yourself is the start. Lisa shows us that getting out of your comfort zone, even if it is as small as opening the space between your clasped hands, is worth the risk. And, it’s wonderful to see it’s never too late to start being a little “Brave-ish”.”SCOTT
- BEYOND BRAVELisa’s is a story of recognizing and accepting that a major life change is needed, then let’s go, heals and excels in so many endeavors. Epically inspiring- couldn’t put it down.DEBRA SAROKIN
- A MUST READ!!This book will take you on Lisa’s incredible journey! There are laughs and tears but most of all a book written from the heart. I wasn’t able to put it down . Fascinating twists and turns but an honest and real look at relationships, challenges and adventures. This is the second book I’ve read from Lisa Niver! I’m already looking forward to the 3rd!JW
- LOVED THIS BOOK!Niver’s book has inspired me to be more Brave-ish in my everyday life. I consider myself a well-traveled person but after reading about her travel adventures I have added more items to my bucket list. I think this would be a great read for book clubs.JENNIFER ZEPERNICK
- ENGAGING AND ENTERTAINING TRAVELOGUE, AND INSPIRATIONAL FOR DIVORCED WOMEN EVERYWHEREI thoroughly enjoyed reading this engaging and entertaining account of the adventures that author Lisa Niver experienced during her international travels, particularly backpacking throughout Asia, and the fears she overcame in order to experience the adventures of becoming a diver—even swimming with the sharks! Niver has inspired me to set some challenges for myself! I’d also like to say that Niver’s book is also a journey of the soul, as she details the beginning, development, and dissolution of her marriage with Fred. The fact that she could emerge from that relationship without vitriol or vindictiveness directed at her former husband is a testimonial to her loving spirit. Niver simply accepts lessons learned and moves on with a life of positivity and productivity. She is a role model for divorced women everywhere. Brave-ish is definitely a book worth reading, no matter how old you are, or what your marital status is.TLMARZELL
Find Braveish in the STRONG WOMAN section at Zibby’s Bookshop
More info: https://lisaniver.com/events
“Niver’s global travel exploits had me simultaneously chewing my fingernails and cheering her on as she challenged herself to greater and riskier feats in search of self. Compelling and engrossing. A must-read for fans of Wild and Eat, Pray, Love!”
ALKA JOSHI
A New York Times Best Seller, a Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick- The Henna Artist, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur and The Perfumist of Paris
“Lisa Niver’s Brave-ish is a page-turner and inspiration for anyone who finds themselves at rock bottom in mid-life. Through both grand adventures and small, life-savoring gestures, Niver pieces herself back together after heartbreak and hardship. Readers will have the great pleasure of traveling the world through Niver’s stories and will be cheering her on. Don’t miss this book full of heart, adventure, and, of course, courage!”
CHRISTIE TATE
A New York Times Best Seller, a Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick- GROUP and B.F.F.
“In a youth-obsessed culture where ageism has been called the “last acceptable bias,” Niver confronts her fears of being alone, supporting herself through travel, and starting over again in midlife. Her story illustrates that we can blaze our own path, if we are brave enough to begin with small steps.”
HOLLY CASSANDRA CORBETT
Author of The Lost Girls, VP Consciously Unbiased
ABOUT LISA NIVER
Lisa Niver is an award-winning travel expert who has explored 102 countries on six continents. This University of Pennsylvania graduate sailed across the seas for seven years with Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean, and Renaissance Cruises and spent three years backpacking across Asia. Discover her articles in publications from AARP: The Magazine and AAA Explorer to WIRED and Wharton Magazine, as well as her site WeSaidGoTravel.
On her award-winning global podcast, Make Your Own Map, Niver has interviewed Deepak Chopra, Olympic medalists, and numerous bestselling authors, and as a journalist has been invited to both the Oscars and the United Nations. For her print and digital stories as well as her television segments, she has been awarded three Southern California Journalism Awards and three National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards and been a finalist twenty-five times.
Named a #3 travel influencer for 2024, Niver talks travel on broadcast television at KTLA TV Los Angeles, her YouTube channel with over 2 million views, and in her memoir, Brave-ish, One Breakup, Six Continents and Feeling Fearless After Fifty.
MEDIA INQUIRIES
Literary agent: Chip MacGregor
Download Brave-ish media kit here
Author photo by Judith Gigliotti
BRAVE-ISH IS A TOP NEW RELEASE
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