Wannabe Backpackers tells the story of five self-confessed "spoiled teenagers" who travel to Latin America and Kenya one summer.

United by Gerald Yeung, the spiritual leader, the boys discover their true identity throughout the month-long journey: Justin the narcissist, Lulu the shopaholic, DJ the womanizer (or so he thought), and Brian the modern Romeo. From Machu Picchu in Peru to the Great Rift Valley of Kenya, they do every fun thing they can think of, with the sky the limit. "Reckless" becomes their common middle name. At times, their patience and friendship are put to the test. Will they still be friends after ditching each other in a foreign country? Most important, will they eventually become backpackers?

Gerald Christopher Yeung was born in Madera, California on 29 April 1986. He grew up with his younger brother Clement in Hong Kong where they both attended St. Paul s Co-educational College.
In Tenth Grade, Gerald transferred to the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey for the last three years of high school. At Lawrenceville, he competed in the 'varsity soccer team and swim team and he was named a New Jersey First Team All-State Swimmer in 2004. He graduated from Lawrenceville, Cum Laude.

He subsequently graduated from Cornell University in spring 2008 with a bachelor degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

Gerald speaks five languages with a varying degree of fluency, Cantonese, Mandarin, English, Spanish and French. This has played a pivotal role in his travels and ultimately his becoming a writer.

He first gained exposure to writing during a summer internship at Saatchi & Saatchi, where he worked as a research assistant for Sandy Thompson, author of One In A Billion. Since then, he has been dreaming about becoming a writer himself one day. What stood between him and his first book was the lack of an interesting topic. In summer 2006, the opportunity finally came when he made a back-packing journey with four of his best friends, namely, Justin, Louis, Brian and Pierre. The idea of writing a journal about their travels came from The Motorcycle Diaries by Che Guevara, who toured Latin America on a motorcycle.

Gerald's journal does not inspire a desire for revolution like Che's work. It brings out the lighter side of Latin America in the tone of a spoiled teenager. It was originally intended as a gift for the families who sponsored the trip. But a year after he finished his manuscript, he decided to submit it to publishers and he promptly received a positive reply from Proverse Hong Kong. That has since opened up a new, exciting world for him.

Gerald has recently begun working for Pall Corp at Cortland, New York. While his professional career will be his prime focus, writing will continue to play a big part of his life. One day, he would like to be a full-time author. Meanwhile, he is writing a childhood memoir. He has also finished the first draft of a book that speaks the satisfaction of finding a home and family in a Latino country during his volunteering trip to Costa Rica in 2007. Then in the summer of 2008, upon graduation, he backpacked around Italy and southern France to numerous cities and towns, including some wineries where he learned about wine, and this experience will also soon appear in writing. (As you can see, he believes in multi-tasking.) There are more ideas in the works, so one can expect to hear from him again and again in the near future.

To keep in touch with what Gerald is doing, please visit:
Gerald's website: geraldyeung.com
Gerald's blog:
geraldyeung.blogspot.com