<p><em>'And then there is the most dangerous risk of all - the risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later.' Randy Komisar</em></p><p>Jackie and Mark were both made redundant in their early 50s. They decided to get a dog - but ended up with four; cuddly Cavapoos Kai, Rosie, Ruby and Lani.</p><p>Then, never having owned a tin box on wheels, they accidentally bought a caravan. They named her &lsquo;Kismet&rsquo; &ndash; which means &lsquo;Fate&rsquo;.</p><p>Half way down the second bottle of CCC (Caravan Celebratory Champagne) they made the perfectly rational decision to go straight from being First-Timers to Full-Timers. Within a month, they had sold most of their possessions on eBay and rented out their apartment to tour in Kismet full time. They called it &lsquo;Early Retirement&rsquo; and set out to Live the Dream by touring Europe with their surfboards on their roof.</p><p>Based on Jackie&rsquo;s travel blog. <u>www.worldwidewalkies.com</u> &lsquo;Fur Babies in France&rsquo; is the true story of their first year on wheels with Kismet and &lsquo;Big Blue&rsquo; &ndash; their trusty tow vehicle (and toy box) - a Hyundai iLoad panel van.<br />
It was a steep learning curve; one that involved lots of breakages and started on Day 1 with a near-death experience! However, Jackie and Mark approach all their mishaps and misadventures with more than a pinch of humour.</p><p>And avoiding the crowds to tour France by the back roads, they finally found what they were looking for; beauty, peace and tranquillity, with a bit of windsurfing thrown in!</p>