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Advice from IR Approved Author Barry Hoffner: “I was traveling to escape grief, then to see countries, but I realized that my journey was really about people all over our magnificent world and their stories. It was those connections that healed my devastating loss.”

Belonging to the World: Received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.

Following find an interview with author Barry Hoffner:

  1. What is the name of the book and when was it published?Belonging to the World, March 3 2026

     

    2. What’s the book’s first line?

    The last time I saw my wife, Jackie, was on a crisp fall morning in 2017, the day after celebrating her fifty-fifth birthday.

    3. What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.

    Belonging to the World is a powerful memoir about grief, courage, and rediscovering life through radical connection. When Barry Hoffner’s wife and travel partner, Jackie, died suddenly, his world collapsed into silence. Travel had been their shared heartbeat — and without her, the map felt meaningless. But instead of retreating, Barry made an audacious decision: to visit every one of the world’s 193 countries, joining a group of fewer than 500 people ever to do so. This wasn’t a quest to outrun grief — it was a journey straight through it. From war zones to mountaintops, refugee camps to ancient cities, Barry encountered a world far more nuanced and humane than headlines would have us believe. In places marked by hardship, he found extraordinary generosity. In strangers, he found belonging. And in the vastness of the planet, he found his way back to himself. Belonging to the World is not just a travel memoir — it’s a testament to resilience, to the healing power of human connection, and to the idea that even after devastating loss, the world can still open its arms.

    4. What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?

    I was traveling to escape grief, then to see countries, but I realized that my journey was really about people all over our magnificent world and their stories. It was those connections that healed my devastating loss.

    5. What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?

    To learn things about places in the world that few people have traveled to, for inspiration after difficult loss, or simply for a nice live story.

    6. When did you first decide to become an author?

    I was traveling as an escape from a house full of memories. But it was about one year into my travels, after a mind-bending trip to Afghanistan, I felt full alive again, learning, and collecting stories of people. I was healing a broken heart. It was then that I decided to write this book.

    7. Is this the first book you’ve written?

    Yes.

    8. What do you do for work when you’re not writing?

    I started a foundation to support education for women in West Africa. Our main program, Bourse Jackie (the Jackie scholarship) is named after my late wife. All proceeds from the book will go to this program.

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