Field Guide · First Edition

A little room for another possibility.

Thought games, poetic prompts, and small adventures in perspective. A beautifully illustrated field guide for looking again, finding words you can stand behind, and bringing a little more warmth and play into an ordinary day.

A compact digital field guide · Read on screen or print for personal use
Art-deco illustration of a traveler with a suitcase stepping toward an open train door in warm light
Now boardingSix routes. No reading order.
A Recognizable Moment

Sometimes the world gets smaller than it needs to be. One interpretation fills the window. A familiar sentence takes over. You read the same paragraph four times and open your phone "for a second."

ReOrient Express is a small invitation: pause, look again, try something. You might leave with a clearer question, a four-line poem, a greeting you actually want to use, or one next step that feels possible.

You do not have to arrive with a problem. An appetite for a little more life will do.

Inside the First Edition

Six routes. No reading order.

Open to whichever line matches your moment. Each route stands on its own and takes between three and twelve minutes.

Route 0
"One thought has started looping."
The Spiral Interrupt

Three moves — catch, flip, feed — for the moment a worry begins to circle.

Free · Try it below
Route 1
"A thought has become the whole story."
The Reframe Game

Separate what happened from what you made it mean. Try three readings. Choose a response you could actually use.

Route 2
"I could use words that are on my side."
Affirmation Ad-Libs

Build a sentence you can say out loud without laughing. Or with.

Route 3
"I want to begin with a little more play."
Positively Priming Progress

Turn an intention into a four-line poem and one small first move.

Route 4
"I want to imagine the next moment."
Visualization Practice

Rehearse an ordinary scene — including the part that goes wrong — and the response you'd try.

Route 5
"I want to bring warmth to an encounter."
Joyful Greetings & Compliments

Specific, generous words for arrivals, reconnections, and the things worth marking.

Interior page: The Reframe Game opening
The Reframe Game. Name one moment, not your whole history.
Interior page: Affirmation Ad-Libs sentence stems
Affirmation Ad-Libs. Five stems, one word bank, your own voice.
Interior page: Four lines to begin
Positively Priming Progress. Four lines. No one is grading the poem.
Pages from the editorial proof · final edition may vary
Try a Page

A small departure.

Think of one recent moment that left you uncertain. Complete these two sentences.

What I know happened is …
What I am making it mean is …
Then ask: what else could fit the evidence?

Hold your answer in mind. There is nothing to submit and nobody collecting. The full route walks this through, with three readings and a next move.

Illustration of an observation-car window looking out over a canyon at dusk
How to Travel

Three habits of a good passenger.

01

Choose a route.

Open wherever curiosity or the moment takes you. The contents page is sorted by situation, not by chapter.

02

Try the invitation.

Think it, say it, or make a few notes. No cards, no pieces, no special setup. A pen is optional; a straight face is not required.

03

Take something with you.

Keep one useful question, line, observation, or action. Return whenever you like — familiar pages read differently on different days.

Every route leans on the same quiet mechanism: your attention is a filter, and it finds whatever it has been told to look for. The games change the instructions. That is the whole trick, and it is a good one.
Painterly close-up of a brass compass resting on teal fabric beside railway tracks
About

Made by someone who has read the same paragraph four times.

ReOrient Express is a project by Tara Griffin — visual storyteller, designer, and a person with a fondness for making complicated things navigable. It began with a story about a small guidebook that made life more fun, and the idea that the inside of one's own head deserves one too.

It brings together language, imagination, and a little quiet science, and it is made in coastal Maine and Guanacaste, Costa Rica, for curious people who enjoy a good question, an unexpected connection, and the pleasure of trying a different way in.

ReOrient Express · First Edition

Get the field guide.

  • One downloadable PDF field guide, designed at 6 × 9 inches
  • Six self-contained routes, with prompts, examples, and worked pages
  • Read on screen, or print for your own use
  • Instant download after purchase
Get the First Edition — $29
Digital download · Questions: hello@reorientexpress.com
$29First Edition · digital

Roughly the price of a forgettable delivery dinner, for a book that expects to be reopened. No subscription. No streak to lose. The pages do not expire.

Before You Board

Questions

Do I need to read it in order?

No. Each route stands on its own. Start with whichever line matches your moment.

Do I have to write in it?

Writing is optional. Think a prompt through, say it aloud, or make a few notes. The PDF supports reading and annotation in a compatible reader; it is not a fillable form.

Can I use it with someone else?

Yes. The Reframe Game includes a companion version, and several routes have conversational invitations. Ask first, and let either person pass.

Is this therapy?

No. It is a field guide for creative play and everyday reflection — good company, not treatment, and not a substitute for care when care is what's needed.

How will I receive it?

By email, as a download link, right after purchase.