World Travellers: Author Jackie Lambert Of World Wide Walkies

The latest World Traveller on Don’t Stop Living is Jackie Lambert, a fellow author and a global tourist like myself. Jackie comes from Blackburn  in Lancashire, which I visited in 2004 to watch AFC Bournemouth away at Blackburn Rovers (we won 10-9!).

Who are you?

I’m Jacqueline (Jackie) Lambert, award-winning travel humour writer, full-time nomad, and dogmother.

Where are you from?

I was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, a former cotton milling town in the north-west corner of England.

Blackburn’s other famous sons are fell walker and guidebook author, Alfred Wainwright, and World Superbike Champ, Carl Fogarty. I’m sure Carl often repeats his claim to fame that he used to live across the road from me!

Where have you been?

Adventure travel has been my passion since I accidentally rafted the Zambezi in 1994. I thought I was going for a float down the river on a barn door, looking at elephants. In the end, I spent six days tackling some of the biggest white water in the world, sleeping under the stars, while watching out for crocodiles and hippos, the most dangerous animals in Africa.

Then, I went on safari, did ‘The Flight of the Angels’ over Victoria Falls in a microlight, and what was then the world’s highest bungee jump – 111 metres off the Victoria Falls Bridge in Zambia. The trip fully awoke my inner adrenaline addict!

Since then, I have done stupid things, such as the second highest bungee jump in the world, jousting, and tiger cuddling, on every continent except Antarctica. To date, I’ve visited over 50 countries.

My husband, Mark, and I quit our jobs in 2016 and set off to tour Europe full time in a caravan (RV trailer) with our four dogs. In 2020, when Brexit (Britain’s exit from the European Union) became inevitable, which would limit how long we could stay in Europe, we purchased The Beast, a 6×4-wheel-drive army truck, blind of the internet to convert into a home-on-wheels fit to overland to Mongolia.

We’ve been at large in The Beast since July 2021. Our trip to Mongolia is on hold because of Putin’s ‘special operation’ in Ukraine, and instability in other countries we would need to pass through to get there. However, we have taken The Beast around the Balkans, including Albania, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Romania and Bulgaria.

Where are you now?

I’m currently in the UK, visiting friends and family, sorting out inter-trip admin, and doing my 90 days out of Schengen to reset my allowance for this year’s travels.

What are the top 3 places you’ve visited?

My favourite European country is Romania. We almost didn’t go, because we were told we would be robbed, scammed, kidnapped by gypsies, eaten by bears, or attacked by wild dogs and wolves, if we managed to avoid the floods, riots – and, of course, those vampires…

Yet what we found was Europe’s largest untouched wilderness, replete with outstanding historical sites, and filled with the kindest, most welcoming people you could ever wish to meet.

Artists, such as Pablo Picasso, had their ‘blue’ and ‘rose’ periods. The Zambezi kicked off what I like to call my ‘Whitewater Rafting Period’, during which I tackled some of the world’s most demanding rivers, in Nepal and Australia, to name a few. It led me to go on an exploratory expedition in Ecuador, bagging three first descents. To finish the holiday, I visited the Galapagos Islands. Every day, I swam with sea lions off the back of our little boat, Yate Daphne, and explored outlandish volcanic landscapes with black, pink, and olive-green beaches. I watched dolphins, a pilot whale, and saw the ocean light up with phosphorescence. The wildlife and natural beauty blew me away to such an extent that I was grief stricken when I left!

For my 50th birthday, Mark took me on a wave windsurfing course on Maui, Hawai’i. For windsurfers, the north shore of Maui is like Mecca, and Ant Baker, one of Britain’s most successful competitive windsurfers, coached us. While we were there, the Aloha Classic World Championship was in full swing. Besides giving us amazing tuition, Ant introduced us to all our heroes. Professional riders we’d only ever seen in magazines. We rode waves in the shadow of two volcanoes, with rainbows and breeching whales as a backdrop. When the wind didn’t blow, we explored The Green Isle, and I experienced ‘aloha’.

You might be familiar with ‘aloha’ as a greeting. A way to say ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’, but it is much more than that. To the Polynesians, aloha is a state of being. One that encompasses great love, respect for all things around you, and an intimate bond with your history and lineage. This ‘Aloha Spirit’ – a philosophy of kindness, compassion, and sharing – is so integral to the Hawai’ian way of life that, informally, ‘The Aloha State’ accepts it as law.

In Maui, I fell deeply in love with more than just the location. I experienced a profound connection with the beauty of the land and its people.

What is the best travel experience you’ve had?

I have to say the six-day, 60 km descent of the Zambezi between Victoria Falls and Kariba in Zimbabwe, because it changed my life.

I slept under the twinkling canopy of stars each night on beaches that lined the riverbank. If I opened my eyes, I saw the Southern Cross and the Milky Way swathed across the sky. With no light pollution to diminish their majesty, it helped me understand why ancient peoples chose to worship the be-jewelled heavens.

The secret stretch of the river that we ran was protected by the black, basalt cliffs of the Batoka Gorge, which towered hundreds of feet high on either side. The only way to navigate the chasm is via the raging waters of the mighty Zambezi. So, to most people, it is as remote and inaccessible as the moon. I feel so privileged to have been there.

Somewhere between the natural beauty, the simplicity of having only two sets of clothing (wet and dry), and the adrenaline of ‘serious down time’ under some of the planet’s most massive rapids, I discovered that for me, the path to true happiness lies in doing stuff, not owning stuff.

What is the worst travel experience you’ve had?

There have been a few. The most recent was when we departed in Caravan Kismet (‘Fate’) on our trip of a lifetime. On departure day, packing our life into a box on wheels took longer than we thought, so we set off later than planned and had to drive our new 7-metre caravan through the rush hour.

Within thirty minutes of collecting Kismet, we had a near death experience. An articulated lorry carrying a wide load swung recklessly around a blind bend on a narrow lane. He was across the centre line and I still don’t know how he missed us. His cargo was the height of irony. It would have been too ridiculous (but typical of our lives) if a static caravan had taken us out.

We squared off Kismet’s front ‘jockey wheel’ getting into the campsite, and realised we had forgotten to pack any food, and more importantly, wine. We discovered a Chinese takeaway and at 10 p.m., christened our pristine new shower with the four dogs, who had all rolled in fox poo.

I was so tired I wanted to cry, sitting in a caravan that stank of fox poo, the minty shower gel we’d used to try to remove it and disguise the stench, overlaid with Chinese food.

It was not how I expected to feel on my first day of Livin’ the Dream!

What’s the scariest travel experience you’ve had?

Again, there have been a few, but the most sustained terrifying experience was the final five hours we spent on the Sedlo Pass in Montenegro with The Beast.

Mostly, the pass is gorgeous, winding through lush meadows and dramatic limestone peaks. But the final section, approaching the Hum border crossing with Bosnia and Herzegovina, looks like the road planners got drunk and fired a can of silly string at a cliff face, then determined, “We’ll build the road there!”

We had to shuffle our 10 m length around hairpin bends, with a 1000 m drop as motivation not to get it wrong. There were tunnels with hairpin bends inside them, which we had to hope were tall enough to accommodate The Beast’s 3.85 m tall majesty. The gradient was so steep that our brakes overheated and started to smoke. With no laybys to pull over, we had to find a straight section, face The Beast’s nose into the rock wall, and put boulders under her tyres to make sure she didn’t roll away while we waited an hour for her brakes to cool down.

Once down, our relief at surviving Sedlo was short-lived.

We passed through the Hum border to face a bridge over a gorge that was constructed from matchsticks and string. It looked like it would collapse if a butterfly landed on it. There was nowhere to turn around. We had crossed the border, and the guards didn’t seem perturbed by our size. Since it was a border crossing, we had to presume the bridge could support a truck. We took a run at it when there was nothing coming the other way. We didn’t want to stop on the bridge, and we certainly didn’t want to be on it with anyone else.

I could hear the boards cracking beneath our weight.

We’re here to tell the tale, but I have no desire to do any of that again!

What is the most random job you’ve had on your travels?

Thankfully, I have not needed to work to fund my current permanently nomadic lifestyle. Nonetheless, I’ve had a few random jobs – cinema usherette, complete with torch and a tray of Cornettos for the interval, goatherd, and fridge magnate. (I used to sell medical fridges!)

The most random job I’ve had was as a toilet cleaner in the UK’s Lake District. The toilet was so remote, I had to commute there by horse!

How do you fund your travels?

The one piece of financial advice that applies both to paupers and billionaires is that you can’t spend your money twice.

Once it’s blown on one thing, it’s not there to splurge on something else.

The difference with billionaires is that they have plenty more, so their funds don’t deplete. Unlike me.

I’ve always had to make conscious decisions about what I spend and where.

When I worked, I lived to travel, so I had extravagant holidays because it is what gave me the greatest pleasure, but I was frugal with other things. The Zambezi taught me that owning STUFF isn’t what makes me happy, so I’ve never felt the need to have flash cars, the latest tech, or cover myself in bling. There is nothing I could own that would make me any happier than I am.

For 10 years before we retired, Mark and I maintained a log of our spending. It allowed us to see where we could make savings, and when we retired at 50, we knew exactly how much money we needed to fund our lifestyle.

An example of the savings we made was on coffee. We didn’t pay attention to the odd £2 that we spent here and there in a coffee shop, but because we kept a record, we discovered we were spending nearly £100 per month in Costa. That is almost £1200 per year.

If you consciously choose to have a coffee now and again, and it brings you £1200-worth of pleasure, that’s fine. However, we would rather spend it on a trip to Albania!

By managing our money carefully, we paid off our mortgage early, but pretended we still had it. Instead of buying ourselves a bigger house and bigger cars, or going on a spending spree, we downsized, bought two flats, rented one out, and saved. So, when redundancy came unexpectedly and earlier than planned, but we had no debt and some savings.

When we decided to travel full time, we let out our flats and live on the income. At the age of 55 in the UK, you can also withdraw 25% of your private pension tax free. Originally, we thought we might have to find temporary jobs to top up our finances, but so far, we have lived within our means.

What 3 tips would you give a new traveller before they set off on their adventure?

Time is a scarce commodity, so spend it well. However, don’t try to fit in too much. Otherwise, your journey will be all about driving past lots of roses, never enjoying their scent, and missing out on everything else that grows in rose fields.

Be flexible – often the unexpected opportunities yield the best experiences. The joy of travel is discovery, and you never know what you will find on the way. Be free to change your plans based on weather, recommendations, or simply a flight of fancy. Carpe diem – Seize the Day. It will make your travels extraordinary!

Don’t discount your doorstep – as a British citizen, I can’t believe that I saw New Zealand before I saw Scotland. Wild adventures don’t have to involve far-flung destinations. So often, we overlook what is right on our doorstep. I have always thought Britain is a beautiful country. Truthfully, in all my travels, nowhere comes close to the variety of landscapes, culture, and history crammed into so compact an area. I have stood on 6 of the 7 continents, yet my favourite view IN THE WORLD is still the outstanding 360-degree panorama from the top of Hengistbury Head near my adopted home in Christchurch, Dorset. The full sweep takes in Iron Age Ditches, the Isle of Purbeck, Bournemouth beach, Christchurch Harbour & Priory, Mudeford Spit Beach Huts, Hurst Castle and The Needles on the Isle of Wight. 

My bonus tip is to keep a diary. I have done so since 1994. I own very little, but my travel journals are my most treasured possessions.

What are your future travel plans?

We intend to spend our next 90 Schengen days visiting the Baltics: Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Finland. Due to the war with Ukraine, Russia is no longer an option for our mandatory 90 days out of Schengen, so we’ll return to the UK in summer. Then in the Autumn, once our Schengen clock resets, we plan to tour Spain, Portugal, then hop over to Morocco and North Africa for the winter.

Biography:

Jacqueline (Jackie) Lambert is an award-winning travel humour writer, adventure traveller, and dogmother, who loves history and curious facts.

B.C. (Before Canines) she hurtled, splooshed, submerged, slid down, soared above, galloped over, and threw herself off bits of every continent except Antarctica. Despite being single, she sought – and was granted – ‘maternity leave’ to backpack through Fiji, Australia, and New Zealand. Her claim to fame is fire eating on Japanese TV.

A.D. (After Dog), with husband Mark, she gave up work to become an Adventure Caravanner. With The Fab Four, their four pups, their aim was: To Boldly Go Where No Van Has Gone Before. Their caravan has navigated a footpath and crossed two cornfields, and joined The Mile High Club when they traversed the Carpathian Mountains on Jeremy Clarkson’s favourite road,

Jackie has published six light-hearted memoirs about her travels since quitting work:

• Fur Babies in France – From Wage Slaves to Living The Dream
• Dog on the Rhine (Germany, Czechia, Slovenia, Austria, Croatia, Italy)
• Dogs ‘n’ Dracula (Romania)
• It Never Rains But It Paws (France & Italy)
• To Hel In A Hound Cart (Poland, Germany, Czechia)
• Pups on Piste – A Ski Season in Italy

All have received multiple five-star reviews and have been lauded as ‘Laugh Out Loud Funny’ and ‘Armchair Travel Delight’. Dogs ‘n’ Dracula won the Chill With A Book PREMIER Readers’ Award, and was runner up in the Romania Insider Awards for ‘Best Promotion of Romania Abroad’.

Her forthcoming Wayward Truck series will chronicle her Brexit-busting plan to convert a 24.5-tonne army truck to drive to Mongolia.

A keen off piste skier and windsurfer, Jackie is the wordsmith behind her own travel blog, www.WorldWideWalkies.com, where you will find advice and tips, as well as stories from her travels.

She has contributed pieces to several travel anthologies, including her experiences on the Zambezi and Galapagos Islands, and has also written articles and guest posts for blogs and publications such as Eurotunnel Le Shuttle Newsletter and Dog Friendly Magazine.

Her books are available free on Kindle Unlimited. Follow this link to find them on your local Amazon store: https://author.to/JLambert

 

Contact:

• Follow my blog: WorldWideWalkies.com
• Follow me on Amazon: to/JLambert
• Follow me on Goodreads: goodreads.com/author/show/18672478.Jacqueline_Lambert
• Follow me on BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/jacqueline-lambert
• Like me on Facebook: facebook.com/JacquelineLambertAuthor

Thanks to Jackie for being the latest in my series of World Travellers! If you travel the world and run a travel blog or are a travel writer, please get in touch, you can be featured , either e-mail jonny (at) dontstopliving (dot) net or head to my contacts page and get connected! You can also subscribe to Don’t Stop Living by filling in the form below! Safe travels!