RUBIES AND RUCKSACKS
AN ASIAN ODYSSEY
Mel Christie
When Ren bought a one-way ticket to Bangkok, the plan was to spend a year in Southeast Asia in search of Life, Love, and Meaning. But with hustlers, mercenaries, and jailers along the way, the search took longer. And took him further.
For fans of THE WHITE LOTUS, this literary genre bending travel memoir set in the 80s and 90s is the gritty, budget version—think less Four Seasons, more Four Cockroaches in a Dorm. Its backpacker protagonist navigates the traveller guest houses with antics like Rick Steves in ON THE HIPPIE TRAIL, but the stories ratchet up the drama rather than remain wholly faithful to memory. And similar to Elizabeth Gilbert’s ambitions in EAT PRAY LOVE, the interconnected narratives in Rubies and Rucksacks focus on our ever-youthful desire to travel whilst avoiding the standard tourist sites and covering even more locations in which to run aground.
* 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.
In Burma, warriors believed that rubies would make them invincible, and according to folklore, they would implant them in their skin before battle. In China, these jewels, the colour of pigeon blood, also provided the owner with good fortune, success, and protection from evil.
Fancy a sprinkling of rubies? Here’s the quote of the day from a chapter in the book (along with a related photo):
สอง. Rubies and Rucksacks
At one stop, we came alongside a tuk-tuk containing a large Western man. He lay limp in the back. A woman was screaming. She was German. Originally appeared in the Dec 2025 edition of Five on the Fifth magazine.
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Information on the book and awards can be found on the About page and the Table of Contents.