8,000 Misguided Miles Around Britain in a Vauxhall Astra by Ben Hatch.
This is the true story of Ben Hatch and his wife Dinah and
their two children Phoebe aged four and Charlie aged 9 months. It is a
challenge to take two children under five out for the day, let alone taking
them on the usual two weeks family holiday. Imagine that holiday is going to
last for five months, which is exactly what Ben and Dinah did with their two
small children, when they were approached to write a guide book about family travel
around Britain. So they packed up their car with a carefully planned itinerary and
everything except the kitchen sink, oh and their coats too!
In this book we share their journey and experiences as they
go from place to place visiting four to five different attractions in a day and
sleeping in a different hotel every night, hoping that they will be child
friendly. They visit some interesting places on their travels, from searching
for Wallace and Gromit at the Wensleydale Creamery Visitor Centre, to the
circus at Blackpool Tower
and much, much more. This is not the actual guidebook this is more their own
personal account of what happened when they hit the open road.
I have not stopped smiling since I read this book. It is written
with really great humour and is laugh out loud funny at times in parts and
deeply moving in others. We share the highs and the lows of travelling with two
small children.
This book has got personality and charisma that make it a
fantastic read.
Ben Hatch lives in Hove, East
Sussex. His first comic novel The Lawnmower Celebrity was one of
Radio 4’s books of the year in 2000. His second, The International Gooseberry
was published in 2001 and described as ‘hysterical and surprisingly sad’ by the
Daily Express. Ben was on the long-list of Granta’s 2003 list of the most
promising twenty young authors in the UK.
With his wife Dinah he has also written three guidebooks – Frommer’s: Scotland
with your family, Frommer’s: England
with your family and Frommer’s: Britain
for free.
ARE WE THERE YET? Is published by Summersdale and is
available through internet book sellers (Amazon:
http://goo.gl/uzqYw)
and all good book shops (or direct from Summersdale)
