After her brother died unexpectedly and her mother transferred into a dementia-care facility, spiritual travel writer and Episcopal deacon Lori Erickson sensed called to a fresh quest: to face death head-on, with the attention of the tourist and the heart of a pastor. Blending memoir, spirituality, and travel, Near the Leave examines how cultures confront and also have confronted loss of life by investigating Egypt’s Valley from the Kings, Mayan temples, Colorado cremation pyres, Time of the Dead celebrations, Maori settlements, and tourist-destination graveyards. Erickson reflects on mortality and how life is manufactured more precious by taking it. Through her personal trip and her travels, Erickson maintains that probably one of the most life-affirming points we can do is to request loss of life along for the trip.