Lost in the Process, Found in the Cover
Lost in the Process, Found in the Cover
The part that gave me the biggest headache while creating this book was the cover. Oh, the cover...
Everyone kept telling me the same thing: the cover has to catch the reader's eye. I was told to imagine my book sitting on a bookstore shelf, surrounded by hundreds of others, all competing for attention with a single image.
And so the endless process began.
Different concepts. Different colors. Different designs. One version after another.
At first, it was exciting.
Then it became exhausting.
Somewhere in the middle of that creative chaos, I completely lost myself. I reached a point where I no longer knew what I liked, what fit the book, or even what I wanted anymore. Every new cover felt perfect for five minutes and completely wrong the next.
The worst part? No one wanted to make the final decision.
Whenever I asked for advice, people would immediately step back and say:
"Oh no... you're the author. You have to choose the cover yourself."
Which sounds empowering until you're drowning in options and second-guessing every single one of them.
Eventually, I found myself stuck. Confused. Overwhelmed. Tired of looking at covers altogether.
Nothing felt right anymore.
So I did what I had done from the very beginning of this journey.
I listened to that quiet inner voice.
The same voice that had spent years whispering:
Write the book. Write the book.
Once again, I asked it for help.
And suddenly, the answer appeared.
The cover I chose was actually the very first idea I had.
Which confirmed something I probably knew all along:
The first idea is often the right one.
I chose this cover because it wasn't just beautiful.
It was honest.
It told our story.
The illustration shows my husband Angel and me traveling through an unfamiliar city with backpacks on our shoulders. Those who have read the book already know that we travel everywhere with backpacks.
Now, there is one important thing you should know about me:
I have a terrible sense of direction.
I get lost. A lot.
Sometimes, while traveling, I completely lose my orientation. Suddenly, I have no idea where we are, where we came from, or where we're supposed to go next. In those moments, I feel completely lost in the city.
Fortunately, Angel is much better at navigation.
Usually, after a few minutes of patiently following me in the wrong direction, he realizes that I am confidently leading us absolutely nowhere.
That's when he stops, looks at the map, checks our location, figures out where we are, and points us toward the right direction.
And that exact moment is captured on the cover of this book.
What you see on the cover is not just a travel scene.
It's us.
It's our adventures, our mistakes, our teamwork, and all those moments when one of us gets lost and the other helps find the way.
Although, if I'm being completely honest, the real-life version is usually much funnier—especially when Angel finally figures out where we are, points dramatically toward the correct direction, and gives me that look that says:
"How on earth did you manage to get us here?"