Some people find themselves by sitting still. Ren found himself by leaving.
Rubies and Rucksacks comprises short stories focused on Southeast Asia which can be read individually, or as an end-to-end narrative, and is now available in DC’s local bookstore Politics and Prose or worldwide as an Ebook.
100% of the profits payable to the author from the sale of this book and its individual stories go to charity. See Baan Doi below.
Subscribe below for the occasional (monthly) and (sometimes) funny newsletter from the author about writing and about the places visited. No purchase necessary and no need for a Substack account. Subscription includes access to “HARD SEAT”, the secret pages on this website which include a backstory, vintage photos, maps, and bonus articles. Look for the special URL in the welcome email.
Mel Christie
July 25, 2025
Baan Doi:
Baan Doi Home and Healing Center for Children (baandoi.org), is a place where children in Northern Thailand find not only a safe home, but also love, belonging, and the opportunity to shape their own future. Every copy of this book helps continue that journey with all author profits donated directly to support the children and their education. Thank you for being part of their story.
Copyright:
Masthead photo of Ukai cormorant fishing by Rod Waddington via Flickr under the Creative Commons license, cropped to fit.
Photo of blossoms by Brett Sayles under the Pexels license, saturated for effect.
Photo of Jeepney by Shankar S via Flickr under the Creative Commons license, cropped and post-processed with Snapseed.
Photo of Piccadilly Circus Cupid by Diego Delso, License CC BY-SA 4.0
All other photos, unless otherwise stated, were taken by me.
Copyright © 2025. All rights reserved.
All content was inspired by real events and people, in that all were real, but some were more real than others. Names and characteristics have been changed to preserve privacy, experiences have been compressed, some have been rearranged, and some have been somewhat tweaked for narrative purposes. Any further resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
Although every effort to maintain accuracy of circumstances and information, the author does not assume and hereby disclaims any liability to any party for any loss or damage caused by errors, omissions, or fuzzy memory. After all, these travels took place thirty or more years ago and are the product of a person who did not always speak the local language despite his best attempts.
I’ve had the privilege of reading some of these stories in their entirety – though prior to final edits. This guy is a lively storyteller; the stories are a lot of fun; and while it’s fiction, the settings are painted so realistically and vividly that you’re going to learn some interesting true background about the places these stories are set in. As in, some interesting accidents, incidents and angles that Rick Steves wouldn’t be including in his coverage!
Thanks for your kind words Dave. The stories are less fiction than you would think 😉