Michelle Dry's Children's Books

When I first started travelling over 20 years ago… Yes that long ago! I was happy to backpack. I used to pay for single rooms in backpacking hostels and join tours. I never slept in a dormitary because I met a girl who slept below a chap who peed himself in his sleep and caused her to wake up in a yellow puddle. All part of the travel experience apparently!

What’s more, when I travel I need my sleep and being kept awake by young amorous couples testing the limits of the upper bunk to a squeaky rhythm,  that could likened to a drum and base mouse, strangely never appealed either…

Admittedly, I kept up the backpacking until around the age of thirty because you always met fellow travellers and learned about ‘secret spots’. Since we all cooked together or had communal areas, one generally met all manner of ‘expert’ who would provide you with what was worth seeing and what wasn’t.

At the other end of the scale, I often sneered at the ‘wealthies’, as I referred to them, because they never got to experience the true grit of ‘real’ travel.

Oh and at this point I should point out that I was somewhat of a hypocrit since I worked on luxury cruise ships and during my time off backpacked. Actually a lot of the reason I backpacked was because I had two months off at a time which meant two one month travels… Luxury was not in my budget during such an extended time frame. I WISH IT WAS – NOW I KNOW!

Cut to now and… life has become more grown up and my holiday stints cover two week intensive jaunts. They usually focus on one country and have evolved into the desire for luxury… Once bitten by luxury, service and comfort you can never go back.

When I first launched into luxury I felt like a fraud, as though I was a luxury imposter. At first receiving five star service felt awkward, yet I had provided that for cruise ship guests, although at times is was begrudgingly. After 12 hours of describing all the tours in St.Petersburg to hundreds of guests, one can hardly talk let alone smile… I still haven’t figured out how people in the hospitality world don’t become murderous. Just saying…

So back to the luxury of now… I honestly have to say if you can afford luxury then there is nothing like it. Service, comfort and complimentary insect repellent. I love toothbrush packs, nice shampoos and conditioners. I KNOW! 

So where is this going? Well I have recently visited one of the most beautiful resorts in Krabi, Thailand. I am not going to specifically name it but the experience was phenomenal.

What  it provided was contrasts because along the beach there were backpacking hostels where the young and energetic danced through the night and many nights consecutively before passing out for a day to recover. Then, with further sleep deprivation, they continued to party, adventure and have a Thai massage. Admittedly, I never managed to go at such full throttle but it reminded me of how we change our travel styles…

My new grown-up, well not actually grown-up, more in love with comfort, quiet and plenty of quality adventure, peered at my old style of travel and smirked. If I had known the joy of luxury travel would I have had such adventures?  Or… Would the adventures have unfolded in a different way? Who knows? The truth is travel provides experience, adventure and inspiration. That life experience has all been incorperated into my writing. Whichever way you experience the travel adventure: whether it is backpacking, luxury or another alternative, the point is the adventure is worth it. It has only recently become apparent that I would just prefer to contemplate my travel escapades from an infinity pool overlooking a spectacular view rather than a dormitary shared with twenty others. Just saying!

So if you are interested in my book writing shennanigans – look up Michelle Dry on Amazon to discover an entire world of random books – some are for adults and others are for children.

My bestseller for adults is

And for children these two are doing pretty well:

I guess exploding toilets have something to do with it! Notice how grown-up I really am?