What a newlywed learned about marriage on a yearlong backpacking honeymoon | Episode 264

Despite being taught in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to believe that marriage was the highest goal for women, Rachel Rueckert had lots of anxiety going into her wedding day. Sure, she loved Austin, her husband-to-be, but she had deep ambivalence about the “for time and all eternity” aspect of the Latter-day Saint vows. Could she commit to them? Would that shear her of her career and personal goals? Would she lose herself and her identity? In a captivating and candid memoir, Rueckert details her first year of marriage as she and Austin travel from Peru to India, Thailand and Spain — and what she learned about herself, her relationships, her past and her faith. On this week’s show, Rueckert, editor-in-chief of Exponent II, talks about her just published book, “East Winds: A Global Quest to Reckon With Marriage.”