Book Review – Mistakes Were Made by Andy C Wareing
Book Review – Mistakes Were Made by Andy C Wareing
First published, 2020
Mistakes Were Made is a travelogue with a humorous twist. When Andy and his wife Paula, originally from Southport, decide to relocate from the deep south of the United States to Spain, they know there’ll be logistical challenges. Dealing with the sales of their house, cars, furniture (which will surely be too big, bulky and American for Spain), arranging transportation for their dogs, working out where their grown children will go, etc. but what they don’t plan for is the Covid-19 pandemic.
Travelling first to England to visit family, only to be locked down in unforeseen mandatory isolation for fourteen days, collecting an ageing Spanish Mondeo with no air conditioning, and then driving through France and on to Spain, Andy C Wareing takes us through a colourful journey, rich with imagery and humour, and really quite moving at times.
The thing I liked most about this book was the realisation that the dream rarely matches the reality. There’s something very relatable about a person relocating to an area they have known, if only fleetingly, as a sunny spot with tourists and activities, sea air and fun, and then having a crack at living there. Sometimes what appeals to a tourist is mundane, ordinary, and occasionally boring to the point of exhaustion, to the local.
After a move of thousands of miles across the globe, you’d assume they’d last more than a month in Spain. Read the book. You’d be surprised.
