“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” So said Franklin Delano Roosevelt in his 1933 Inaugural Address when he first became US President. It was a year when almost 1 in 3 were unemployed in the US, a year when a Jewish pacifist called Albert Einstein left Germany to work at Princeton, a year when Hitler became Chancellor of Germany and opened Dachau, the first concentration camp.

The money changers, as Roosevelt called them, had created a Great Depression. “Happiness,” he said, “lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.”

Having left Sri Lanka, I was about to explore Malaysia, Borneo, Bangkok and, ultimately, visit the almost mythical Kingdom of Bhutan, reported to be the Happiest Place on Earth.

I was about to confront my own deepest fear.

'To me, you are a hero... You have learned to take something negative in your life and make it a positive... a gift to others. It doesn't get any better than that. Don't doubt that you are capable of helping others... in terms of other of life's difficulties... What an adventure!' Susan Jeffers, Ph.D., author of 'Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway'

From the best selling author of 'Japan Is Very Wonderful,' the 'Camino de la Luna' series and the Pearl Escapes mini-guides.

The fifth in this series (or seventh including the self help manual 'free Feeling Real Emotions Everyday' and prequel 'Japan Is Very Wonderful') 'Camino de la Luna – Courage' continues the journey.