The sudden, completely unexpected death of Stephan prompts his partner Maureen to relive their adventurous travels in Southeast Asia and Australia once more. The reader is right there with them at every stop, in the mystical world of Buddhist Myanmar, on Thailand's dreamlike island beaches, in Cambodia, Vietnam, and on Australia's east coast. Their moving story makes it clear how closely life and death, joy and sorrow are intertwined-a touching plea to love every moment of life, because it is a precious gift.

Maureen Bartsch, born and raised in Sauerland in 1965, dreamed of traveling to distant countries even as a child and set off at the age of 19 to work in America for a while and take her first short trips from there. She later turned her hobby into a career and worked in the tourism industry for many years. She lives in Cologne.