SIHPROMATUM (Sip-row-may-tum):

A blessing that initially appears to be a curse.

Sihpromatum is a memoir series of one family's four-year backpacking adventure around the world. The first installment, "I Grew My Boobs in China" is the beginning of an intensely fascinating, sobering, and emotional memoir of Savannah's introspective and innovative family adventure.

In 2005, 14-year-old Savannah Grace's world is shattered when her mother unexpectedly announces that she and her family (mother 45, brother 25 and sister 17) would soon embark on an incredible, open-ended journey. When everything from her pets to the house she lived in either sold, given away or put in storage, this naïve teenage girl runs headlong into the reality and hardships of a life on the road.

Built around a startling backdrop of over eighty countries (I Grew my Boobs in China relates the family's adventures in China and Mongolia), this is a tale of feminine maturation - of Savannah's metamorphosis from ingenue to woman-of-the-world. Nibbling roasted duck tongues in China and being stranded in Mongolia's Gobi Desert are just two experiences that contribute to Savannah's exploration of new cultures and to the process of adapting to the world around her.

PS. Consider the possibilities of sihpromatum in your own lives! When times get tough, know that something better is on it's way.