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Winging It: A Memoir of My Journey to Asia, Book One
1982. No cell phones. No email. No safety net.
At nineteen, dyslexic and drowning in toxic shame from a childhood of academic failure and family trauma, Lia Russ did something she bought a one-way ticket to Tokyo, departing with $500 and a backpack.
What she found in 1980s Asia wasn't the neat spiritual awakening that some travelers anticipate. It was raw, disorienting, and brutally real.
In pre-globalized Japan, she stumbled into underground modeling and taught English despite severe dyslexia, learning to see herself through a lens that finally wasn't broken. In chaotic Calcutta, she navigated crushing poverty and overwhelming sensory assault. In Thailand and Nepal, she discovered Buddhist temples, formed deep connections with fellow travelers, and slowly began to believe she deserved more than mere survival.
But this journey of self-discovery came with an unexpected an increasingly violent relationship that followed her across Asia, forcing her to choose between the safety of what she knew and the terrifying freedom of walking away alone.
Winging It is a visceral coming-of-age memoir and time capsule of Asia before westernization, captured through Lia's own stunning photography. It's an intimate travel narrative about a neurodivergent woman learning to overcome shame, escape abuse, and trust herself in a world that told her she was broken.
Lia Russ presents a powerful story of resilience, healing, and finding strength in the most unexpected places.
Winging It is perfect for readers who loved Crying in H Mart, Educated, and Wild.
In three places in the book you will find a secret password. Use it to unlock exclusive photos and stories that do not appear in the book.
At nineteen, dyslexic and drowning in toxic shame from a childhood of academic failure and family trauma, Lia Russ did something she bought a one-way ticket to Tokyo, departing with $500 and a backpack.
What she found in 1980s Asia wasn't the neat spiritual awakening that some travelers anticipate. It was raw, disorienting, and brutally real.
In pre-globalized Japan, she stumbled into underground modeling and taught English despite severe dyslexia, learning to see herself through a lens that finally wasn't broken. In chaotic Calcutta, she navigated crushing poverty and overwhelming sensory assault. In Thailand and Nepal, she discovered Buddhist temples, formed deep connections with fellow travelers, and slowly began to believe she deserved more than mere survival.
But this journey of self-discovery came with an unexpected an increasingly violent relationship that followed her across Asia, forcing her to choose between the safety of what she knew and the terrifying freedom of walking away alone.
Winging It is a visceral coming-of-age memoir and time capsule of Asia before westernization, captured through Lia's own stunning photography. It's an intimate travel narrative about a neurodivergent woman learning to overcome shame, escape abuse, and trust herself in a world that told her she was broken.
Lia Russ presents a powerful story of resilience, healing, and finding strength in the most unexpected places.
Winging It is perfect for readers who loved Crying in H Mart, Educated, and Wild.
In three places in the book you will find a secret password. Use it to unlock exclusive photos and stories that do not appear in the book.
255 pages, Paperback
Published January 24, 2025
About the author
Lia Russ
8 books16 followersLia Russ began her journey into the unseen world at nine years old when she unexpectedly healed a horse — and spent the next 50 years finding out why.
Armed with nothing but courage, $500, a tent and a sleeping bag, she left the United States at 19 for Japan — beginning a 2.5 year cross-continental journey through Asia that would shape everything that followed. Over the next five decades she searched across continents, studied ancient texts and healing traditions from multiple cultures, and dove deep into the intricacies of modern physics — not to prove what she had experienced but to understand it.
The result is Connecting the Dots: Ancient Wisdom, Modern Science — a 450-page transformation manual that bridges ancient wisdom and modern science so completely that readers finish it understanding not only how the world works but how to work with it.
Lia is also the author of The Ascension Guide: Practical Advice for Lightworkers, Lightworker Archetypes: Honoring Our Sensitivities and Remembering Our Gifts, and Winging It: A Memoir of My Journey to Asia, and the founder of Lightworkers Lifeline. She writes for every reader who has felt the specific frustration of finding books that honor the ancient wisdom but dismiss the science — or honor the science but dismiss the ancient wisdom. Connecting the Dots was written to be the bridge between both worlds.
Armed with nothing but courage, $500, a tent and a sleeping bag, she left the United States at 19 for Japan — beginning a 2.5 year cross-continental journey through Asia that would shape everything that followed. Over the next five decades she searched across continents, studied ancient texts and healing traditions from multiple cultures, and dove deep into the intricacies of modern physics — not to prove what she had experienced but to understand it.
The result is Connecting the Dots: Ancient Wisdom, Modern Science — a 450-page transformation manual that bridges ancient wisdom and modern science so completely that readers finish it understanding not only how the world works but how to work with it.
Lia is also the author of The Ascension Guide: Practical Advice for Lightworkers, Lightworker Archetypes: Honoring Our Sensitivities and Remembering Our Gifts, and Winging It: A Memoir of My Journey to Asia, and the founder of Lightworkers Lifeline. She writes for every reader who has felt the specific frustration of finding books that honor the ancient wisdom but dismiss the science — or honor the science but dismiss the ancient wisdom. Connecting the Dots was written to be the bridge between both worlds.
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