Smorgasbord Christmas Book Fair – New Book on the Shelves – #Travel – Caravanning with #Dogs – To Hel In A Hound Cart: Journey To The Centre Of Europe (Adventure Caravanning with Dogs Book 5) by Jacqueline Lambert

Delighted to share the news of the latest release by Jacqueline Lambert – To Hel In A Hound Cart: Journey To The Centre Of Europe (Adventure Caravanning with Dogs Book 5) – On pre-order for December 9th.

About the book

“If you are an animal lover, you will love her books. If you like to travel, you will love her books. If you like to read memoirs, you will love her books.” Dawne Archer, author of Trekker Girl Morocco Bound

“Her nimble writing rivals Bill Bryson and Paul Theroux.” review of ‘It Never Rains But It Paws’ by the same author, by Liisa W on Amazon.com.

“Go to Hel.”

The Polish local wasn’t being rude. She was describing Hel, Poland, a place well known for its fine beaches and windsurfing. Ever since Jackie and Mark packed themselves and four dogs into a hound cart to tour Europe, they’ve learned lessons about overcoming obstacles – much more than they ever imagined.

Soon after they left, everything they knew about traveling changed.

COVID-19 stranded them in Italy, where they were forbidden to set foot outside the garden of their rented apartment. Then, finally released from Italian lockdown, with borders closed and their own home rented out, they could not return to the UK. With only a rough idea where their wanderlust would take them, their adventures soon start stacking up. If you ever wanted to learn what full-time RV life really is like, this is the best place to start.

Join them as they navigate precipitous cliff-side roads, political unrest, and borders closing, and explore what it’s like to live with less, triumph over adversity, and not take things for granted.

Will they make it to Hel in a hound cart, or is that what will happen to their plans?

One of the advance reviews for the book

Oct 21, 2022 S. Bavey rated it Five Stars

In Jacqueline Lambert’s latest travel memoir, To Hel in a Hound Cart her irrepressible sense of irreverent humour and quest for knowledge once more shine through. The comic asides are one of my favourite parts of her writing and this time I found myself laughing out loud as she tells of her husband’s interpretation of the French song “Sur le pont D’Avignon” and again at an imagined conversation about heraldry in Saluzzo. I also love all of her nods to popular culture such as British TV shows Brookside, Blackadder and the lyrics to popular songs.

Jacqueline has a talent for painting pictures with words when describing scenery. Her descriptions are evocative and easy to imagine, to the extent that I found myself cringing during parts of the journey on mountain roads such as the Crest of Gorges route, which sounded horrific if beautiful. I would have loved to see the griffon vultures her and her husband encountered, but I have trouble with such roads and admire people who are able to endure them without ending up cowering in the back seat (which happened to me when we took a trip up Mount Washington in New Hampshire).

I enjoyed the many wonderful and unusual little historical details included in the book. The composer, Chopin travelling with a jar of Polish earth so that he was never too far from his home was one which piqued my interest and I think the amount of historical and political detail in general throughout the novel is just enough to be educational without getting boring. Some difficult subjects such as the Jewish prisoner of war camp Auschwitz are handed over to Jacqueline’s husband to discuss as he is a history buff and his take was very interesting. These difficult subjects are handled with care.

I also found it interesting hearing how mundane tasks such as the laundry get done while living in a van.

As usual the four pups are adorable and draw a crowd of fans wherever they go. A couple of them suffer hardships during this book, but nothing too serious thankfully!
Humorous, educational and entertaining – I highly recommend this book! 

Pre-order the book for December 9th: Amazon UK – And: Amazon US

Other books in the series by Jacqueline Lambert

Read the reviews and buy the books: author.to/JLambert – Follow Jacqueline: Goodreads – Blog: Worldwide Walkies – Facebook: Jacqueline Lambert Author – Twitter: @JLambertAuthor

About Jacqueline Lambert

Jacqueline Lambert has long had a passion for travel and adventure. Always a bit of a tomboy, it was an accidental white water rafting trip down the Zambezi that really opened her eyes to the experiences that the world has to offer. The trip was not, as she expected, ‘floating down the river looking at wildlife’.

Somewhere between the adrenaline of tackling Grade 5 rapids in crocodile-infested waters and the raw beauty of sleeping under the stars on the banks of the river, she determined that she was no longer content to live her life in thin slices. She also realised that experience was more important than owning STUFF.

Since then, she has travelled as much as time and budget would allow and has rafted major rivers on every continent except Antarctica. Before meeting her husband, Mark, she took a sabbatical from work. Although she was single at the time, she asked for – and was granted – ‘maternity leave’ to spend several months backpacking around Fiji, Australia and New Zealand!

A keen off piste skier and windsurfer, Jackie is a Team Rider for the UK’s National Watersports Festival, to which she has contributed many articles and blogs about windsurfing. She is also the wordsmith behind her own dog-centric caravan travel blog, World Wide Walkies, which has been featured in the Eurotunnel Le Shuttle Newsletter and Dog Friendly Magazine.

She and Mark were made redundant in 2016. In their mid 50s, they decided to give up work, rent out their house and travel full-time with five dogs; their four Cavapoos; Kai, Rosie, Ruby and Lani and a stray that they adopted in Transylvania whom they named Blade, the vampire slayer.

 

Thanks for dropping in today and I hope you are leaving with some books.. thanks Sally.