Delighted to welcome a new author to the Cafe and Bookstore shelves with her books, including her new release on pre-order until November 28th – A travel memoir – Plunge: One Woman’s Pursuit of a Life Less Ordinary by Liesbet Collaert
About the book
Tropical waters turn tumultuous in this travel memoir, as a free-spirited woman jumps headfirst into a sailing adventure with a new man and his two dogs.
Join Liesbet as she faces a decision that sends her into a whirlwind of love, loss, and living in the moment. When she swaps life as she knows it for an uncertain future on a sailboat, she succumbs to seasickness and a growing desire to be alone.
Guided by impulsiveness and the joys of an alternative lifestyle, she must navigate personal storms, trouble with US immigration, adverse weather conditions, and doubts about her newfound love.
Does Liesbet find happiness? Will the dogs outlast the man? Or is this just another reality check on a dream to live at sea?
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Have you ever wondered how life could be if you had made different choices? If you didn’t marry early, commit to a large loan for the house, focus on your career, start a family?
Maybe you’re just curious about how a person thinking outside the box manages? A person without boundaries, striving to be flexible, happy, and free. What you are about to read is how one such person follows her dreams, no, her intuition, and how she survives her naivety, life altering twists, and a relationship in close quarters.
Plunge is a story of what happens when you go with the flow, when you have a bright idea – or thought you had one – and ride the waves of the unknown. Ready to hop aboard and delve in?
Head over to buy the book on Pre-order until 28th November: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK
Also by Liesbet Collaert
One of the reviews for Philipsburg, St. Maarten
Some fun info and enough details to find interesting walking destinations without telling all about everything. I enjoyed this short read.
Read the reviews and buy the books: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK
About Liesbet Collaert
Liesbet Collaert is a bilingual freelance writer, translator, editor, and photographer from Belgium who has been writing and traveling her entire life. Her work has been published internationally in anthologies and magazines, including Cruising World, Blue Water Sailing, Ocean Navigator, Eldridge Tide and Pilot Book, Islands, Yachting World, Sailing Today, All At Sea, Caribbean Compass, and Zeilen. She also created walking tours for Marigot and Philipsburg in St. Martin.
The author has been interviewed about her alternative lifestyle by Multihull Sailor, Modern Day Nomads, Ocean Navigator, The Wayward Home, The Professional Hobo, and Grey Globetrotters among others. She contributed to extensive cruising surveys for All At Sea and Caribbean Compass and became an assistant-editor for Caribbean Compass in January 2019.
Liesbet loves animals, nature, and the promise of adventure. A nomad since 2003, she calls herself a world citizen and currently lives “on the road” in North America with her husband and rescue dog
Connect to Liesbet : Blogs: Roaming About – Cruising the World the way it is – Facebook pages: Personal Liesbet Collaert – Roamingsabout – ItsIrie – Twitter: @LiesbetCollaert – Follow Liesbet: Goodreads
Thanks for dropping in today and it would be great if you could share the news of Liesbet’s new book.. thanks Sally.
Welcome to the Smorgasbord Cafe, Liesbet!
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Thanks Liz x
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You’re welcome, Sally.
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Thank you, Liz! I feel very proud and happy to become a “member” of your wonderful club here at Sally’s!!!!
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♥
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It is a great place to be!
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Ooh, this looks like an interesting read. Congrats on your first book, Liesbet! Wishing you all the very best and much happy writing to come. 🙂
Thanks for sharing, Sally. Hugs xx 🙂
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Thanks Harmony.. it certainly does look like an interesting read. x
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Thanks a lot, Harmony. This work of love has taken its time to become what it is, but Plunge has been very well received by ARC readers so far!!! 🙂
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Congrats on the first book! It really seems a good and funny read. A woman in decision between famous fourleggers and only one man. 🙂 What a drama! 😉 Michael
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Thanks Michael.. sounds like a terrific read..x
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I am sure it will be, Sally! Thank you for recommending!
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Thanks, Michael! If only that was the only (or main) dilemma!!! If you end up reading my story, you’re in for a “hell of a ride!” 🙂
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Congratulations, Liesbet. Indeed I often wonder what if . . . I hadn’t gone out that night, if I hadn’t taken that job . . . We are all faced with sliding doors!
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Thanks Elizabeth.. and I agree… still I often think we end up right where we are supposed to be…xx
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You are so right, Elizabeth! Only recently, I came across that term “sliding doors.” I always called it “forks in the road.” 🙂 There are many of those in life. It’s probably better to not think about “what if” too much, but it’s interesting to read about how others approached life… from a comfy chair. 🙂
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There’s a movie by that name, Liesbet. I think Gwyneth Paltrow stars in it.
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Thank you so much for the shout-out, Sally! And, just as I clicked on your link to check the pre-order status of my eBook (which is a #1 new release in sailing on Amazon!), I noticed my paperback just popped up as well. Happy to see that pressing the “publish” button last night already did its job, earlier than expected. 🙂 I’m very excited about my release this Saturday!!!
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Fantastic Liesbet and congratulations on the book.. will look forward to sharing the reviews. xx
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There are five excellent ones on Goodreads already! Some of people you know (I think). 🙂 It has been a fun ride so far!
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I am sure there will be plenty more to share in coming weeks.. and an excuse to promote further xx
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Thank you!!
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Liesbet is so adventurous. I’m a little in awe as I read about her book (and her bio). So glad to see her book added to the café and bookstore, Sally. It sounds fascinating. 😀
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Thank you, Diana! It’s a fascinating and page-turning read, if I say so myself. Well… so I’ve been told. 🙂
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I consider myself adventurous, Liesbet, but now I feel pretty tame. Lol.
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Haha. There are different levels of “adventurous,” Diana, and I’m not that high on the scale. While my lifestyle is a tad different than most people, I’m no daredevil (depending on how you describe that word). I don’t climb Mount Everest, bike different continents, or row across oceans. 🙂
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Thanks Diana and I am in awe too.. My travel was always very much more mainstream and less adventurous.. xxx
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The way I look at it, Sally – and especially right now – travel is travel. 🙂 I wish we could hop borders again.
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Hopefully that day will come again soon Liesbet.. we have not entirely given up on our nomadic wanderings.. we want to see the Rockies again and Vancouver Island still on our list..xx
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Woohoo! So happy for my friend Liesbet who weathered a lot of other storms to get her book out. I’m currently reading this book and hate when I have to put it down. Liesbet takes us right into her world with her voice and wonderful descriptions. But most of all, I love the human side of her story, where she expresses her thoughts and reactions about not only the journeys but how she feels in the various stages of her relationship/marriage as life on the road/water also has its ebbs and flows. Welcome to the Smorgasbord Cafe and bookshelves Liesbet! I look forward to featuring you soon! ❤ xx
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the book so far Debby.. it will be the New Year before I get to read it with the list I have already but I will do. I will certainly look forward to sharing the reviews..♥
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Just thought I’d add my two cents so far for potential readers 🙂 ❤
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Always good to have a personal recommendation Debby..♥♥
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❤
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Thank you, Debby, for the kind and welcoming words and for providing this positive feedback about Plunge here. I appreciate it and I’m very happy you are enjoying the book!! Looking forward to visiting you in ten days. 🙂
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Hugs xx 🙂
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My goodness, the cover alone begs me to read the book! How beautiful. Congratulations, Liesbet, and thank you, Sally, for introducing Liesbet to readers.💗
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Hi Gwen! I’m glad you like the cover. I initially had something else in mind (a different photo that made it in the back matter of the book), but my husband remembered this scene with our dogs and suggested it for the cover. Much better and appropriate. Then, we combined it with a photo of a different island/country. Bingo! 🙂
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Thanks Gwen..hugsx
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Great questions, Lisabet! I have some free spirit friends who I live vicariously through. As much as I like hearing about their adventures, I’m happy with the stable and happy life I have.
Good luck with Plunge! Great title, by the way!
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Thanks a lot, Pete. I sometimes wish my life was a bit more stable and comfortable. I remember my dear oma (grandma) say to me, when I was in my twenties: “Good for you, all this traveling and exploring. You have to do it when you’re young!” That was twenty years ago. 🙂
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Haha! That’s great! Everyone needs to follow the path that makes them happy. I taught elementary school for thirty-one years, and that was my constant mantra with my students. Chart your own course. One that makes you happy and contributes something positive to your community.
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You have no idea how much I love that comment, Pete, as I’m a Belgian primary school teacher by profession (and taught for four year before I inadvertently left my country and never returned) and had similar principles with my students. Another important one for me was to encourage my sixth-graders to “think for their own” and not just follow what everyone else does. I found it important for them to develop a “critical mind” and exposed them to different cultures and photos of my previous travels, whenever I could. 🙂
Thank you for following my blog!
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A warm welcome to Liesbet – Plunge sounds fascinating, ideal for these days when we all have to be armchair travellers. Toni x
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Thank you for the warm welcome, Toni! I’m in fantastic company here. 🙂 Let’s hope we can all get out of that “chair” again soon!
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Thanks Toni.. I agree..xx
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Hi Liesbet *waves* – wow, you have an amazing bio! You’ve done so much! Welcome to Sally’s place 🙂
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Hello Jessica and thank you for the welcome! Despite living a life of what a lot of people would call “leisure,” I have kept myself VERY busy over the years and rarely relax. I don’t even have time to read books. But… I’m hoping to change that soon. 🙂
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I don’t get a lot of time for reading either, but I sneak in every second I can (on the loo is a great sneaky time) 😉
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Haha, good for you, Jessica. Even there, I feel rushed sometimes. 🙂 But, now that we have reached our destination for the winter in our camper van, in the desert Southwest of the USA, and my book is practically published, I hope to start reading again!
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Thanks Jessica..xx
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