G331 The Same Sky; A Traveler's Quest for redemption and peace
Author: Debbie Yee Lan Wong
Publisher: Createspace
Publishing Date: 2013
ISBN: 9781490997131
Summary:
After a painful breakup, a young Chinese Canadian packed her bag, a journal and a camera and went on a solo journey through Southeast Asia. Brokenhearted and needing to escape, she embarked on a three-month trip that took her from the ancient Buddhist temples of Tibet, to the heights of the Mt. Everest base camp, through the bustling markets of Laos, and to the peaceful hallways of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Along the way, as she navigated the difficulties of traveling alone, she encountered locals who have lived through war, poverty and political repression. Their moving stories of loss and resilience inspired her to reclaim her independence and rediscover peace and strength after a traumatic event.
A deeply personal story with universal resonance, The Same Sky will appeal to anyone with an interest in Southeast Asia, and particularly to women who have experienced the exhilaration and vulnerability of solo travel. It is the inspiring story of how a young woman at the lowest point of her life began to heal by facing the challenges of traveling alone and opening her heart to people across cultures.
Author Info:
(From back of the book)
Debbie Yee Lan Wong is a Chinese Canadian and has been a writer all her life, starting with a pocket size journal she kept as a child to writing stories as an adult about her overseas travels. Excerpts from her memoir have been published recently in Sound Literary and Art Book (SLAB) and Under the Sun literary journal.
She received a Bachelor of Arts Degree with a concentration in English literature at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. She currently lives in New York City and when not writing, she is Training Director at a global communications firm.
Personal Opinion:
This review has been a very long time in coming, I'm only sorry that I hadn't finished and reviewed it earlier as I had hoped. I've never traveled to any of the countries that the author visited, but still, I was amazed at the way she captures the atmospheres in Tibet, Laos, and Cambodia; how these three countries come alive in her writing and at the unique and fascinating details that I learned about each of the countries and the resilience of the human spirit. What is also unique is that the author seems to take on a storytelling approach to the audience but she makes non-fiction fascinating and well constructed. It was actually a joy to read the book and to travel through her experiences and stories. If you are looking for a non-fictional story about self empowerment and self discovery through travel without great focus on romance, then I highly recommend this book.
Quick notes: I won this book on goodreads.com thus this review will appear in its entirety on goodreads as well as the blog
5 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)
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