Homing

A memoir about leaving behind a demanding commuter lifestyle to find balance, healing, and connection by embracing a life of care for both self and nature.

Alice Irene Whittaker lived a life driven by productivity, perfectionism, and overcommitment. Between juggling multiple jobs, intensive ballet training, and volunteer work for social justice, she had mastered the art of making every moment count. But as a new mother enduring grueling four-hour daily commutes and weighed down by climate anxiety and guilt, she realized something had to change.

On impulse, Alice Irene and her husband traded their urban hustle for a cabin in the woods, seeking a slower, more intentional way of living. Among meadows, forests, and streams, Alice Irene embarked on a transformative journey to heal her fractured relationship with herself and the Earth. Battling the legacies of anorexia, workaholism, and obsessive perfectionism, she vowed to shift from consuming to caring, asking: “How can I nurture the planet if I can’t nurture myself?”

Her quest for renewal took her from Colorado ranches to the edges of sustainable fashion in Portland, and even to the rewilding efforts of wolves in Yellowstone. Through interviews and shared stories, she learned from individuals living regenerative lives—those building homes, growing food, and creating a future rooted in harmony with nature.

Weaving together her own reflections and the wisdom of those she met, Alice Irene Whittaker offers a lyrical memoir of hope and resilience. Homing is a heartfelt exploration of finding one’s way back—back to oneself, to community, and to the natural world. Between the grief of wildfires and the beauty of wildflowers, she finds a path toward regeneration, showing us that to care for the Earth is also to find our way home.