 | | |
| Just Imagine: A New Life on an Old Boat | 
 enlarge | Author: Michelle Caffrey
Publisher: Lulu.com
Category: Book
List Price: $22.95
Buy New: $16.95
You Save: $6.00 (26%)
Buy New/Used from $16.31
Avg. Customer Rating:  (8 reviews)
Sales Rank: 569526
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 259
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 6.1 x 0.6
ISBN: 1411671414
Dewey Decimal Number: 914
EAN: 9781411671416
ASIN: 1411671414
Publication Date: February 11, 2008
Release Date: February 11, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
After 30 years in the computer software industry, Michelle and Paul Caffrey relinquished their careers determined to reinvent themselves. The fifty-something couple sacrificed everything they owned to buy a converted 1906 Dutch barge, "Imagine," to seek a new livelihood in the boat charter business, "Barge and Breakfast." The memoir is packed with the adventures - and misadventures -of their first year with the barge as they travel from Holland, through Belgium to France. A must-read for boaters, European travelers or would-be travelers, anyone who has reached a crossroads in life, those looking for pre-retirement inspiration, and everyone who has wondered what it would be like to live out a dream.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
Fun and Inspiring June 15, 2008
I very much enjoyed Michelle Caffrey's honest and fresh account of the agony and ecstasy of barge life. Being a fellow bargee, I can well relate to both the fears and the exhileration she writes about in her account of their first year of barging. It also made me long to cast off the ropes of my own barge and go travelling again - something I will be doing very shortly too. Thanks for a fun and inspiring read, Michelle.
French Life in the Slow Lane December 5, 2007
This review was posted on Amazon Canada by Jan Rehner:
You don't have to know anything about barging or boats to love this book. All you need is a desire to learn about Burgundy France from a unique perspective. Michelle Caffrey tells her true-life story of buying and refitting a lovely barge and lets you drift with her along the tree-lined canals of one of France's most beautiful regions. Textured with fascinating characters and the rich detail of food, wine, and countryside, this book lets you "just imagine" an intriguing and peaceful life style--with a good measure of surprise and humour mixed in.
 Informative read on a great escape May 12, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Like many of us, the Caffreys have a gipsie hidden deep in their soul. They were able to set theirs free. I'm extremely jealous. I've lived in Europe before and would love to find a way to return for extended stays. Barging is a recent lifestyle discovery for me and Just Imagine, has shown me the way to return to the old country and free my inner gipsie.
As something of a technical geek, the descriptions of the boats they looked at and the buying process they went through to find Imagine was of most interest to me. I now have a better idea of not only what kind of boat to buy but how to go about finding one. I did enjoy reading about the places and people they met but I'm also an explorer at heart, looking forward to my own discoveries. Their sense of entrepreneurship in starting Barge and Breakfast was also of interest as my wife and I both are involved in teaching entrepreneurship at Colorado Mountain College. My exposure to Roma people in Eastern Europe taught me that if you are going to be a gipsie, you also better be an entrepreneur. Sharing my boat with strangers in close quarters is not my idea of fun but it works for them. Proving that there are many ways to fund your dreams if you are creative. Seems like that is what "Just Imagine: New Life on an Old Boat" is all about anyway.
If there are any criticisms of the book it would be that the closer I got to the end of the story, the more grammatical mistakes I found. Not serious stuff but an indication that maybe barging is really more fun than writing about it.
Sail on friends. Some day we will gather by a campfire on the same riverbank to share a bottle of fine wine and a story or two.
Not the Same Old Story March 8, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Most books of this nature are re-hashes of the same story, but "Imagine...." goes a few steps further. It is well written and, for me, it was a good one-day read; not because I couldn't put it down....because I wouldn't put it down. It was that enjoyable. If you have ever thought about owning a barge, a boat, or even an RV, you will be able to enjoy this tremendously. This is a story of their first year. I hope there is a follow-up coming.
John Hardman
I could taste the wine and cheese April 27, 2006
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I have been to france many times and Michelle's story brought it all back to me. Her descriptions of the trials and tribulations made me wonder if I could ever be as brave as they were to take all this on. It was fabulous as her words helped me to remember the beauty of the landscape and the thoughts of the food and wine made my stomach growl. What a great story and a very easy and fun read.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| | |