Iām a writer, living in southwest France since 1995, and previously in Kenya for 20 years. Travel has always been my passion. Iāve written about hiking across France in Best Foot Forward, touring the perimeter by camping car in Travels with Tinkerbelle, cycling through the Marne Valley in The Valley of Heaven and Hell, and a Kenyan safari in Safari Ants, Baggy Pants and Elephants. Recently, due to COVID and with an elderly dog that suffers from separation anxiety, I couldn't leave for any length of time; I satisfy my wanderlust by reading other peopleās adventures. My taste is for tales that include plenty of humour, and Iāve selected five which I have particularly enjoyed.
I wrote
The Valley of Heaven and Hell: Cycling in the Shadow of Marie Antoinette
India has always fascinated me, so I was intrigued to read this account of a 30-year-old woman riding 17,000 miles through the sub-continent, alone, on a motorbike. Never having previously ridden a motorbike, she takes a 3-day crash course on how to do so. What could possibly go wrong?
Nonchalantly tackling muddy jungles, deserts, and virtually impassable terrain, frequently breaking down, she muddles through with a mixture of ingenuity, optimism, and the never-failing help of the local people.
A satisfyingly honest and self-deprecating account of a remarkable achievement by a woman who believed she could, and so she did.
The author quits her high-flying job in London, orders a classic Indian Enfield Bullet motorbike and goes off for a year on a 17,000 mile circuit of India. She wants adventures, and as a solo traveller, has plenty of them. Follow her on her travels discovering an unknown world of motorbiking, wanderlust and Indian life. Humorous and well-written, this refreshingly honest book recounts her numerous mishaps, both on and off the bike. This story shows how a can-do attitude can compensate for inexperience and will appeal to those with a Ā« just do it Ā» attitude to life. And forā¦
This made me laugh until I cried. It blends a harebrained idea with a social experiment. Two men decide to cycle from the southernmost tip of England to the far north of Scotland. They have no bicycles. They also have no clothes, food, or money.
Barefoot, wearing nothing but Union Jack boxer shorts, off they set in a freezing gale. The outcome of their journey will depend entirely on the kindness and generosity of strangers.
"...spent last night laughing so much my coffee came out my eyes..." "...this book is quite simply the best I've read in years..." "...a completely bonkers challenge and a brilliantly funny read, I couldn't put it down..." "...it reminded me of some of Danny Wallace and Dave Gorman's best bits..." "...this wonderful story had me crying with laughter more often than not..." "...inspiring, uplifting, need I say more? Quite brilliant..." "...funny, totally engrossing and actually quite moving..." "...one of the most heart-warming, genuinely funny books I have read in a long time..."ā¦
Noam Chomsky has been praised by the likes of Bono and Hugo ChĆ”vez and attacked by the likes of Tom Wolfe and Alan Dershowitz. Groundbreaking linguist and outspoken political dissenterāvoted āmost important public intellectual in the world todayā in a 2005 magazine pollāChomsky inspires fanatical devotion and fierce vituperation.
A beautifully painted account of the authorās journey through Africa, as much about his conflicting emotions as about cycling. Mainly eating jam sandwiches, and sleeping in dangerous places and filthy hostels, he pedals his way towards South Africa across Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and war-torn Sudan. He finds friendship in unexpected places, and disappointment in others.
It appealed to me as both a cycling adventure, and having lived in Kenya I was keen to read about his experiences in Africa.
This enthralling account details Alastair Humphrey's epic journey across Africa, through Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya. His experience is at times brutal, and though he faces loneliness, despair, and harsh conditions, he also survives through trust in the kindness of strangers.
Moods of Future Joys is a story of the triumphs over adversities, of one man who set off from his home in Yorkshire to cycle the world, fundraise for charity and... to live a little.
This is possibly the worst cycling adventure ever undertaken. It makes my list because everything that can go wrong does. Her bicycle is too big. Everything is shut. Thereās no hot water in the showers. Yet still they pedal on.
Even the Greek island cruise is a disaster.
Acerbic, honest, extremely non-PC, itās a schadenfreude delight. I rather unkindly couldnāt wait for the next catastrophe to strike this couple, because it made me laugh so much.
āInspiring proof that you need neither be under 25 nor even bearded to have a terrific adventure.ā Alastair Humphreys, Author & Adventurer When Donna and Iain, a couple in their late forties with no previous cycling experience, decide on the spur of the moment to cycle across an entire continent, you can rightly assume things might not go according to plan. Armed with little knowledge but much determination, they attempt a self-supported cycle tour, carrying everything they need and camping along the way, normally the domain of hardy, beardy adventurers or Olympic athletes. Join The Beardless Adventurer and her inconvenienceā¦
Adventures in the Radio Trade documents a life in radio, largely at Canada's public broadcaster. It's for people who love CBC Radio, those interested in the history of Canadian Broadcasting, and those who want to hear about close encounters with numerous luminaries such as Margaret Atwood, J. Michael Straczynski, Stuartā¦
A vivid, amusing account of the author and her friend cycling and sleeping in the wild from Bolivia to Argentina. It is a story of determination and endurance as they push themselves to the extreme, always taking the hardest, highest route. Exhaustion, frustration, and sickness put their friendship to the test.
As somebody who is the polar opposite, always seeking the easiest way, I was fascinated by this coupleās approach to adventure, and awed by their achievements.
**WINNER of the 2020 Amazon Kindle Storyteller Literary Award**
"Llama Drama is simply hilarious. If anyone wants something witty and moving at the same time. Also, something empowering, then this is the one for them. I literally inhaled it." - Claudia Winkleman, TV Presenter and Author
What Amazon readers are saying about Llama Drama:
ā ā ā ā ā āLoved every minute of it!ā
ā ā ā ā ā āAn antidote for the madness of 2020ā
ā ā ā ā ā āTruly inspiringā
ā ā ā ā ā āA brilliant book for anyone interested in travel, conquering their fears, cycling, adventure, South Americaā
As a nervous cyclist, I donāt think anybody who hasnāt wobbled round the Arc de Triomphe at rush hour has truly known fear. This is my fourth and possibly favourite memoir, combining travel and history. On an electric bike, I cycle with my husband 500 kilometres through Franceās idyllic Marne Valley, in parallel with the route taken by Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI in their failed attempt to escape the guillotine. Itās their story, and our story. Thereās champagne, too.
Mosaic is a story of exploration and self-identification, of grief, relationships, tackling mental health, and how to walk through difficult times when there is nowhere else to go. The story follows Laura, who along with her husband Jason, embarked on having a baby, only to go on a journey thatā¦
After Dr. Shawn Jennings, a busy family physician, suffered a brainstem stroke on May 13, 1999, he woke from a coma locked inside his body, aware and alert but unable to communicate or move. Once he regained limited movement in his leftā¦