Travelling in a Box

by Mike Wood

Rain, gales and ice blizzards.
Parched, tinder-dry fields.
There are alien invasions, military maneuvers and toxic waste, and all before the Wood family even start their Alpine caravan adventure. Why?
Because it is fun. It is holidays.

Travelling in a Box is about a family and their passion for all things camping and caravanning. As they embark upon a pan-European adventure with their thirty-year-old caravan in tow, will their unbreakable tolerance for ‘fun’ be pushed to new limits?

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 13, 2015

Reviews

[Donatas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really thought this will be a book about traveling through the Alps or towards the Alps. In a caravan. And in a weird way it is and it isn't. The first chapter starts chronologically towards the end of the book. I guess even though it has been done a million times before it is still quite popular way of starting the book where you get a glimpse of what's going to happen and then you jump at the very start of the story. And in this case you really go back at the very beginning. Talking in Kindle terms, even after you read 70 percent of the book you still haven't left for the Alps. What you get is a lot of separate stories of how one family tried to enjoy their holidays with very limited budget. I know there are a lot of people who will feel nostalgic reading about camping back in the early nineties and will see themselves in those stories and maybe even shed a tear but I'm not one of those people. Yes the author has a good sense of humor and it is a well written book but all those early camping stories are endless story of misery. And those holidays in a cheap tent and later on in a simplistic caravan was not a conscious choise rather than the only option in a difficult financial circumstances. Even if I ever wanted to go camping in a caravan after reading this book I really changed my mind. Funny enough I do believe that to some people this book will have the opposite effect. The family built their own precious memories through those holidays but looking from the outside I'm glad I never had to go through that. The author mocks Jeremy Clarkson (famously anti-caravan man) in more than few occasions but in my eyes with this book he actually confirms everything what Clarkson ever said about caravaning. Anyway it's my subjective take. I did appreciated the style of the book and sense of humor but I just struggled to get into this positive free spirit experience of caravan traveling.

[F.G. Laval · Rating 5 out of 5]

I admit that this is not the kind of book that I would normally have picked up from a bookshelf, but I have to say that the cover sold me a story and that story did not disappoint. ‘From England to the Alps in a thirty-year-old caravan, what could possibly go wrong?’ Right from that teaser subtitle, you know that you are going to be in for something special. Wonderfully written and easy to read, the author takes you on a journey, sharing his and his family’s experiences of camping/caravanning which quite frankly might put off the less hardy travellers amongst us! Laced throughout with pithy observations of driving in the UK, aptly called “The Moanicles of Michael” – my particular favourite is no.62. Yes… go and look it up. This is a fun, laugh out loud story that will appeal to anyone, whether or not they are into camping.

[Ros · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tents, caravans and rain

My first read about holidays in a caravan although it starts with tents and I was laughing within a few pages. Don't let my review title put you off this is a good book. It was a quick read to get me though Christmas 2020. I'm going to get the second book now to get me up to 2021.

[Mrs Olga A Danes-Volkov · Rating 5 out of 5]

A super using read

After a weekend where everything went wrong and was stressful, I really wanted a good read. In this book I got it. Mr Wood writes very well and I laughed a lot. All through a sleepless night so that's praise indeed. A good travel book and a good read? Nailed it.

[Mrs S Egerton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant

Very easy read with humour thrown in for good measure. Also some useful travel tips to what sound like amazing places to visit.

[Kevin Grinham · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't finish the book . Having done plenty of camping with my kids when they was younger all the things that go wrong are quite typical . How ever I never moaned as much about as the author did

[robert owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

Great book easy to read very funny in parts made me laugh out loud how true about the British weather

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny parts but as the book went on the humor decreased. I continued reading because I saw it was a series so wanted to give the next book a chance. I will forget this one before I give the second a chance. It turned boring for me and repetitive.