Me and the kiwi

“Me and the Kiwi” celebrates an unexpected love story and creative partnership—we met on a plane, jumped in a truck two weeks later, and five years on, we’re traveling this life together in our 1973 VW bus, Buster. Here we share my book Shelter in Motion: Essays from a Bohemian Life (releasing April 2025), yoga in awesome places, upcoming events, and my work this season with the San Francisco Giants training camp—all part of the journey of living life in motion.

Read My Baseball Story

Miles Traveled

Sunsets Witnessed

Yoga Classes Taught

Stories Shared

Our Story

The Writer I’m an award-winning writer (Book of the Year 2013), yogi, and late-life model with stories from a bohemian life that might give you a chuckle. My book, Shelter in Motion, launches in April, and I’m taking it on the road in our VW bus, Buster—teaching yoga in unexpected places, sharing stories, and proving that home isn’t a place; it’s a journey.

The Kiwi. He’s a helicopter pilot from New Zealand—my partner, biggest supporter, and the reason this creative life is possible. He bought us Buster so we could live and work from the road. Yeah, he’s a keeper.

The Journey From an airplane seat to a truck cab to a sailboat to a 1973 green VW bus named Buster—we’re living proof that shelter isn’t always a place. Sometimes it’s a person. And sometimes it’s teaching yoga at sunrise in a national park, writing in a truck stop at midnight, and choosing adventure over certainty.

My Book:

Shelter in Motion

In Shelter in Motion: Essays from a Bohemian Life, Heather Jacks chronicles a life lived along the edges—from a white childhood on an Indian Reservation to van life during a pandemic, from selling condoms in Times Square to taking a six-day Greyhound ride to mend a broken heart.

This collection of 22 award-winning essays explores the resilience it takes to reinvent yourself again and again. With wit, vulnerability, and hard-earned wisdom, Jacks offers a roadmap for anyone who has chosen the bohemian path over the beaten one—part confession, part celebration, wholly honest.

Raw, funny, and deeply human, Shelter in Motion reminds us that home isn’t always a place—it’s a journey. And sometimes, the only way to find it is to stay in motion.

Pre-order on Amazon Signed copy from me

What Readers Are Saying

Your story is one of the most beautiful stories about baseball (and love) I have ever read. It's a children's book and an amazing movie, a Netflix special. Keep writing!

Thomas Wedge

I felt every word of this—the innocence, the creativity, the quiet ache beneath it all—you told this story with such beauty and depth.

Michael Burg, MD (Satire Sommelier)

This is so beautiful. Thank you! I have so much more to say, but I'm just going to sleep on it after forwarding this to my son.

Andrew J. DiMeo, Sr., Ph.D.

Oh, Heather… this just hit me hard.

Jojo Teckina

God, that was good. Really, really good

Carol Burt

This was such a beautiful and touching story. I felt every moment you shared on the road. Bruce and the others showed real kindness, and your words reminded me how humanity shines in tough times. Thank you for sharing this journey — it gave me hope and made me smile.

Rajesh Poovathum Kadavil

What a story and adventure...I loved every word.This should be a movie.

Julie Leah Blooms

Heather, you wrote this like poetry. In less than 10 minutes, I felt like I knew Echo and Lenny and had a small idea of what they went through. What you didn't say spoke just as loudly. I loved this story and am so glad you could send Echo home. And do you have your own dog now?

Julie Leah Blooms

"Echo was….” his voice fell silent as his mind searched for the right combination of words. “Echo was a Humble. Honest. Hero,” he finished at last. I couldn’t see the page --I was in tears. Wonderful as always, thanks for sharing.

Jennifer Marie Waters

Oh my gawd. I love this so much. It was good until I got to the film guy, and then it became a truly laugh-out-loud moment. It made me sit up in my chair and pee my pants a little.

Adelle Regalia

What an incredible story! The raw and unfiltered honesty of your experience is captivating, and the lessons you took from that wild chapter of your life are both unexpected and impactful. It’s not just about the rock-and-roll chaos, but about resilience, embracing lessons from even the most bizarre and challenging situations, and moving forward stronger. The humor you interwove with the deeper realizations makes it relatable and uplifting, especially for anyone who has faced professional or personal setbacks. The takeaway—that it’s not the end of the world, and we’re not defined by our failures but by how we move past them—resonates with so many of us. Also, that last bit about KY Jelly as a frizz-tamer? Absolute gold! Thanks for sharing such a vivid and heartfelt journey. Have others found strange silver linings in their most chaotic moments, too?

Aligned with Jo

This reads like a movie script, Heather. It's magnificent. I raced through it, then returned for the second read.

Fred Vasaturo

Your story is powerful. I felt your pain, strength, and growth. Thank you for sharing this.

Tara Sattar

This was deeply affecting. The layering of place, identity, and survival was masterfully done. Every detail felt lived, not constructed. The story carries weight, and you honored it by telling it plainly and powerfully.

Brian Rosta

It's heartbreaking what happened to her, but also beautiful how you carry her memory with such respect and gratitude.

Pyrros Mathios

Heather your story reminds me of my best friend.

Film Addict

The things we carry are often the memories we didn't earn, and the debt of silence is the heaviest tax of all. What a powerful and heartbreaking story of borrowed belonging and the simple, profound legacy of King Jones's final, unforgettable gift ?!

Kevin J. W. Driscoll

This moment perfectly shows how even simple things can feel like grand luxuries when seen through a child’s eyes.

Eithne Carrigan

This story broke and warmed my heart at the same time. The way you wrote about childhood innocence meeting the cruelty of the world was unforgettable.

Len Bassham

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