LEIGH ROBSHAW is an Australian content manager, copywriter, journalist and editor. She grew up in Sydney and began her career working in newspapers and magazines. She left Australia in 1995 and spent five years travelling, including three years in Latin America, one year in London and one year in Japan.
On her return to Australia, she worked as a travel writer and subeditor for a number of Sydney media companies before moving to the Sunshine Coast in 2004. There, she worked as a journalist for ten years before moving into digital marketing. She is now a full-time content manager and copywriter for a Sydney-based content marketing agency.
Leigh lives in the subtropical hills of Maleny on Australia's east coast with her two children.
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ISBN: 9780648562603
Dimensions: 139mm x215mm
Genre': Nonfiction, memoir, romance, adventure, travel
SYNOPSIS
In February 1995, a young woman leaves home for the first time to travel through Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia and Peru for three months. A lost soul with a deep-seated desire for love and adventure, Leigh is willing to embrace everything this fascinating continent has to offer. On her third day in Buenos Aires, she meets Gabriel, a beautiful Peruvian artisan, at a market in San Telmo. They feel an instant connection; a love born of some other lifetime.
After leaving to embark on an extraordinary backpacking adventure that takes her to Iguazu Falls, Carnival in Brazil, the Amazon and Machu Picchu, Leigh returns to Buenos Aires to find Gabriel waiting for her. So begins her new life as a travelling artisan. Three months becomes three years, as they roam the continent, selling jewellery in the streets and squares of Latin America spanning Peru to Mexico.
They find their way to Playa del Carmen, an idyllic Caribbean village in the Yucatán Peninsula that is beginning to rival Cancun and Acapulco as Mexico's most popular tourist destination. Dreaming of marriage, children and a happy future in this tropical paradise, they live a lifestyle neither thought possible. Until everything changes.
Desperate to stay with Gabriel no matter what, Leigh finds herself venturing into increasingly dark places that put her safety at risk and test her sense of morality. Finally, after a shocking betrayal, she must face the truth about the man she has devoted her life to - and about herself.
You Had Me at Hola is a fast-paced, passionate and daringly honest memoir about finding yourself, partly through the many challenges posed by travel, but also in terms of increasingly defining yourself against your lover. It's a heartfelt tale about finding your life's purpose, facing your shadow and the universal quest for belonging.
And ultimately, it's a story about saving yourself, because you finally realise you are worth saving.
REVIEWS
I loved this book so much that I did not want it to end.I wanted to savor it like a box of beautiful chocolates. Whilst I read I felt like I was on this incredible journey and I loved every moment of it. I was inside all the descriptions and emotions and I loved the insights and sharing of Leigh's past growing up. I highly recommend reading this book as Leigh Robshaw is a wonderful writer whose story I feel will capture your imagination and take you on a ride you will not forget. I just finished this book and want to read it again.It feels like you travel right next her. Bravo Leigh! Amanda Hogg.
I love this book. It touches me in amazing ways, a journey experienced by an adventurous and brave young woman, whose truth is laid bare. And given that we went to uni together, adds so much more depth for me as I remember how young we were were and inspired to find our place in the world. But it's more thank this reflection, it shows a journey come full circle to strength and feeling better in one's own skin through genuine experience. Since then Leigh has continued to thrive and this genuine, fascinating book is a must read. So enjoyed it and love tales if South America living like the people, experiencing a world through our lense in a thoughtful and kind way. Can't wait for the next one. Robyn.
Congratulations Leigh Robshaw on a vivid engaging memoir, and glimpse into South American culture, beauty and relationships! The poignant moments of self-reflection and personal growth you shared, intertwined with adventure and ‘un-censored’ experience beautifully demonstrated your journey into ‘discovering’ a sense of belonging and self-acceptance, an openness to diversity and also the courage you have to being authentic. Finally, I want to say thank-you for You had me at Hola which has pried open memories and insights into my own travel adventures and escapes. Carpe Diem. Elle
I thoroughly enjoyed this memoir - couldn't stop once I started. The author writes with endearing frankness and candour about her great love affair in South America, as well as everything she learned about life during her itinerant three years there. The vivid descriptions of the places she visited and the lifestyle made me want to jump on a plane and go there right now! Robin
LEIGH'S PODCASTS
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LEIGH IN THE MEDIA
Sunshine Coast News - Listening to Your Inner Voice - READ IT HERE
MamaMia - Losing Your Husband - READ IT HERE
EVENTS. See and meet Leigh at these events.
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