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The Travel Bog Diaries: One Woman's hilarious confessions of surviving family travel Paperback – 2 June 2023
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Meet Liz. Mother of two teenage kids and wife of Brian.
Faced with midlife & realising that unless she gets her skates on, she'll never get to live out her fantasy of travelling the world with her family (and be like that woman from Eat, Pray Love), Liz plans a year-long globetrotting trip.
Annoyingly, things don't quite go as expected.
This is probably because Liz is slightly deluded & chooses to ignore the fact that her husband has acid reflux & can't eat anything foreign, & her teenage children would rather scroll funny Snapchat videos than look at old things in Europe.
From an ill-fated yoga class in India, ancient ruin humiliation in Italy, to getting sloshed at a charity festival in rural England, Liz’s endless mishaps and hysterical far-flung flops make for an unforgettable experience that no family could ever forget.
Even if they wanted to.
Armed with humour, optimism, & three pairs of comfy high-waisted travel knickers, this feel-good hilarious pee-your-pants, laugh-out-loud memoir will have you changing your life and racing to book your next adventure.
Prepare to laugh, cry & curl your toes while learning that despite parenting fails, family, love, and laughter always triumph over looking cool for the gram.
Clench those buttocks, fellow traveller. We're off on a (real) family vacation...!
What readers are saying:
"…brilliantly entertaining writing…read it all in one sitting..."
"... Bridget Jones crossed with Eat, Pray, Love...a wickedly funny delight!..."
"...one of the most hilarious books for women I have ever read! Superb!..."
“…I snorted with laughter, Liz is genuinely hilarious…”
"...A hilariously funny reassuring book for every mom or dad..."
“…everything you could want in a travel memoir and more…”
“…inspiring, funny, cringe-worthy & heartwarming , often all at the same time. Fabulous…”
“…I laughed out loud throughout…British humour at it's best...”
"...Relatable, hilarious, funny stories: everything from being a wife, motherhood to family travel...LOVED IT!"
Excerpt from the Introduction of The Travel Bog Diaries:
"I was always desperate to be a yummy mummy. A yommy mommy.
One of those parents who jogged effortlessly through the park wearing lip-gloss and a baseball cap. Pushing a baby in a three-wheeler pram. Never getting the wheels stuck in a drain. Never leaking urine from her pelvic floor
But sadly, it seemed the mummy fairy had me pegged for different things.
**
There are lots of other things in life I assumed I’d never be able to do. Giving birth twice without going to a hospital. (Yes.)
Homeschooling my kids instead of sending them to school. (Yes.)
Getting on the front page of Home and Garden. (As if.)
Travelling the world for a year with two teenagers and a husband with an acid reflux problem. (Yes.)
I know. I still can’t believe I’m talking about myself when I say that out loud
You see ...
Up until a few years ago, I believed that people like us, like me and you, don’t do things like travel the world. No.
People like us sit on the toilet scrolling Pinterest. Wishing we owned an outdoor pizza oven & a pergola with fairy lights.
People like us don’t leave the nine to five day job & go around the world for a year. They just DON’T. The END.
Do they?
Yes. Apparently, they do.
After years spent devouring Instagram posts about families who went on exotic vacations for a really long time, I finally did the same. Me & my family. We travelled the world.
We left our house, car, clothes, the kids’ friends, school work, and our nervous dog & swapped it for three hundred and sixty-five glorious (mostly glorious) days trotting around the world.
And THIS is the TRUE story of what it all looked like...
- Print length252 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication date2 June 2023
- Dimensions15.24 x 1.6 x 22.86 cm
- ISBN-101738592006
- ISBN-13978-1738592005
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Product details
- Publisher : Liz Deacle (2 June 2023)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 252 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1738592006
- ISBN-13 : 978-1738592005
- Dimensions : 15.24 x 1.6 x 22.86 cm
- Best Sellers Rank: 62,166 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 73 in Family Travel (Books)
- 2,923 in Humour (Books)
- 8,413 in Crafts, Hobbies & Home (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Because she wanted to get out of the burger-van she was working in and could no longer stand the rain, Liz persuaded her husband and two young kids to swap England for the beautiful vistas of New Zealand.
Within a year of living in New Zealand, Liz and her husband fulfilled one of their long-awaited dreams; they built their own home. The couple found a very beautiful (and surprisingly cheap) piece of land on the West Coast of New Zealand's North Island in the region of Taranaki.
The land was adjacent to a mountain. Mt Taranaki.
"How picturesque," said Liz. Her husband agreed. "Yes," he said. "We got a real bargain with this one".
After signing the loan agreement papers, Liz and Brian discovered that Mt Taranaki is a dormant volcano. And that it will probably blow in the next ten years.
Liz and Brian made sure to install very strong windows into their new house that they'd built on the cheap-but-beautiful land.
They also bought plenty of wine, just in case.
After homeschooling her two kids for eight years, Liz and her husband, Brian, took their teenage kids on a year-long backpacking trip around the world. Think of this as a midlife crisis but without a red sports car. And two massive teenagers that were always hungry.
While trotting around the globe, Liz decided to start a travel blog. She didn't make much money, but she did discover a hidden passion for storytelling. Liz quickly built a loyal audience through her engaging emails and blog posts, and when she returned home from her world trip, she made it her mission to change her life and start a business from her new-found love of words.
Five years later, after much slog, tears, wine-guzzling and lots more slog, Liz is now living the life of her dreams (the nice one, not the hot, sweaty panicky one).
Together with Brian, Liz spends long periods travelling, creating content for her popular website "It's a DRAMA!" and running a membership site (NZ AHEAD) which helps people who are moving to NZ.
Liz's YouTube channel, "It's a Drama," has amassed over a million views and thousands of loyal followers, and the popular comedy podcast, which she hosts with her faithful husband, Brian, has over 100,000 downloads ( I know! Bloody incredible…) and is filled with down-to-earth discussions about relationships and travel.
Liz recently published her first book, The Travel Bog Diaries, a refreshingly candid account of her mid-life crisis travel adventure with her family. She hopes that the book becomes a number 1 bestseller and makes her very filthy rich so that she can finally afford a strong roof or, at the very least, a hibernation bunker.
Liz's expertise is stepping out of the box, taking risks and celebrating the imperfections of women. When not creating content or globetrotting, you can find her hiding at the bottom of the garden in New Zealand, enjoying a quiet glass of wine and keeping her ears peeled for the sound of anything rumbly…
**Want more? The sequel to the Travel Bog Diaries "More Travel Bog Diaries" is to be released in October '23!
**Want to listen to Liz narrate her book? The AUDIO book of The Travel Bog Diaries will be released in late June/early July '23!
Customer reviews
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Top reviews
Top reviews from Australia
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I love Liz's unique storytelling style. Her clever use of references adds an extra layer of humour to the already hilarious anecdotes of her and her family traveling the world. Whether she was describing a chaotic experience in transit, or a comical encounter with their local hosts, Liz had a way of painting vivid scenes with her words that left me in stitches.
Beyond the humour and clever references, "The Travel Bog Diaries" also offers valuable insights and reflections on the joys and challenges of traveling the world. Liz's honest and relatable storytelling made me feel like I was traveling with her, experiencing the highs and lows of each destination. It's not just a book for comedy lovers but also for anyone who appreciates the transformative power of travel and the connections we make along the way.
🥝🥝🥝 In WA ❤️
Where can we preorder the next book?
Brilliantly written, it identifies with every woman, wife and mother out there! I was made to feel as though I was actually by the author’s side throughout that wonderful journey. A Hilarious, Truthful, Fabulous book and I do not doubt for one minute.... a box office busting film in the making!!!
Top reviews from other countries

Throughout the book, the family explores over a dozen countries, and each chapter takes readers on a comical tour of the places they visit. Liz's humorous descriptions not only capture the essence of each location but also highlight the funny mishaps and peculiarities they encounter along the way. What sets this book apart is Liz's unique talent for weaving her own doodles into each chapter, adding a personal touch to her narrative.
These doodles not only add visual charm to the book but also serve as a perfect complement to Liz's witty anecdotes. She fearlessly shares embarrassing events and awkward situations, things that most people can relate to but rarely discuss openly. In doing so, she connects with readers on a deeper level, making her an incredibly relatable and lovable author.
Beyond the laughs, "The Travel Bog Diaries" allows readers to glimpse into Liz's inner world. She openly shares her feelings and thoughts about herself, her kids, and her husband. This candidness creates an intimate bond between the writer and the reader, making the book all the more engaging and touching.
Liz's brilliant writing style not only captivates readers but also elicits genuine belly laughs. Her ability to address sensitive and embarrassing topics in such a hilarious and brave manner is truly commendable. It's a refreshing experience to read someone who isn't afraid to be vulnerable and authentic, allowing readers to laugh at their own quirks and insecurities.
In conclusion, "The Travel Bog Diaries" is an amazing and brilliant travel memoir that comes highly recommended for everyone, particularly those who are new to traveling or simply in need of a good laugh. Liz's witty storytelling, her doodles, and her candid expressions of vulnerability make this book a must-read for anyone seeking joy and amusement.
Warning: have tissues ready because you'll find yourself crying with laughter at every turn of the page.

It’s about Liz, her husband, Brian, and their two teenage kids. One day, Liz realizes that her dream of traveling the world with her family won’t happen unless she makes it happen. So they leave behind their home in New Zealand and take off for 365 days. They visit Europe and Asia and the States and so many great places on a shoestring budget. But Liz quickly discovers that her Instagram-worthy travel dreams are not as easy to achieve as she’d hoped. There’s weird Airbnb hosts, ooey gooey train companions, pee-soaked pants, menacing cow farmers, teenage moodiness, lots of walking, and so much more.
Of course, I personally enjoyed the chapter on Thailand because my mom is from there and I giggled the whole way through while I read it. Liz knows how to keep it real and her internal monologue is my favorite throughout the book. I love a funny travel memoir, like ones I’ve read from Bill Bryson and J. Maarten Troost. But Liz Deacle gives them a run for their money hands down. She writes her tushy off and I can’t recommend this book enough if you’re into a laugh out loud true story of travel in all its finest and all its disasters. I gave it 5 hilarious stars.

My favorite chapter was Vietnam and Liz's run in with the sly photo entrepreneur.
My least favorite part was that it left me wanting to read more and your other books are not out yet.
Hurry up and get that Audio book done Liz and Bri.
We are in awe of your greatness Liz, the International Best Selling Author!!!