Princes Risborough author pens 'A Grand Tour of Scotland in a Freedom Caravan'

Susie Kearley, from Princes Risborough has written several books previously covering a variety of different topics.

She said stuck in lockdown, with time on her hands she decided to put together the book, 'A Grand Tour of Scotland in a Freedom Caravan'.

You can view her books here: www.susiekearley.co.uk/booksAlong with her husband, she went on a 'grand tour' of Scotland in 2014, writing about each stage of the journey as they travelled.

Susie said: "I was doing a lot of work for Caravan magazine at the time, and had a commission for a series of articles about the journey.

"I'd always thought the collection would make a good book, so after Caravan magazine published the last in the series I pulled them all together as a collection in an ebook and did a bit of editing to ensure everything was up to date.

"The magazine took a long time to publish the last article, which is why it was this year before I was able to produce the ebook."

The author added that she would encourage people to take up life on the free road, describing the trip as a 'brilliant experience'.

She added that she intended to do it again, but following a different route.

Susie continued: "It was a brilliant experience, but the pace at which we travelled was exhausting.

"We had an itinerary covering where we'd be every morning, afternoon, and evening, so it was quite full-on. I think next time, we'll slow down and see less, at a more leisurely pace.

"I just wanted to see everything though - and we only had three weeks to fit it all in!

Perhaps predictably, notoriously bad Scottish made the trip even more tricky than usual.

After spending three days on the Isle of Skye amidst prolific rain, the couple returned to find their caravan with virtually no sunroof as it had been hit hard by the extreme weather.

Their caravan was also flooded.

Susie said: "We also caught the tail end of Hurricane Bertha, which came to get us at Dornoch.

"It flattened all the tents on the campsite, and the caravan was rocking violently all night.

"There were scenes of total carnage in the morning, and most of the tent campers had left at about 4am. The Forth Bridge was closed because of high winds, so we had to

wait it out, but fortunately the museum was open."

Susie concluded by saying the trip was so exciting, they saw so many amazing places that they can't wait to get back out there to explore more.

"It was quite exciting seeing new places, trying to Climb Ben Nevis, and seeing the Harry Potter Viaduct at Glenfinnan.

"The Globe Sculpture by Joe Smith, at Knockan Crag was totally unexpected and stunning.

"My favourite place was Durness, which was like a deserted Mediterranean beach in the height of summer.

"My favourite island was Staffa, because Fingle's Cave was just like the Giant's Causeway, and the puffins were so tame! Orkney was interesting, but it

rained the whole time there! Fortunately the sun came out for long enough to get a few nice pictures of our holiday!

"We saw lots of amazing historical places, including Cardiff Castle on the Way up, Gretna Green, Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park, Inverary Castle and

Jail, Mull, Iona, John O' Groats, and the harbour at Wick.

"The Cairngorms were particularly memorable, and we had some great wildlife experiences.

"We came back through historic Jedburgh, and stopped at Ripon's Workhouse, Courthouse and Police Museum, before returning home. It was exhausting, but an

exhilarating experience."

People can read more about the ebook for Kindle here: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B089NW9RXZ