Almanac Books: ‘The One That Got Away: Travelling in the Time of Covid’

 

 

 

 

 

 

The One That Got Away:

Travelling in the Time of Covid

Ken Haley

ISBN: 978-1-925760-85-9

Trade PB (234 x 153) 324pp plus 8pp illustration insert

Publication date: 1 November 2021

RRP: $32.99

 

 

‘A moving and funny chronicle of questing and courage in the age of coronavirus.’

Margaret Simons, author of Cry Me A River  and Penny Wong: Passion and Principle 

 

‘Travel books are often entertaining but Ken Haley’s book is both entertaining and edifying: not many other writers manage that nowadays. He follows in the footsteps of those great adventurers before him … Stevenson, Newby, Chatwin and Bryson.’

Phil Brown, author of The Kowloon Kid and Travels with My Angst.

 

 

 

In 2020, Australian author Ken Haley mapped out an enticing menu of travel destinations, comprising the Caribbean island states for main course, with Central America for dessert. Main course soon turned into obstacle course. Cuba was a breeze, but then the world went into Covid lockdown mode and he had to decide whether to push on. As a pioneer wheelchair traveller, Haley knew exactly what to do. He took the brakes off.

 

After an unplanned detour to Trumpian Florida, he returned to the tropics intent on dividing his time between sun worship, historical exploration and observation of life’s realities for the community of West Indian nations. In a year that wasn’t long on fun, Haley had his share but he also met his quota of hardship and risks – from developing hurricanes to a no-longer-dormant volcano, from robbery to an acute health crisis that had him wondering whether he might have been wiser to buy a one-way ticket in advance.

 

2020 was the year most of us stayed at home. Ken Haley turned an accident of timing into a rollicking, but dangerous adventure. The result is a triumph: a humorous and penetrating insight into a world grappling with an unforeseen calamity and a rare and empathetic travel book.

 

 

Ken Haley is one of Australia’s most widely travelled authors. To date he has visited 143 countries at length. He became a paraplegic in 1991, but as far as Ken is concerned the only difference this has made is that he now observes the world from a sitting position. A Walkley Award-winning journalist, Ken has worked on the foreign desk of The Times, Sunday Times and Observer in London, at the Gulf Daily News in Bahrain and on the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. Ken has also worked at Melbourne’s The Age and as a newspaper sub-editor in Athens, Johannesburg and Windhoek, Namibia and as a university tutor and freelance editor. His previous books are Emails from the Edge: A Journey Through Troubled Times and Europe @ 2.4km/h. He lives in Melbourne, Australia.

 

PRAISE FOR KEN HALEY’S WRITING

 

The One That Got Away: Travelling in the Time of Covid

 

‘He travelled when we couldn’t and shouldn’t, but in doing so Ken Haley had the adventure of a lifetime and he shares it with us in the best travel memoir since Stevenson’s Travels with A Donkey in the Cévennes.  Ken Haley is a writer of infinite jest at times, and there is something a tad Shakespearean about the comic-tragedy of globetrotting under the pall of COVID. Haley also has a wonderful eye for detail and he is a student of history and politics with a keen eye for the absurd. Travel books are often entertaining but Ken Haley’s book is both entertaining and edifying: not many other writers manage that nowadays. He follows in the footsteps of those great adventurers before him … Stevenson, Newby, Chatwin and Bryson.’

 

Phil Brown, author of The Kowloon Kid and Travels with My Angst.

 

‘I enjoyed reading Ken Haley’s book more than having the Covid vaccine. This book is the antidote to Covid. But be advised, there are side effects. Read what Ken Haley did in 2020. It will confirm just how unadventurous you are.’

 

Andrew Dodd, Director of the Centre of Advancing Journalism, Melbourne University

 

 

Europe @ 2.4km/h.

 

‘Here’s a witty, absorbing read by a man who shrugs off adversity with determination and humour.’  The Chronicle

 

‘The writing is edgy and oozes honesty, and Haley’s self-deprecating sense of humour left me in stitches … what I most admired were his guts and determination to make the most of what life has to offer – and that is a true inspiration.’  Good Reading

 

Emails from The Edge: A Journey through Troubled Times

 

‘The trick all good travel writers manage is to convince the reader that they are travelling along with them. Grumpy Paul Theroux does this superbly and Haley, needing help every step of the way and frequently frustrated, pulls it off too.’ The Australian

 

‘So many books are described as inspirational; Emails from the Edge is of a different order of magnitude altogether. Haley’s unique personal story aside, it is also an excellent travel book.’ The Age

 

 

 

Ken Haley’s book can be purchased from his publisher Transit Lounge HERE, and is available through Booktopia and bookshops.

 

 

To attend the ‘virtual launch’ of Ken’s book on November 16 via Zoom, go to www.readings.com.au and click on EVENTS to register.

 

 

To return to the www.footyalmanac.com.au  home page click HERE

 

Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.

 

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