At the end of December 2010, I decided to leave Paris for a Backpacking trip around South East Asia. I wrote this book to retrace my journey from my departure from Paris to my arrival in Malaysia, then my route to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and finally Japan.
Publishing a book came as a surprise to me! Before leaving for this trip, I had no intention of writing a book. However, throughout my journey, I developed the habit of sending long emails to my family and friends, detailing my adventures and sharing my states of mind and thoughts on life. Back in France, my mum had printed them all and told me that I should make a book out of it! At first, I was reluctant, thinking that I wouldn’t have the talent and would never find a publisher. But the idea caught on and I decided to go for it!
The challenge was to write a daily story, sharing my encounters, my struggles, and my moments of joy of the day while bringing a deeper reflection on the meaning of life, the notion of happiness and surpassing oneself.
I quite enjoyed the process of trying to turn my experiences into a great story that could inspire others.
That was the easy part! Then came the moment to find a publisher! I had no clue how this industry worked, but I soon realized that many publishers found my book amazing! And it would be such a pity that people couldn’t access this “Chef d’Oeuvre”! It would just cost me a couple of thousands of euros to bring so much happiness to the world!
Once my ego admitted it was a trap, I found an alternative (and free!) solution: I published it through TheBookEdition.com, an online self-publishing and print-on-demand platform. Did my story resonate with others? I would never know because the only copies sold were to my family…or more exactly, to my parents, who proudly distributed it to the rest of my family and their friends!
My book is still available for printing on this platform. Here is the link :
L’envol de ma vie en Asie du Sud-Est
I’ve also made my story available to more people by creating an e-book on Kindle. With the rise of digital reading, I wanted to make sure everyone could easily read about my journey through Southeast Asia!
Here is the link to the Kindle store:
Cath Assist Service 