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    Van Cat Meow: A Lost Man, A Rescue Cat, A Road Trip like No Other
    Van Cat Meow: A Lost Man, A Rescue Cat, A Road Trip like No Other
    Van Cat Meow: A Lost Man, A Rescue Cat, A Road Trip like No Other
    Ebook90 pages32 minutes

    Van Cat Meow: A Lost Man, A Rescue Cat, A Road Trip like No Other

    By Richard East

    ()

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    About this ebook

    A lost man. A rescued cat. A road trip like no other.
    People everywhere have fallen in love with Willow, the van cat, as she explores the wilds of Australia with Richard, her devoted owner. Now for the first time, Richard and Willow tell the true story behind the images that have captured our hearts ...

    Richard East once lived in a suburban house in Hobart, Tasmania, with a career and a mortgage completing the picture. But despite the certainty in his life, he felt lost. Realising he was at a crossroads, Richard was faced with a decision: follow the herd or pursue his own path?

    The rest, as they say, is history. Selling his house and throwing in his career, Richard took to the road in a big white van. His sole companion? Willow, the small black rescue cat he'd promised never to leave behind.

    Now Richard and Willow travel Australia in their 'kittied'-out home on wheels. While Richard may appear to be in charge, Willow has her own lessons to share, of appreciating the little things and living in the moment, whether it's lingering to enjoy a desert sunset or taking an unmapped track into the forest on a whim.

    Full of adorable photos featuring one little black adventure cat, Van Cat Meow tells the charming and inspiring story of the trip of a lifetime that became a whole new way of life.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins Publishers Australia
    Release dateJan 1, 2019
    ISBN9781460710586
    Van Cat Meow: A Lost Man, A Rescue Cat, A Road Trip like No Other
    Author

    Richard East

    Tasmanian Richard East was an IT professional with a promising career. He now calls the road his home and has been travelling full-time with his cat in their campervan abode since May 2015. He shares his adventures and stories through his social media channels which have more than 100,000 followers.

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      Book preview

      Van Cat Meow - Richard East

      Dedication

      To all those who have known the love of a cat.

      Contents

      Dedication

      Acknowledgements

      About the Author

      Copyright

      I look out over the Australian savanna. The scraggly eucalypts and boab trees are a reminder of just how far I am from my home in Tasmania. Today, I’ve travelled 300 kilometres on rough outback roads. Just me. And a little black adventure cat named Willow.

      No time limits. No worries.

      Often, we’re far from anything, but everything we need is with us. Our campervan home. Dinner cooking on the camp stove. And each other.

      The potholes and corrugations that tested the van all day will be waiting for us tomorrow. But for now, I sit and watch the light change. As the breeze drops, the land feels calm again — and so do I.

      Willow circles my legs then jumps up onto my lap. Just like a house cat, she tells me when she needs attention. I scratch her behind the ears. She purrs.

      If you’d asked me when I was ten what I’d be doing in twenty years’ time, I suspect my answer would have been exactly this. Exploration and adventure — the kinds of things we lose sight of as we’re thrown into adulthood. But now, I feel like I have those things back, even though, two years ago, they seemed like an absurd and impossible dream.

      The sun is low and paints the sky and everything under it orange. In the stillness, I’m overwhelmed by the feeling that everything’s going to be okay.

      I didn’t always feel this way. When we started on this adventure, contentment, happiness or whatever you want to call it was a difficult feeling to trust. Especially as it felt so foreign . . .

      Before I had my van, before I had this life, I had a different van — and a very different life. Back then, I used my van to escape on weekends, when my girlfriend, Gabrielle, and I would venture out into the wilderness of Tasmania.

      Our van adventures together took me back to when I was a kid and we went on family camping holidays on Tasmania’s east coast. Back in those carefree days we’d swim in the clear cool water and run wild through the bush, following wallaby trails. And while I wouldn’t describe myself as particularly adventurous, when I look back, I can see there’s always been part of me that needs to be outdoors.

      I remember

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