Books
“Slow Journey South” was written whilst on the road from London to MHamid el Ghizlaine, during the first year of my walk, which is well documented on this site. The blurb is reprinted here:
When Paula Constant and her husband, Gary, break away from the conventional 9-5 routine in Australia, a few weeks lazing in a resort is not what they have in mind. What starts out as a daydream of “a travel to end all travels” turns into something far greater: an epic year long 5000km walk from Trafalgar Square in London to Morocco and the threshold of the Sahara desert.
Quite an ambition for an unfit woman who enjoys late nights sharing cigarettes and a few bottles of wine with friends. But if the arduous nature of walking over 25 kilometres a day through the cultural labyrinths of France, Spain, Portugal and Morocco is overlooked in her excitement, then so too is the unexpected journey of self discovery that lies beyond every bend. Both the companions she meets on the road and the road itself provide what no university can offer: a chance to experience life’s simple truths face to face.
Paula’s transformation from an urban primary school teacher to successful expeditioner is a true tale of an ordinary woman achieving something extraordinary.
As I write this I have only the one review, from the Booksellers and Publisher’s weekly. It is reprinted below:
Australian Paula Constant has written a life affirming, positive, inspiring and informative narrative of her emotional and physical journey to give up a teaching job in London and walk for three years with her husband—walking out of Trafalgar Square in central London to France, Spain and along the Camino Santiago pilgrim’s walk to Portugal. The book finishes as they reach Africa, but it is far from over as her main dream is to walk right to Cape Town. The ending is left open for a second book that will hopefully cover the remainder of their walk through the Sahara with camels, right down to Cape Town in South Africa. Paula’s voice is a fresh and
compelling one. She writes really well in this genre and is thoroughly inspirational—giving much in the way of personal learnings and insights about life. Slow Journey South will appeal to those that have an interest in travel stories, those that are interested
in walking and hiking and those that enjoy reading about Africa and the Camino Santiago. This is one of the finest examples of travel literature in a long time!
Melanie Barton is fiction category manager at Angus & Robertson
This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker
The book is published by Random House and is widely available in Australian book stores. However, it has not yet been sold to an overseas publisher, so for those of you living overseas who wish to purchase, you can do so by ordering from Gleebooks in Sydney, who will deliver globally.
I loved writing it…
I hope you enjoy it.