Sandra Bornstein

Most Recent Book

May This Be the Best Year of Your Life

“Sandy takes us on her personal adventures in India, with all the ups and downs and uncertainties of the unknown. She confronts social, family, and professional challenges with refreshing openness, vulnerability, and determination. I was right there with her, sharing both the anxiety and the joy… every step of the way.” – Rita Golden Gelman
author of Tales of a Female Nomad and more than seventy children’s books”

 

Are you ready to step outside of your comfort zone and plunge into a world of remarkable and memorable adventures?

If so, you’ve come to the right place.

Welcome

On this site, you can read about Sandra Bornstein’s incredible expat teaching adventure in Bangalore, India and how she learned to cope with an assortment of unimaginable events and unrelenting culture shock. After returning to the U.S., Sandy shared memorable experiences in her award-winning book, May This Be the Best Year of Your Life, and shortly thereafter began publishing lifestyle and travel stories on this website as well as other places. A second website, The Traveling Bornsteins, was created to exclusively showcase Sandy’s travel writing and her husband Ira’s digital images.

People over 50 encounter a host of issues. Sandy occasionally shares tips on how to overcome these midlife challenges. When Sandy isn’t traveling or busy with her four adult sons and their families, she interviews authors, writes book reviews, offers inspiring talks about her expat and travel experiences, writes stories that motivate others to explore the world, and contributes quality content to online sites and print media. And, like most authors, is contemplating writing another book. If you are interested in working with Sandy on a project, click here.

If you always stay in the security of your home environment, you will never see what the world is all about. So, take a few moments and join Sandy on her latest adventures.

Latest Work

Mark Your Calendar—Glioblastoma Awareness Day—July 21, 2021

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Sandy and Ira Bornstein Snowmobiling During Media Trip to Winter Park, Colorado Winter 2020
Sandy and Ira Bornstein Snowmobiling During Grand County Media Trip to Winter Park, Colorado Winter 2020

Even though I was aware that John McCain, Beau Biden, and Ted Kennedy were victims of brain cancer, a year ago I would not have been able to identify the terms— glioblastoma, glio, or GBM. These medical words had no meaning. It was not until Ira’s diagnosis last July that I became cognizant of the serious ramifications of glioblastoma. After Ira’s traumatic brain injury (TBI) in 2010, my focus was on issues that may arise after a TBI.  Simultaneously, we increased both our active adventures and worldwide travels. Most of these earlier journeys were shared on this website. (PDF versions of my professional travel writing stories are on The Traveling Bornsteins website.) Brain cancer was not on our radar.

I will never forget the day we received the news at Foothills Hospital in Boulder. An MRI scan detected a five-centimeter mass on Ira’s right temporal lobe. The radiologist, the primary care doctor, and the hospital’s neurosurgeon were certain it was glioblastoma. None were offering much hope. Glioblastoma is referred to as an incurable, terminal cancer. The mortality rate is terrifying.  Read More

May 2021 Be the Best Year of Your Life

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Ira and Sandy Bornstein New Year's Day at Keystone Resort
Sandy and Ira Bornstein skiing on New Year’s Day at Keystone Resort in Colorado

 

Like so many other people, Ira and I are happy to say goodbye to a year filled with COVID-19 restrictions and an overabundance of politically inspired animosity. We wholeheartedly welcome 2021. We look forward to when we will not be obligated to wear masks and when we can travel without fear of getting sick. With cautious optimism, we anticipate that life will return to normal soon and that 2021 may be the best year of your life.

 

Ira and Sandy Bornstein Wedding 1975
Sandy and Ira Bornstein’s Wedding, 1975

Up until mid-summer, our main concerns revolved around the pandemic. In late July, Ira’s glioblastoma diagnosis, an incurable brain cancer, turned our lives upside down. More than forty-five years after we stood under a chupah and exchanged traditional Jewish blessings, we knew our response would be to embrace life. Our future travel plans were temporarily put on hold. We contemplated how we would work together to battle this aggressive cancer.

We were determined to maintain Ira’s quality of life for as long as possible. Anything outside our comfort zone would not be considered. Just like we had faced the ramifications of Ira’s 2010 traumatic brain injury, we would tackle Ira’s latest medical challenge. Read More

For Hope & Inspiration Read- Yes to Life: In Spite of Everything

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Book Cover Yes to Life: In Spite of Everything

Can a book originally published in German in the aftermath of the Holocaust provide relevant inspiration for people coming to terms with the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic? After finishing the book, I answer, “yes.”

Dr. Viktor E. Frankl, a Jewish survivor of multiple concentration camps, wrote Yes to Life: In Spite of Everything after delivering a series of three lectures less than a year after being liberated. Recently, the book was published for the first time in English.

Frankl (1905-1997) was a distinguished Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist who founded the Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy and authored books including the bestseller, Man’s Search for Meaning. Decades ago, I read this remarkable work while pursuing my undergraduate degree in Jewish Studies. Now, I am inclined to reread the book to see how it addresses our current issues. Read More