By Chorten Wangyel
Most journeys begin with a dream. Mine began with a wound. And for a long time, I never imagined I would write a book about it.
I didn’t grow up in a home filled with books. I grew up in a valley where the forest was our kitchen, the river was our bath, and the mountains were our guardians. Life was simple, raw, and honest. But it was also unforgiving.
When I walked away from home at thirteen, I wasn’t chasing ambition. I was just trying to survive. I didn’t know that the hardest years ahead of me would become the foundation of a story people might one day want to read.
Writing Roots of Ambition became the journey I never expected — a journey inward.
The hardest part of writing this book was not the grammar or the structure — it was the remembering.
Remembering the nights in India when I felt completely alone. Remembering the day I sat in a jail cell at fourteen wondering if this was the end of my story. Remembering my grandmother’s hands, rough from the fields yet gentle enough to heal anything.
Every chapter forced me to relive moments I thought I had buried. But the more I wrote, the more I realized: these were not weaknesses — these were roots. The kind that held my entire life together.
Some memories were harder to revisit than others: leaving home with nothing. Starting over in foreign countries. Making mistakes that broke me. Losing myself in the chase for success. Facing crises, hurricanes, betrayals, and the quiet pain leaders never talk about.
But these were also the chapters that forged my resilience. The ones that taught me forgiveness, humility, leadership, and gratitude. The ones that shaped the man I am today — from Bhutan to India, back to Bhutan and back to India and to Bangkok, Bali, Turks & Caicos, St. Vincent, back to Bhutan, then onward to The Bahamas, Mozambique, Dubai, back to St. Vincent, and finally returning once again to The Bahamas.
Writing them down felt like walking through fire again. But this time, I walked with purpose.
When you manage luxury resorts across continents, you learn to make decisions every minute. But when you write a book, you learn to make sense of your soul.
Writing Roots of Ambition taught me:
Some lessons came from mountains. Some from oceans. Some from fire and storms. Some from people whose kindness arrived exactly when I needed it most.
Writing gave me perspective that I never had while living through it.
Roots of Ambition is not a business book. It’s not a travel story. It’s not a memoir of luxury hospitality. It’s not even about success.
It’s about:
It’s the story of a boy who left a village with no roads, crossed borders with no money, and learned to lead with both humility and fire. And it’s written for anyone who has ever felt lost, underestimated, or unprepared for the life they were meant to build.
For years, people told me, “You should write your story.” But I never felt ready.
Then one day, while walking on the beach before sunrise, I realized: my story is not mine anymore — it belongs to everyone who needs it.
If even one person finds strength, hope, direction, or healing in my journey… then every chapter will have been worth writing.
This book is not about what I achieved. It’s about everything I survived — and everything I learned because of it.
The Earth grounded me. The Ocean raised me. The Forest fed me. The Fire forged me. The Wind carried me.
But writing this book taught me something new: the truest journey is the one back to yourself.
Roots of Ambition launches May 2026. Thank you for walking this path with me.
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