At some point, almost everyone has fantasized about quitting their job, packing a bag, and traveling the world. But while most people return to their daily routines, Dan Wake decided to find out what life could look like beyond a conventional career.
His new memoir, Eat the Wind: Travels with Dictators, Mercenaries, and Queens, revisits a decade of adventures that took him across four continents, long before smartphones and social media transformed how people experience travel.
Trading Career Expectations for Adventure
A Stanford Law School graduate, Wake had the credentials to pursue a lucrative legal career. However, the promise of professional success wasn’t enough to keep him from exploring the unknown.
During the 1970s and 1980s, he hitchhiked across Europe, ventured into the Amazon jungle, and traveled throughout Asia. His experiences included witnessing the Philippines’ People Power Revolution, which ultimately overthrew dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
These weren’t carefully organized vacations with luxury accommodations and detailed itineraries. They were unpredictable journeys shaped by strangers, unexpected opportunities, and the freedom to explore without knowing what came next.
“I wanted to tell the story of a pre-internet world of exotic travels that no longer exists,” Wake said.
A Reminder That Life Is Bigger Than Work
What makes Eat the Wind particularly interesting today is its relevance to anyone questioning whether professional success should define their life.
Wake eventually practiced law for 35 years, but his youthful adventures remained important enough to document. Remarkably, much of his manuscript sat unfinished for nearly four decades before he returned to complete it.
Released September 15, 2026, through Torchflame Books, the memoir has earned positive attention from Kirkus Reviews and Midwest Book Review.
For readers dreaming about their next chapter, Wake’s story offers a compelling reminder: sometimes the experiences worth remembering happen outside the office.
