Help Me, Asia: Five Countries, One Mission, Learn How to Be Happy

Shawn is a a sad, neurotic 31-year-old business journalist when her life implodes--her boyfriend moves out explaining "love is only a survival mechanism" and the doctors diagnose her with a weird autoimmune disorder that makes her allergic to sunlight.

Pissed off at life and tired of feeling numb, Shawn quits her job and treks overland from Thailand to Nepal, searching out sages to answer a simple question: How can I be happy? Along the way, she braves 10 days of silent meditation, jungles, parasites, border wars, bureaucratic officials, life-threatening bus trips and the strange social rules of backpacker relationships.

The "sages" turn out to be quite surprising: a Berlin lawyer, a village sorcerer, drug tourists, scam artists, fellow backpackers, Tibetan cowboys, quirky tour guides, a monk or two and, finally, herself.

This book will forever change how you look at happiness, travel, sages and, above all, yourself.