The People You Meet Luxury, Leeches, Love, and Lao-Lao With a Host of Interesting Characters in Southeast Asia

In 2010, at the age of 35, I had the opportunity to leave my life in Toronto, Ontario, Canada behind for a few months to travel around Southeast Asia and China with my British boyfriend. Thanks to his work in the luxury travel industry, the trip was to be part budget/backpacker and part luxury with many free nights spent at posh hotels designed for the upper crust. As one who grew up with the Holiday Inn setting the bar on accommodations and then being a cheap and cheerful adult backpacker, luxury was far from my typical mode of travel. Truthfully, it was a foreign concept-but I was willing to give it a go. After a few weeks, my mind became restless and I turned my attention to writing long, novella-like emails to friends and family about everything I was experiencing. In the years since, I have revisited these emails numerous times. I finally decided to turn them into a book.

The People You Meet is a story about travel, but more importantly, it is a story about the people you meet on the road and the impact of these temporary but powerful, in-the-moment relationships. There is also a complicated love story happening subtly in the background about two people connected by travel and adventure. Take whatever it is you need from this book, be it the inspiration for more adventures, the comfort of knowing we are all built differently, that reinforcement to listen to your gut, or just the pleasure of being entertained by someone else's journey. Enjoy.