Gypsying After 40: A Guide to Adventure and Self-Discovery

A great book about a 40-ish couple who decided against grinding the corporate life out for another 20 years, instead choosing to sell everything off, buy a used camper van in England, and travel the back roads of Europe and the Mid-East, as perpetual tourists or gypsies. That first winter was spent on a farm in Greece, whose front yard had the only grape-stamping vat for miles around, where vineyard neighbors came to stamp their grapes into wine, paying for the use of it with crates of vegetables and many liters of new wine. These and other great adventures are the fabric of learning to live in a new culture and making what others spend in two weeks last for an entire year. At another point they buy a used boat, fix it up and travel the rivers and canals of France. They also give many useful pointers about where and where not to camp, where to park in cities with the least hassles, etc. Frankly, I love this book; I've read it over 1/2 dozen times or so, and it's great fun each time I do. In fact, as soon as I finish this review, I think I'll go read it again.