I was born in 1972 - or so a teacher told me, as neither of my parents recall my exact date of birth - in a small village north of Ubud. Even as a child, I daydreamed of flying away from this island, a small dot among the thousands in the Indonesian archipelago. Tumultuous experiences, family dramas, tragedies and rare moments of joy that never seem to last long enough have inspired me to write this book. It has been a cathartic journey of self-discovery.