By Max Bowen
What would you do to escape a hollow, go-nowhere life?
For Cole, the protagonist in T.J. Derry’s book, “Carried Away,” that means heading to the Indonesian islands, chasing silence, clarity, and something real. There, he reconnects with old friends and sparks a relationship with someone who sees through his detachment. But after a catastrophic tsunami, the laid-back surf trip quickly turns into a violent fight for survival.
In this Five by Five, T.J. introduces us to Cole and where his life is (and isn’t) and what awaits in the Indonesian islands. He talks about what inspired the story and his support of the Sungai Watch through the proceeds of book sales.
Let’s begin with Cole. Who is he, and why does he make this move?
Cole wants what everybody wants—to wake up next to the love of his life, hear the songbirds outside, and look in the mirror and feel like his life means something. But instead, he’s caught in the rot of modern adulthood: working a hollow job, renting a shoebox in a city where lattes cost ten bucks, contributing nothing of substance. And I think a lot of people feel that—like existence has been boiled down to one hedonic pursuit after the next. Now, on the wrong side of 30, his identity as ‘young’ has all but atrophied away.
His hope was that something would snap into place—the career, the girl, the accomplishment that proves there’s some kind of point to it all. And rattling around in his head is the frustration of a generation promised the world—told they’d be something more, someone more. Instead, they’re stuck paying rent, scrolling social media, nursing hangovers and learning that promise was hollow.
To him surf trips are an escape hatch, a way to dodge winter and feel like an individual. But this trip feels different. The Mentawais are the top of the heap—emblematic of the ultimate escape into adventure, maybe even a shot at feeling connected to the world—to other people—to himself. He doesn’t know exactly what he’ll find there, only that the usual escapes aren’t cutting it anymore.
What’s the effect of being in the Indonesian islands?
I guess by the time Cole gets to the Ments, he’s running on fumes. The trip over is long, often harrowing, full of moments where he’s anxious, but also amused by how absurd it all is. He steps off the plane into this completely different world—new air, new language, no familiar anchor—and almost right away he meets Kendal, who, for all he can tell, might be the perfect woman. That’s part of the shock: the place, the people, the timing and the circumstances. It all throws him off balance, in exactly the way he needs.
What follows isn’t just a surf trip; it’s long days in the sun and nights under the stars, reconnecting with nature, camaraderie with old friends, laughter and that connection with Kendal—open in a way he hasn’t seen in years, untouched by the cynicism he’s used to back home. The islands don’t just give him escape; they give him a jolt of life. Heaven at first…
How does Cole handle the tsunami and what comes after?
Well, I wouldn’t say he handles much—a tsunami like this is untameable. At first he doesn’t even know what’s happening. They’re surfing a remote reef when the earthquake hits, so they have no idea anything’s wrong until the ocean starts dragging them out to sea. At first you think it’s just a current, maybe it’ll let up—but it doesn’t. It only builds. And then they see the wave on the horizon. Panic sets in, and from there it unravels into pure chaos—physical and emotional torture as he stares down his own death. It’s hell.
When the waves finally let him go, he’s severely battered, exhausted, barely keeping himself afloat—and then he sees his friends are still alive too. That moment is loaded: relief that he’s not alone, colliding with dread, because they’re together but stranded—no land in sight, no clue which way to go, no help coming. And that’s when survival shifts. It’s not just about him anymore—it’s about holding the others together, whether he’s ready for it or not.
From there it’s endurance. They scrape together debris for a raft, just enough to keep them afloat through the night. Darkness brings its own kind of terror—sharks in the water, nerves unraveling—but they cling to each other and push through. By the time they finally drag themselves onto a small island, they’re in bad shape, but alive. And for Cole, that changes everything: the guy who left New York feeling aimless now knows how lucky he is just to have what he has—a heartbeat.
What inspired the story?
One of the things that inspired it was just wanting to read it. I’ve always been fascinated by natural disasters—forces so powerful that they make you feel small in a way nothing else can. As a kid I remember learning about tsunamis and thinking how wild it would be to see one in real life…of course, that was before I understood they leave bodies and sorrow in their wake.
Years later I was stuck in an airport, scrolling for something to read, and nothing felt right. So I figured—why not write the book I was looking for? Which sounds simple, but it wasn’t. I carried that idea around for a while without writing a single word—until one night, in the middle of a reckless 1 a.m. cab ride through the Nicaraguan jungle, I pulled out my phone to journal. Maybe to calm myself down, maybe just to leave a last note if things went sideways. That entry ended up leading off the second chapter and gave me something to build from.
After that, I leaned on what I knew—traveling, surfing, spearfishing, trying to fold myself into nature—and built a story out of it. That was the start. What came next was messy, grueling, nothing like the romantic notion I’d had at the beginning—but maybe that’s the only way to write a book like this.
I read that you’re donating a portion of the proceeds to Sungai Watch. What is this organization and why do you want to donate to them?
Sungai Watch is this grassroots group in Indonesia, founded by Gary Bencheghib and his siblings. I’d been following them for years on social, inspired by how they grew it from nothing into a team of more than 150 people out there every day—pulling plastic from waterways, building barriers, recycling what they can, and educating local communities. I related to it—I’ve spent plenty of time picking trash off beaches myself, just on a smaller scale. So donating a portion of the proceeds felt obvious. The book’s set in Indonesia, and so much of it is about our fragile relationship with the ocean. If the story is about surviving in the water, Sungai Watch is about making sure the water survives us. And to me, that’s work worth backing.
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