Brooke and Patricia Sadler's planned honeymoon road trip to St. Petersburg, Florida, took an unexpected turn that lasted two decades and spanned three continents. Their new memoir, It's a Long Way to Florida, published by the authors, details how a simple lakeside wedding in Michigan and a surprise red Falcon car led to a 30,000-mile journey through Sri Lanka and Pakistan, fundamentally redefining their lives and purpose.
The book begins in 1957 with the couple's wedding and their dream of a Florida honeymoon. However, instead of heading to the Sunshine State, they felt called to a different path. The memoir offers an honest, gritty, and often humorous account of modern missionary life, from navigating a 12,000-mile overland family road trip from London to Sri Lanka through military checkpoints to surviving national food famines and economic collapses.
Key stories include how Brooke Sadler smuggled truckloads of flour past five armed military checkpoints during a government-declared famine to feed starving church workers in Colombo. Another account describes the profound friendship he forged with a local Buddhist High Priest, which ultimately saved their mission school's land from government seizure. The couple also opened their home to more than 80 orphaned children over the years, starting when their adopted daughter Pami asked a poignant question.
"We never could have mapped out the life we lived," said Brooke Sadler. "Every time we faced an impossible logistical problem or a dangerous crisis, the answer arrived in a way we never could have engineered. We wrote this book to remind readers that when God redirects your route, the detour is very often the destination."
Today, the Sadlers are mostly retired and reside in Greeneville, Tennessee. They transformed a historic log cabin into Nolichucky Cabins, a mountain retreat and glass wedding chapel. The memoir is available for purchase online via major book retailers.
The book's importance lies in its practical, grounded template for living by faith rather than just talking about it. It reminds readers that the life unfolded by following where you are led, rather than where you intended, can be richer and more purposeful than anything planned. For fans of Christian memoirs, inspiring biography, and extraordinary travel narratives, the Sadlers' story proves that the greatest rewards often lie within the most inconvenient detours.
Brooke and Patricia Sadler are lifelong educators, humanitarians, and former international missionaries who spent over two decades establishing public health programs, running boarding schools, and managing international adoptions across Sri Lanka and Pakistan. They now operate Nolichucky Cabins, surrounded by their children and grandchildren.
