Amanda Jaffe

2018 was kind of a big year for me….

It was the year I set aside my legal career after almost thirty years, the year the younger of our two sons left home, and the year my husband and I moved our empty nest from New Jersey to Singapore for his job. As a “trailing spouse” with no set agenda, a keen sense of curiosity, and an amazingly bad sense of direction, I finally had time to put my thoughts into words. By the time we returned to the U.S. (in 2020), I’d begun publishing my essays and culture/travel pieces.

While our return journey initially brought us home to New Jersey, we’re in California now. A pretty big change for a lifelong East Coaster, but another chance to ask questions, get lost, and keep writing.

Unfamiliar territory is, for me, the most fruitful ground of all.

These days, I’m hard at work (not that it feels “hard” or even remotely like “work”) on a memoir in essays about my experience in Singapore. I’ve also launched Age of Enlightenment on Substack. I’m writing my way to a fresh perspective, with humor as my compass.