Ask the next ten people you meet how they'd spend their winnings if they won the lottery and I'll bet, once they'd ticked off buying a new washing machine, -which according to Camelot is the first thing winners do buy- house and car, travel will be next on their list. Most see travel as a combination of several adjectives: exciting, romantic, mystical, educational, relaxing, and adventurous
(That's just six. Ed). Shush!
For proof, if proof were needed, the excitement of travel starts the minute we pack our diarrhoea tablets and head off on our annual summer vacation.
Four years ago my wife Hazel and I, in response to a mid life crisis which surprisingly doesn’t come anywhere near your 35th birthday, and her pending retirement from nursing discussed our options. The conversation quickly centred on travel and adventure. However, since we didn't buy lottery tickets we could rule out Camelot as a sponsor. We then looked for other ways our fledgling adventure could be financed. It quickly became apparent that if we wanted to see the world, we'd better start picking numbers. However, if we could make do with the fifty countries in Europe, and yes there really are that many, and a caravan, then maybe there was a way. After a few scribbled calculations we came up with some figures which suggested it could be done on the cheap!
(He means on a Budget. Ed) No, I definitely mean cheap.
This book is a selected collection of my first years diary entries taken from my on-line diary which catalogued our travels around Europe in a caravan. I should point out......
(Warn might be better word. Ed)
…...its more than just that. It wasn't until I finished did I realise it's also about my struggle in making sense of the world. This book records some of my skirmishes. I'm convinced, my meanderings will strike a cord with those readers who believe, like me, life really shouldn't be this hard.
I try and throw light on some of the cultural differences between us and our European neighbours. I discover why the Euro was doomed from day one. I'm told by a 'love lost' bar tender what Europeans really think of us British, and Britain. I also take the lid off, 'European toilet etiquette'. -there's a book just waiting to be written- I also answer the question, What is the meaning of life.? Turns out to be not such a tough one after all. All that, and much more, set against a back drop of bumming around Europe in a caravan.
For those interested in the practicalities of our adventure, you'll find this book full of adventurous advice, handy hints and top tips, especially for the novice. Neither of us had owned or towed a caravan when we started out, so the pitfalls where many and the learning curve steep.
On our journey we'd no idea who we'll meet, where we'd end up, where we were actually going nor what we'll see when we get there, but to be honest who gives a bugger! I know I don't. Like most people I plan my life, or at least that part of it I can actually plan, to a staggering degree. Would any of us do tomorrow what we'd planned if we suddenly discovered it was going to be our last? Of course not, we'd all be too busy panicking.
And Finally, while it's safe to say I've made every attempt to offend no-one.....
I pretty much failed.
(That's just six. Ed). Shush!
For proof, if proof were needed, the excitement of travel starts the minute we pack our diarrhoea tablets and head off on our annual summer vacation.
Four years ago my wife Hazel and I, in response to a mid life crisis which surprisingly doesn’t come anywhere near your 35th birthday, and her pending retirement from nursing discussed our options. The conversation quickly centred on travel and adventure. However, since we didn't buy lottery tickets we could rule out Camelot as a sponsor. We then looked for other ways our fledgling adventure could be financed. It quickly became apparent that if we wanted to see the world, we'd better start picking numbers. However, if we could make do with the fifty countries in Europe, and yes there really are that many, and a caravan, then maybe there was a way. After a few scribbled calculations we came up with some figures which suggested it could be done on the cheap!
(He means on a Budget. Ed) No, I definitely mean cheap.
This book is a selected collection of my first years diary entries taken from my on-line diary which catalogued our travels around Europe in a caravan. I should point out......
(Warn might be better word. Ed)
…...its more than just that. It wasn't until I finished did I realise it's also about my struggle in making sense of the world. This book records some of my skirmishes. I'm convinced, my meanderings will strike a cord with those readers who believe, like me, life really shouldn't be this hard.
I try and throw light on some of the cultural differences between us and our European neighbours. I discover why the Euro was doomed from day one. I'm told by a 'love lost' bar tender what Europeans really think of us British, and Britain. I also take the lid off, 'European toilet etiquette'. -there's a book just waiting to be written- I also answer the question, What is the meaning of life.? Turns out to be not such a tough one after all. All that, and much more, set against a back drop of bumming around Europe in a caravan.
For those interested in the practicalities of our adventure, you'll find this book full of adventurous advice, handy hints and top tips, especially for the novice. Neither of us had owned or towed a caravan when we started out, so the pitfalls where many and the learning curve steep.
On our journey we'd no idea who we'll meet, where we'd end up, where we were actually going nor what we'll see when we get there, but to be honest who gives a bugger! I know I don't. Like most people I plan my life, or at least that part of it I can actually plan, to a staggering degree. Would any of us do tomorrow what we'd planned if we suddenly discovered it was going to be our last? Of course not, we'd all be too busy panicking.
And Finally, while it's safe to say I've made every attempt to offend no-one.....
I pretty much failed.
