A Note from Peg

I'm not going to pretend this is just a travel book, because it isn't. Yes, there's tuk-tuks and temples and the kind of food poisoning you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy. But underneath all of it, it's about the stuff that's more than a little uncomfortable — not having the family you thought you'd have, watching someone you love battle through mental illness at its most severe, starting again from nothing in your forties, and staying married through all of it when, frankly, there were plenty of moments either of us could have walked.

I wrote it because that "starting again" turned into one of the best things that's ever happened to me. I built a whole new career out of nothing — became an awarded TV and radio presenter, interviewed some of the best-known names in the country, had a cameo in a film, spent time in many TV studios and got to travel both for work and for love. But I believe very strongly that if we're happy to shout about the good times, we owe it to people to be just as honest about the bad. So I don't try to tie a neat bow on infertility, or mental illness, or reinvention, because life doesn't tie bows. It just keeps going, and somehow you keep going with it — without ever losing your sense of hope, or your eye for the wonder and the sheer daftness of the world.

So if you've ever packed a bag to outrun something, or stayed when leaving would have been easier, or wondered how you're meant to build a second act in your forties — I think you'll find a bit of yourself in here. Pull up a chair, I'll put the kettle on, and I'll take you on a trip — and you won't have to move, you just sit still.

Peg x