Some people find themselves by sitting still.

Ren found himself by leaving.

He quit his office job in London, loaded up a rucksack, and bought a one-way ticket to Bangkok—a year long search across Southeast Asia for Life, Love, and Meaning.

He wanted risk, heat, crystalline beaches in paradise, and a backpacker nightlife under flickering neons. He got all that—and hustlers, humidity, mercenaries drunk by noon, hour rent proprietors who watched everything but gave away nothing, and the Brotherhood with their goat head stew.

The search took longer. And took him further.

Set in the 80s and 90s, when Burma denied visas to journalists, Beijing had one budget hotel, the USSR still existed, and the best currency was Johnny Walker Red, this journey is less Four Seasons, more Four Cockroaches in a Dorm.

It is a coming-of-age celebration of wanderlust for anyone who’s ever suspected that certainty is overrated; and that the only way to find out where you belong is to throw away the map.

* The Ebook is available for a limited time only at $5.99, or get it for free using one of my Booksprout slots in exchange for an honest review on Amazon or Goodreads.

** If you are local to Washington DC, you can get a physical copy of my novel off the shelves of Politics and Prose at their Connecticut Ave branch. Supporting local indie bookstores is important plus you can order the paperback from them online for shipment to anywhere in North America.