"I hadn't always been lost, but Prince Edward Island had suddenly become too small for my grief. My grief needed the whole world. It needed isolation. It needed inspiration. It needed something to change, something to be released. It needed an answer."

In 2008, Maureen and Mitch Cobb took drastic action in the wake of the stillbirth death of their second child, Tya. They packed up two-year-old Leila and set out on a journey through Southeast Asia, a trip of courage, love, and, ultimately, redemption. They left their small town in the Maritimes to fill the silence of their grief with the noisy spice markets of Bali, the crashing waves of the Philippines, and the golden surrenders of Borneo's hot sun. Through twelve countries and nine months, in the chaos of difficult travel plans and once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, this young family begins to find acceptance in the humanity that surrounds them, the inspiration in each other to continue, and the courage to come back from their complicated grief.

Unpacked is the inspiring story of a mother in search of herself, a husband and wife fighting for a marriage, a young daughter who rises from confusion, and the scenes and revelations that bring Mo out of her paralyzing grief and into the perspective of a new world.

Mo Duffy Cobb has an MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts and has been published in The Rumpus, Literary Mama, Red, Damselfly Press, and Understorey Magazine. She is the editor of Cargo Literary, an online magazine that publishes transformational travel experiences. She lives in Prince Edward Island with her husband and three small children.

Mo Duffy Cobb's profile page