Near the Exit

Travels with the Not-So-Grim Reaper

By: Lori Erickson

Narrated by: Lori Erickson

After her brother died unexpectedly and her mother moved into a dementia-care facility, spiritual travel writer and Episcopal deacon Lori Erickson felt called to a new quest: to face death head-on, with the eye of a tourist and the heart of a pastor. Blending memoir, spirituality, and travel, Near the Exit examines how cultures confront and have confronted death by investigating Egypt's Valley of the Kings, Mayan temples, Colorado cremation pyres, Day of the Dead celebrations, Maori settlements, and tourist-destination graveyards. Erickson reflects on mortality and how life is made more precious by accepting it. Through her personal journey and her travels, Erickson maintains that one of the most life-affirming things we can do is to invite death along for the ride.

©2019 Dreamscape Media, LLC (P)2019 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Just what I didn’t want to think about

This was a wake up call to dealing with death. Presented in a non-threatening, nonjudgmental way and with a sense of humor, spirituality, and wonder it forced me to think about was beyond. I just saw a Japanese movie, Departures, that is perhaps the best I have watched recently. The movie and this book have been mind changing.

Not What Was Expected

I stopped listening after a couple chapters. When I first heard about this book it was as a travel guide to different regions with interesting death related culture. That is NOT what this is.

The author is very Christian and discusses how non-christian these burial cultures are. Well, duh! Egypt is NOT a Christian nation. I was also offended by some of her joking about what other religions believe will happen in the after life.

If you are looking for a non-biased, culturally aware and informative book on other religions, look elsewhere.