Trials & Tea Ceremonies: Misadventures in Far Away Places

By: Matsuo, Basho

Perfect for fans of Bill Bryson, Elizabeth Gilbert, and Cheryl Strayed, this is more than a travelogue-it's a hilarious and heartfelt journey for anyone who has ever wondered: "Is this it?"

"I especially enjoyed your reflections on Zen... on the ways in which we complicated the simple and try to explain the inexplicable." - Pico Iyer, bestselling author of 'The Art of Stillness'

"A richly written, unexpectedly profound journey. The book highlights how travel can add richly to the meaning of one's life". - Mike Richards, bestselling author of 'The Travelling Ape'

"For a hearty dose of mind, body, spirit, travel, and Zen in remarkable places, pick up Basho's musings and take yourself somewhere magical-wherever you are." - Goran Powell, bestselling author of 'Waking Dragons'

"This book reminded me why we travel: not for the postcard moments, but for the mishaps, characters, and revelations along the way." - Alastair Humphreys, English adventurer, author and motivational speaker.

What happens when the life you've built no longer feels like your own?

For Basho, turning thirty felt less like a milestone and more like "a splinter in the mind." A series of personal crises convinced him and his partner, Cesca, to make a radical choice. They walked away from their careers, put their lives in storage, and set off on a year-long, unscripted adventure across a dozen countries to answer one question: Is there a better way to live?

Their path takes them from the rugged shores of Australia to the spiritual heart of India and the serene temples of Japan. But between the moments of transcendent beauty, a deeper, wilder journey unfolds. They must face down spitting alpacas, chaotic farm hosts, a terrifying encounter with the world's largest spider in a Laotian toilet, and the constant challenge of escaping the "backpacker bubble" to find genuine connection.

With relentless honesty and dry wit, Trials & Tea Ceremonies charts a quest to stop living life as a pilgrimage toward a distant reward and instead learn to dance to the music while it's playing. It's a profound and unflinchingly funny memoir about leaving everything behind to find what truly matters-together.

It's a love story disguised as a travel memoir-or perhaps the other way around.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0FH5PZPPL
• ISBN13: 9798291438206
• Release Date: July 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 322 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"