Books by Carole Susan Smith

After a rocky start in life, Jane Bonneville thought she had everything sorted. A gorgeous husband and a safe, loving and stable home for their children. Totally opposite to her own childhood. It was all going rather well until her world turned upside down one Friday in March?

Whether you are applying for a job or in conversation with someone new, you will probably be asked about your hobbies and interests. Having penned two books about travelling and work, I thought I should complete the trilogy by confessing to some of the slightly odd things I have done for fun.These include cycling, which didn't end well: "What was intended to be a stylish wheelie manoeuvre across the loose gravel turned into more of a flying circus demonstration."You will also discover much about outdoor exploits, including caving, climbing, and long-distance walking.Travelling for pleasure has its tribulations, too. When the receptionist of the Italian motoring organisation exclaimed, 'Pronto! Pronto!' our friend responded, 'I'm going as fast as possible!' As the tension levels rose higher and higher, it soon became evident that pronto means hello!Here, you will have another opportunity to read a light-hearted book about all the things I forgot to tell you in TravelWorks and HomeWorks!

Carole's first book took the reader to Yekaterinburg, Gaza City, Goteborg and Taipei, with various other destinations in between. Whilst Southampton, Manchester, Glasgow, and Leeds are not as obviously exotic, you may be surprised by some of her adventures nearer to home. In HomeWorks, her selection of new tales about life, work and travelling around the UK span the late 1960's through to twenty-first century. As you accompany Carole on her journeys, you will discover why packing a torch on a business trip can get you into trouble and how a jacuzzi makes a good meeting room. Spending time with oil executives speaking six different languages poses no problems for her, but trying to understand their technical language does. You may wonder why ninety men were determined to address her as Your Majesty or how come she was standing on a desk quoting Middle English. Her excuse is that she's never been afraid to try something different but you will have to read the whole book to make sense of this!

From the age of nineteen Carole decided that travelling to other countries was a lot of fun. She realised that she would need time and money to do more of this. Discovering that the nine-to-five life was definitely not for her, she decided to look for jobs that paid her to travel while working. Some of her travels have been to places that others might not choose for a holiday or even a short break. Some places, such as Siberia in mid-winter and the Middle East in the height of summer, were encountered in the least propitious seasons. Her fascinating adventures over the last forty years reflect changes in politics and society as well as in travel itself. This book of stories, diaries and reflections is for fellow travellers and armchair travellers alike who will appreciate that travel is education and entertainment wrapped up in a colourful package.