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The Long and Whining Road
London Book Festival Grand Prize Winner 2012
A man and a van, a wife and three kids, and their round-the-world road trip as the world's worst Beatles tribute band.
‘I’d convinced her we should travel the world. She imagined posh flights and swanky hotels. Then I said the three words every girl longs to Volkswagen camper van.’
This frank and funny true story of a 'family gap year' like no other shows how the passing comment of a bored 9-year-old can snowball into an absurd expedition into strange lands, financial peril and some distinctly unsavoury living arrangements. With Strawberry Fields New York in their sights, the Beatnik Beatles inadvertently gatecrash an Italian wedding, suffer brutal torture at the hands of a Turkish masseur, appear in a Bollywood film and trust their entire journey across Australia to the whim of an army of online-blog followers - and all to a Lennon & McCartney soundtrack, played badly on instruments bought on eBay.
Got a taste for adventurous travel? Ever felt the peril of performing in public? Tried to entertain children on a very, very long car journey? Great! Do you want to join a band?
‘It’s a dirty story of a dirty man.’
Paul McCartney
‘Please stop calling us.’
The Times Literary Supplement
‘We do not condone absenteeism on this scale.’
Oxfordshire Education Authority
(From Amazon.co.uk)
A man and a van, a wife and three kids, and their round-the-world road trip as the world's worst Beatles tribute band.
‘I’d convinced her we should travel the world. She imagined posh flights and swanky hotels. Then I said the three words every girl longs to Volkswagen camper van.’
This frank and funny true story of a 'family gap year' like no other shows how the passing comment of a bored 9-year-old can snowball into an absurd expedition into strange lands, financial peril and some distinctly unsavoury living arrangements. With Strawberry Fields New York in their sights, the Beatnik Beatles inadvertently gatecrash an Italian wedding, suffer brutal torture at the hands of a Turkish masseur, appear in a Bollywood film and trust their entire journey across Australia to the whim of an army of online-blog followers - and all to a Lennon & McCartney soundtrack, played badly on instruments bought on eBay.
Got a taste for adventurous travel? Ever felt the peril of performing in public? Tried to entertain children on a very, very long car journey? Great! Do you want to join a band?
‘It’s a dirty story of a dirty man.’
Paul McCartney
‘Please stop calling us.’
The Times Literary Supplement
‘We do not condone absenteeism on this scale.’
Oxfordshire Education Authority
(From Amazon.co.uk)
- GenresTravel
400 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2012
21 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 6, 2021
Spending a year in a van with misses and 3kids, must be mad
Having also got a VW T3 and spent many happy days and weeks travelling with the misses and 2kids, the thought of driving around the world fills me with fear. Maybe once the kids are older and just me and misses. But what a fantastic adventure that you and kids will remember and tell if the experiences for years to come.
I'd recommend anyone thinking of travelling to read this and then just pack your van and see where you end up.
Having also got a VW T3 and spent many happy days and weeks travelling with the misses and 2kids, the thought of driving around the world fills me with fear. Maybe once the kids are older and just me and misses. But what a fantastic adventure that you and kids will remember and tell if the experiences for years to come.
I'd recommend anyone thinking of travelling to read this and then just pack your van and see where you end up.
January 8, 2023
Having a VW T6 campervan I really wanted to read this book as recommended by a fellow Dubber. I am so glad I did, one of the best books I've ever read - and I've read a LOT of books.
It will made you laugh out loud at the families adventures, their ups and downs but it also made me want to do it!
I loved this book so much that I cried when I finished it, I just wanted more.
Best advice to give, whether you have a campervan or not, is to read it.
It will made you laugh out loud at the families adventures, their ups and downs but it also made me want to do it!
I loved this book so much that I cried when I finished it, I just wanted more.
Best advice to give, whether you have a campervan or not, is to read it.
May 17, 2017
Ever wanted to take a year off and travel the world? Yes, me as well. And like the author of this book I did it, also with my family. But, there the similarity ends. We certainly didn't squeeze 5 of us into an ageing VW camper van. And, that's what makes this story great. The trails and tribulations of a family squeezed into a very enclosed (slow moving) space and encountering many new and different cultures. Finding the good (and bad) in this race that we call human.
They had to make some tough decisions to drop certain countries from the schedule as circumstances ate into their time and/or finances. They encountered nations on the verge of great political upheaval and also those countries that thrive on greed and corruption. This book is highly entertaining and informative. It gives you some idea of what to expect in certain countries and also acts as a pretty good and informative guide as to what to see in certain countries (time and finances permitting). These trips are life affirming and life changing. (We no longer live in the UK!). Enjoy this book, I know I did.
They had to make some tough decisions to drop certain countries from the schedule as circumstances ate into their time and/or finances. They encountered nations on the verge of great political upheaval and also those countries that thrive on greed and corruption. This book is highly entertaining and informative. It gives you some idea of what to expect in certain countries and also acts as a pretty good and informative guide as to what to see in certain countries (time and finances permitting). These trips are life affirming and life changing. (We no longer live in the UK!). Enjoy this book, I know I did.
February 23, 2019
Fascinating stuff!
I really enjoyed this book and could identify with the author and his family. It is well-written and interesting - his mum obviously made a good job of subbing it...
I really enjoyed this book and could identify with the author and his family. It is well-written and interesting - his mum obviously made a good job of subbing it...
January 26, 2017
Funny entertaining
Really enjoyed the book. Light easy reading. It would make you want to go do your own adventure.Someday I may.
Really enjoyed the book. Light easy reading. It would make you want to go do your own adventure.Someday I may.
September 25, 2017
Very entertaining
Well written account of family global travel and really humours along the way. Makes you want to buy a camper and discover the world!
Well written account of family global travel and really humours along the way. Makes you want to buy a camper and discover the world!
February 18, 2018
I want to do this!
Brilliant read, loved reading about a family who had the balls to do it! Wish we could pluck up the courage!
Brilliant read, loved reading about a family who had the balls to do it! Wish we could pluck up the courage!
June 29, 2014
The Long and Whining Road is about one of the craziest road trips you can possibly imagine. Simeon Courtie and his wife, along with their three children, took one year to circumnavigate the globe…in a VW camper van! By the end of their journey they had driven over 18,000 miles, visited 17 countries, and sung sounds by The Beatles in most of them to raise money for UNICEF. This is the story of the many amazing places they visited and the great people they met along the way.
I hate to say this because I think it’s one of those cases where I’m the problem, not the book. However, the first half of this book really dragged by for me. I felt like there were far more vivid sensory descriptions of their later stops, starting in India. The first half was an occasionally funny, but mostly dry and factual account of what the family did. At the same time, I was stressing about a presentation and feeling overwhelmed by my book review schedule, so it’s possible my experience of the second half of the book is a more accurate representation.
I first started to feel connected to the family and like I was sharing their experiences when they reached India. There were beautiful place descriptions and fun travel stories, but also some grappling with tough decisions when their itinerary had to change. Even tougher were the social issues they had to confront during their travels, a very enlightening and moving thing to read about. The humorous bits of the book included pop culture references which I typically liked, some breaking of the fourth wall which I typically didn’t, and some dry humor which was funny but rarely so much so that I laughed out loud. At the end of the day, I think I’d recommend this most to people who like a very dry, sarcastic sense of humor and/or fans of travel memoirs with a humanitarian side.
This review first published on Doing Dewey.
I hate to say this because I think it’s one of those cases where I’m the problem, not the book. However, the first half of this book really dragged by for me. I felt like there were far more vivid sensory descriptions of their later stops, starting in India. The first half was an occasionally funny, but mostly dry and factual account of what the family did. At the same time, I was stressing about a presentation and feeling overwhelmed by my book review schedule, so it’s possible my experience of the second half of the book is a more accurate representation.
I first started to feel connected to the family and like I was sharing their experiences when they reached India. There were beautiful place descriptions and fun travel stories, but also some grappling with tough decisions when their itinerary had to change. Even tougher were the social issues they had to confront during their travels, a very enlightening and moving thing to read about. The humorous bits of the book included pop culture references which I typically liked, some breaking of the fourth wall which I typically didn’t, and some dry humor which was funny but rarely so much so that I laughed out loud. At the end of the day, I think I’d recommend this most to people who like a very dry, sarcastic sense of humor and/or fans of travel memoirs with a humanitarian side.
This review first published on Doing Dewey.
August 29, 2013
This book was recently entered in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. This is what our readers thought:
Cover - All 16 of the readers thought your cover was excellent and very eye-catching. They loved the quote from Oxfordshire Education Authority!
Layout - Excellent; no problems and the readers loved the font and the wonderful pictures.
STYLE/PLOT - The readers described your book in the following way:
"Very enjoyable read; educational too."
"He(the author) has a lot of energy in his writing."
"The best bit is how funny it is, particularly p48. I couldn't stop laughing."
"This is a simple. almost comforting style to his writing intermingled with strong humour and an eye for detail. Very enjoyable."
STATS
Of the 16 readers,
15 thoroughly enjoyed your book.
1 enjoyed it with a few reservations.
16 thought the cover was excellent.
10 felt there was a nice, easy flow to the book.
14 thought your ability to put across humour was your strongest point
Everybody thought Penny was the best character!
"A very enjoyable read, packed full of charming insights and humour. Highly recommended." The Wishing Shelf Awards
Cover - All 16 of the readers thought your cover was excellent and very eye-catching. They loved the quote from Oxfordshire Education Authority!
Layout - Excellent; no problems and the readers loved the font and the wonderful pictures.
STYLE/PLOT - The readers described your book in the following way:
"Very enjoyable read; educational too."
"He(the author) has a lot of energy in his writing."
"The best bit is how funny it is, particularly p48. I couldn't stop laughing."
"This is a simple. almost comforting style to his writing intermingled with strong humour and an eye for detail. Very enjoyable."
STATS
Of the 16 readers,
15 thoroughly enjoyed your book.
1 enjoyed it with a few reservations.
16 thought the cover was excellent.
10 felt there was a nice, easy flow to the book.
14 thought your ability to put across humour was your strongest point
Everybody thought Penny was the best character!
"A very enjoyable read, packed full of charming insights and humour. Highly recommended." The Wishing Shelf Awards
December 23, 2013
Simeon Courtie, lifelong Beatles fan, found a unique way to leverage his love of music with his family’s dream of traveling the world. But not with “posh flights and swanky hotels,” he opines in the opening chapter. No, the Courtie family would globetrot in style in a…
Volkswagen camper van fondly dubbed “Penny.”
Yes, here begins the distinction between being a traveler and being a tourist. After all, tourists do not crash wedding rehearsals in Piacenza, Italy. Tourists don’t change punctured tires in dark autostrade tunnels. They don’t sleep in Turkish attics, participate in Bollywood films or explore the Dharavi slum. They don’t usually assimilate into the very fabric of the host culture.
...read more at UndergroundBookReviews(dot)com
Volkswagen camper van fondly dubbed “Penny.”
Yes, here begins the distinction between being a traveler and being a tourist. After all, tourists do not crash wedding rehearsals in Piacenza, Italy. Tourists don’t change punctured tires in dark autostrade tunnels. They don’t sleep in Turkish attics, participate in Bollywood films or explore the Dharavi slum. They don’t usually assimilate into the very fabric of the host culture.
...read more at UndergroundBookReviews(dot)com
March 8, 2013
If you harbour any secret desires to pack your bags and explore the World be carful with this book, it'll have you buying a campervan and heading out the front door if you are not careful.
September 2, 2013
Super stuff
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews