"And then there is the most dangerous risk of all - the risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later." Randy Komisar

Jackie and Mark were both made redundant in their early 50s. They decided to get a dog - but ended up with four; cuddly Cavapoos Kai, Rosie, Ruby and Lani.

Then, never having owned a tin box on wheels, they accidentally bought a caravan. They named her 'Kismet' - which means 'Fate'.

Half way down the second bottle of CCC (Caravan Celebratory Champagne) they made the perfectly rational decision to go straight from being First-Timers to Full-Timers. Within a month, they had sold most of their possessions on eBay and rented out their apartment to tour in Kismet full time. They called it 'Early Retirement' and set out to Live the Dream by touring Europe with their surfboards on their roof.

Based on Jackie's travel blog. www.worldwidewalkies.com 'Fur Babies in France' is the true story of their first year on wheels with Kismet and 'Big Blue' - their trusty tow vehicle (and toy box) - a Hyundai iLoad panel van.
It was a steep learning curve; one that involved lots of breakages and started on Day 1 with a near-death experience! However, Jackie and Mark approach all their mishaps and misadventures with more than a pinch of humour.

And avoiding the crowds to tour France by the back roads, they finally found what they were looking for; beauty, peace and tranquillity, with a bit of windsurfing thrown in!