The true story of how one married couple made an impulse purchase blind off the internet: a 24.5-tonne vintage army truck. Their plan: to convert into a unique off-grid tiny home on wheels ready for an expedition to Mongolia.
Building the Beast:
How (Not) To Build An Overland Camper
The Wayward Truck Book 1
by Jacqueline Lambert
Genre: Comedic Travel Memoir, Nonfiction
Featuring ‘The Beast’, an expedition truck, as seen on TV*
A Vintage Truck: An Amateur Team: An Immovable Deadline
The Comic Memoir of a Crazy Idea
In this captivating true story, join an intrepid married couple as they take another wild leap into the world of nomadic living.
Four years previously, Jackie and Mark gave up work to embark on a permanent road trip with four dogs. However, one Friday the 13th, forces beyond their control cause them to throw caution to the wind and buy a 30-year-old army truck sight unseen from the internet.
Their goal: to create an expedition truck fit to drive overland to Mongolia.
Follow them as they dive headfirst into the daunting but thrilling task of converting this rugged vehicle into a perfect off-grid tiny house on wheels.
Yet their first ever DIY van conversion proves to be a rollercoaster ride, when they sell their house to fund the build, and Friday the 13th comes back to haunt them.
Is their confidence that, ‘there’s always a solution,’ misplaced?
With their relationship, sanity, and finances on the line, can they navigate the pitfalls of their first-ever build and avoid becoming homeless?
Filled with quirky van life friends and unexpected twists, this is an inspiring tale of perseverance, friendship, and finding the courage to conquer the challenges that face those who dare to chase their dreams.
GUEST POST
I was born and spent my early years in
Blackburn, Lancashire, an industrial town in the rather damp north west corner
of England. World Superbike champion, Carl Fogarty, grew up in the house
opposite. I’m sure he often repeats his claim to fame that he sat on a swing
with me when we were both aged nine.
Blackburn is not pretty, but has incredible
natural beauty on its doorstep. It’s a short hop from the Forest of Bowland,
the Pennines, and three national parks: the Yorkshire Dales, the Peak District,
and the Lake District.
My Dad was a keen mountaineer, who
instilled within me a great love of the outdoors. We spent many weekends and
every school holiday in a remote Lake District cottage, scaling some of
guidebook writer Alfred Wainwright’s favourite summits. (Wainwright was another
of Blackburn’s famous sons!)
It was there we met Bob Orrell: author, TV
presenter, and smallholder. He moved in next door when I was in my early teens.
Bob has written several books about his
amazing life. Saddle Tramp in the Lake District, documented his journey
following ancient pack pony routes with a brace of fell ponies, Thor and Lucy.
Fell ponies are one of the nine native British pony breeds, and a favourite of
the late Queen Elizabeth II.
As it happens, Thor and Lucy had a profound
effect on my literary career!
Aged 14, Bob took me and a couple of other
young lasses on a four-day trek across the Lake District along old pack pony
routes. The plan was for me to ride Thor, who was solid and dependable. His
summer coat was shiny black, and he was built like a mini carthorse, with
shaggy hair or ‘feathers’ on his heels. His rump and back were as wide and flat
as a table. Sometimes, I would lie on him and sunbathe!
In the honeyed golden hour of many a summer
evening, I would stand for hours with my arms draped along the top of his field
gate. Thor would clop over slowly and rest his head in my embrace. Often, I
would feel him release a deep sigh of contentment, or nuzzle his whiskery
muzzle into my neck.
It was love.
Unfortunately, at the last minute, the
promise of a loan pony for Bob fell through. This meant Thor became Bob’s
mount, and against my will, I was forced to ride Lucy on our trek. Besides
being much more lightly built, Lucy was a bit of a handful. On Bob's original
quest, Lucy had been led, bearing the pack saddle.
There is a saying, “A hundred falls make a
rider.” Lucy contributed generously to my total. On every practise outing, she
threw me, and on the first morning of our expedition, on the way back from
collecting her from her field, she launched me over her head. I swear she was
grinning haughtily at me down her slightly Roman nose as she contemplated me
sitting squarely on my backside in the middle of a freezing stream!
After subjecting me to this humiliation, I
think Lucy felt she had asserted her dominance. Thankfully, she and I arrived
at an uneasy truce. Since we had to navigate steep mountain passes together,
this was just as well, although Lucy certainly added extra colour to what was
already a wonderful adventure.
Each evening, after we’d set up camp, Bob
encouraged us to write about our experiences. Then, he entered our scribblings
– my first ever memoir – into a national competition open to all age groups.
I’m very proud to say, I won second prize!
It was my initial foray into keeping a
travel journal, which has since become a lifelong ritual. These diaries led to
my blog, which I ultimately honed into a manuscript for my debut travel memoir,
Fur Babies in France.
Fur Babies
follows what happened when my husband, Mark and I quit our jobs, accidentally
bought our first ever caravan (RV trailer), then decided to rent out the house,
sell most of our possessions, and tour Europe full time with our four dogs.
Since then, I’ve published six light
hearted travelogues in my Adventure Caravanning With Dogs Series. They
have all received multiple five-star reviews, been category bestsellers on
Amazon, and my third book, Dogs ‘n’ Dracula, won a Chill With A Book
PREMIER Readers’ Award, and was a finalist in the Romania Insider Awards. The
British Ambassador to Romania and Prince Charles (now King Charles III), who
has a special connection with Romania, both have a copy!
Currently, I’m just launching volume seven,
Building The Beast, which documents how we upgraded our caravan to a
6x4-wheel drive 24.5-tonne army truck we bought sight unseen from the internet
to convert into an off-grid tiny home on wheels.
Thank you Bob, Thor, and Lucy.
Without
you, this might never have happened!
* The Beast made a guest appearance on Ben Fogle’s New Lives In The
Wild
ARC Reviews:
“An honest and often funny account of the realities of when people actually
begin to live their dream.” Anna Rashbrook, Author
“A page-turner!…You never know what will happen next!” Carrie Riseley,
Author
“The trials and tribulations of building a home on six wheels, told with
laughter and insight… a must read – even if it’s just to stop you
making the same mistakes!” Maximilian Sam, Award-Winning Author
“This book is a fantastic look at designing a unique project and
going for it with humor and perseverance. If one is tired of another ‘chucking
it all and renovating an old house’ story, this is a quixotic twist that
will keep you entertained.” Kari Iverson Lane
“Hugely inspirational, because I think many would have just given up trying,
with all the things they had to put in place to get their dream of owning and
converting The Beast off the ground. What a story – and a fabulously
entertaining book/read.” Julie Haigh, Goodreads Librarian and Top 1,000
Amazon reviewer.
**Get it for Only .99
cents!**
Book Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CZJWR6C4
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/210578663-building-the-beast
Tour the Beast:
About the Author
Jacqueline (Jackie) Lambert is an
award-winning travel writer, adventure traveller, and dogmother, who loves
history and curious facts.
BC (Before Canines) she rafted,
rock-climbed, and backpacked around six of the seven continents. A passionate
windsurfer and skier, she can fly a plane, has been bitten by a lion, and
appeared on Japanese TV as a fire-eater.
AD (After Dog), she quit work in 2016 to hit
the road permanently with her husband and four pooches. Initially, they were
Adventure Caravanners, who aimed To Boldly Go Where No Van Has Gone Before.
Now, they’re at large in a self-converted
six-wheel army lorry, with Mongolia in their sights.
All her books and the anthologies that
include her travel stories are available on Amazon:
Photo: Mark, Jackie & The Fab Four
with The Beast. Photo courtesy of @Liveration, who made a short film about the
crew and their lifestyle on YouTube.
Website * Blog * Facebook * X * Instagram * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads
Author
Links
Website: https://jacquelinelambert.co.uk/
Blog: https://worldwidewalkies.blog/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JacquelineLambertAuthor
X: https://twitter.com/JLambertAuthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/worldwidewalkies/
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/jacqueline-lambert
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jacqueline-Lambert/author/B07L4ZK1CL
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18672478.Jacqueline_Lambert
Giveaway
$10 Amazon
Follow
the tour HERE
for special content and a giveaway!
This looks like a cute kids book. I'm happy to help the author share.
ReplyDeleteThe cover is so super cute.
ReplyDeleteThis story sounds entertaining. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete