The Book
THE BOOK
“This All Encompassing Trip”
THE AUTHOR
Jason Leung
THE STORY
From September 2005 to December 2006, Jason left his career as a construction manager and engineer to dedicate himself towards traveling. In the process, he explored new places, discovered new cultures, and followed Pearl Jam on tour around the world. This is the collection of all the stories about the fascinating adventures that he took on and all the interesting people that he met along the way.
THE STATUS
The Book is currently in the writing stages, with the goal for completion sometime early 2009.
Please contact me or check back later for updates!
The book is projected to have roughly 600 pages and over 200,000 words
As of July 27, 2009, the first draft is about 85% COMPLETE.
PUBLISHING
If you guys have any contacts or ideas for publishers or literary agents, let me know by sending me an email. I haven’t looked too much into this yet as I want to finish writing first. Thanks.
Here is the Epilogue:
“Are we getting something out of this all encompassing trip?” Eddie Vedder asks this question in the song Present Tense from Pearl Jam’s 1996 release No Code. It is perhaps my favourite song from my favourite band and I’ve probably heard this song tens of thousands of times, yet, I have never really looked into what the lyrics meant to me personally. That is until one summer afternoon in 2005. Lying on my surfboard out in the ocean, off the shores of Wickannanish Beach on the west coast of Vancouver Island, the water is calm, the sky is clear, and like a candle with its flame, my back endures the intensity of the heat beaming down from the flaming sun. I patiently wait for the next set of swells that only scale about half my height. The following day I am about to embark on a trip across Canada with two guys from my home town of Vancouver. Two guys whom I’ve met only four times beforehand, and we will be picking up a bunch of complete strangers to following Pearl Jam on tour in a van, which we just purchased one week prior. We are driving across Canada to do their entire tour and I have no idea what I am getting myself into. All I know is that I have always wanted to drive across and explore my home country, and Pearl Jam has given me an excuse to do so.
Am I crazy? There are to be 17 concerts in total, including a warm up show at the gorgeous Gorge Amplitheatre in Washington State. But I have previously seen this band quite frequently. Do I really need to see more? Well, of course I do. This isn’t just any normal band. This is Pearl Jam. This is the music that I have grown up to and it has been a large part of my life thus far. This is the reason why I have the passion that I do for music, rock music. This is Pearl Jam. But still, isn’t this just a little over excessive? I have decided to do this without too much thought, as it was an instant decision as soon as the tour dates were announced. And although I am usually very confident on all my decisions and stick with them through to the end, I wasn’t sure why I was so confident this time around. Somehow I felt that this was something I have to do.
Sitting out in the lineup resting my soul and my mind, I am questioning myself. All the while, occasionally peaking over my shoulders to study the ocean, watching and trying to figure out wave patterns, and deciding which one to make an attempt for take off. There is music running through my mind, and it’s usually one of the songs that had been playing in my vehicle on the way to the beach. At this moment the song is Present Tense. A glimpse of hope approaches. I take one look and think that this is the one to go for. I turn back towards the beach and paddle for my life. The wave hits the back of my board and I feel that I am there. As I’m reassuring myself, my board begins to dive and I slowly try to standup. But as I hesitate, it is too late.
I fall towards the water with the wave breaking into me. While underwater, it takes me for a spin and I am tumbling around like a helping piece of clothing in a washing machine. A few seconds later, I escape but there is another wave coming down upon me. Underwater I go again and the washing machine takes me for another ride. I am stuck in this position for another three waves before the set ends and I can escape again. After making my way back out, I am exhausted and I take a rest. But the ocean will not let me rest. I start paddling as an approaching wave already sweeps me up. My board begins to dive again, but this time without any thought, I pop right up and drop smoothly in.
The wave nearly matches my height and takes me for a ride. The power, the speed, and the excitement of ‘walking on water’ puts me on top of the world. I feel free, I feel alive. This one wave alone makes the whole 2 day surf trip worth while and I take it all the way to the beach, satisfied and content to end my session for the day with Present Tense still on my mind. “Are we getting something out of this all encompassing trip?”
As I walk from water to sand, it hits me. Life is much like surfing. The ocean is massive and unpredictable with endless possibilities. So you go out to a spot where you feel comfortable, you study its environment, you’re constantly evaluating and assessing your position, you try to predict what’s going to come towards you, and then you have to decide what and where you want to go from there. You can stay put and do nothing and you will probably be safe, but do you get anything out of it? Do you gain any experience, do you learn, do you get any enjoyment? Or you can identify what you want and go for it when recognized. Patience is important, as your opportunities may come infrequently, but when it does, you must grab it and make the most of it.
My whole life I have been subconsciously studying and analyzing everything around me. And when the opportunity came for me to take on the trip of my life, I went for it without any hesitation at all. This is why I am so confident. I am ready to take chances, I am ready to explore and put myself to unknown places and unfamiliar situations. I am ready to learn from it all and better myself in the process. If nothing else, I will meet some new friends on a crazy road trip. I am ready for this adventure, this all encompassing trip.
8 Responses to “The Book”
Leave a Reply
November 4th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Good times! Can’t wait to read:)
November 19th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
I want to read this when you are finished your masterpiece. Don’t forget to autograph and inscript it to me, please
December 24th, 2008 at 9:40 am
Looking forward to reading some initial drafts in Hawaii!
June 16th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
I’d love to get a copy of the book, is it finished yet?
June 19th, 2009 at 9:46 am
I came across this blog because I was trying to translate the lyrics to Present Tense for those with whom I want to share the wisdom Eddie put into this song, but that unfortunately don’t speak english well enough… And it’s a bit difficult to translate all-encompassing into italian but the epilogue to your book has helped a lot…
).
Thank you!
…and let us know when the book will be published so that I can get a copy from here too (thank god I live in the internet era
Hugs from Italy
June 20th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
Grazie for the kind words!
I’m actually writing about the Italian tour right now in the book.
AMO ITALIA!
August 28th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
Best of luck with the book. I look forward to reading this.
February 9th, 2010 at 4:31 pm
Cool stuff man…
Happy Post-B-Day~