Go Quiet on the Mountain

What happens when you actually step away from your life? The New York Times bestselling author of To Shake the Sleeping Self finds out in this meditation on the power of sabbatical and return.

On the edge of burnout and frustrated with his shrinking attention span, Jedidiah Jenkins did what so many dream of but few actually do: he disappeared. He left his smart phone in Los Angeles, bought a paper roadmap, and moved into a one-hundred-square-foot tool shed in a remote Colorado town—no internet, no phone service, no plumbing. Just him, a journal, a wood-burning stove, and the profound quiet of the mountains.

What began as an experiment to detoxify from the modern world quickly became a confrontation with something deeper: the pace of twenty first century life was disguising deeper truths within himself he’d never allowed himself space to process. Over sixty days and nights—long enough to be meaningful but short enough that many of us could try it ourselves—Jenkins grapples with the ambient sickness of our overly connected world and its imperitive remedies.

Along the way, Jenkins immerses himself in the weird, wonderful things you notice when you push back against the noise of digital life. He befriends Holly, the innkeeper who holds all the mountain town secrets. He shares stories with Chicken Bill, the local man who wears a chicken suit every day. He bathes in the ice-cold river and writes letters to loved ones by hand. And as he grows quiet and listens to his heart, it leads him to a decision that will change his life. 

This is not a book about hating technology or fleeing forever. It’s about the beautiful, dangerous act of living on the other side of stimulation. It’s about the idea that constant movement is not the same as progress, and without deliberate rest, we rob ourselves of crucial revelations that can only come from quiet contemplation. If you’ve ever fantasized about throwing your phone into a river—or wondered what modern life is doing to your brain—this is your invitation to step away, to listen, and discover for yourself.