Practical Motorhome: The Motorhome Touring Handbook is a ‘Must-Read’ Book
Yesterday I woke up, urged my stiff legs to carry me down our steep space-saver stairs and across the Cooler to the sofa. After rubbing my eyes I swiped across my smart phone and came across a message from ex-colleague, fellow motorhome tourer and all-round good guy Ken. “Hey, your book is in Practical Motorhome this month (August)”. I squinted at the small photo underneath the message, waking up quickly, tapping on it to make it bigger.
I spotted the Norwegian blue sky on the cover of The Motorhome Touring Handbook, (taken from an out-of-this-world spot in the Lofoten Islands, high in the Arctic Circle). I squinted some more. Alongside it were books written by what I’ll call ‘serious authors’: Martin Dorey, the AA and Vicarious Books. My eyes came alive and my legs suddenly found some vigor as I legged it back up the stairs, smiling, to show Ju! Afterwards I sent Ken a thank you message, telling him that he’d just made our day!
We originally published the book in 2018, and have periodically updated it since then. Mind you, it was a bit of a miracle we ever managed to write it at all. Although we’d been holidaying and touring in vans for a decade, and had spent a few years full-timing or on long tours, we still weren’t sure we’d the experience for the job.
In the end we just decided to write the book from our perspective, not to try and pretend we knew everything and to try and relay the experience we had either directly, or had learned from others while out on the road across the UK, Europe and North Africa. Between the two of us, we alternated between roles as authors, editors and proof-readers. That went on for months, along with the marital friction that kind of steady criticism entails! Once we’d finally finished the manuscript, the actual process of self-publishing the book was easy.
Once it went live, we nervously checked the Amazon web page every five minutes to see if anyone had bought it, and once we’d seen some (exciting!) sales, we checked every two minutes to see if they’d left a review. It was a huge relief when positive feedback started to slowly come in, and has flowed steadily since then (thank you!). As I write the book has an average 4.6 from 5 star rating, with 179 reviews. Reviewers have said it’s packed full of useful information and has inspired many of them to tour, something we’re very pleased and grateful to read. We’ve also had a lovely recommendation on the letters page of the July edition of MMM magazine – so we’re really feeling the love from you all, Thank you.
It’s a great feeling. Yep, we enjoy a small income from the book, but we also enjoy the idea that we’re helping at least a few people to overcome whatever might be holding them back from their dream to travel. It still seems more than a bit weird to be placed alongside those ‘big authors’ but hey, we’re not complaining!
As I type we’re still in lock-down, and the world can seem a dark place. We’re spending most of our time inside, away from loved ones and friends, and all we see of our planet is via the hyper-focused lens of the media. Ju and I have had the enormous privilege over the years to look at our planet up-close, and we can attest to the fact it’s a beautiful world out there (something we try to get across in the book alongside all the practical stuff). We’re watching, like everyone else, to see the UK and continental Europe slowly emerge again.
Take care of one another folks. Dare to dream.
Cheers, Jay
Congratulations guys! Well deserved to be featured on this magazine. Your book has been a great source of help and inspiration to us. In fact we enjoyed it so much that we have bought it as gifts to friends.
Fantastic, thanks Gilda! Jay