Jo Carroll: 14 books

It’s time for JO CARROLL to pack her rucksack again, and this time she’s heading west, to Cuba.Everyone, it seems, has been to Cuba, or wants to go to Cuba, or knows about it. Cuba, they insist, is on the brink of change. A market economy will finally see off the old cars and rationing. They’ve...

Did you know that Laos is the most bombed country in the world? If Jo Carroll had spent more time with her guidebooks and less with a physiotherapist preparing her creaking knees for squat toilets she’d have been better prepared when she crossed the Mekong in a long boat and stepped into the chaos...

JO CARROLL hesitated before returning to Nepal after the earthquake. Arriving as a tourist when local people were in such need felt an intrusion.Not at all, Tika told her. We want you to come. We need you to come.Within hours of arriving she saw just how right he was. Nepal, it seems, has been forgotten...

After all the excitements of her mid-life Gap Year, Jo Carroll couldn't quite reconcile herself to her gentle corner of Wiltshire with her garden and strolls across the Downs.It seemed such a good idea to return to Nepal. She knew her way around there now. She was ready for adventures,...

JO CARROLL hesitated before returning to Nepal after the earthquake. Arriving as a tourist when local people were in such need felt an intrusion. Not at all, Tika told her. We want you to come. We need you to come. Within hours of arriving she saw just how right he was. Nepal, it seems,...

There must be something between the retirement party and buying a zimmer frame. Jo Carroll decided this was the time to revive her teenage dreams and go round the world. So she packed her rucksack, a round-the-world ticket, and a notebook. Not prepared, then, for being marooned on a beach in Australia...

It’s time for JO CARROLL to pack her rucksack again, and this time she’s heading west, to Cuba. Everyone, it seems, has been to Cuba, or wants to go to Cuba, or knows about it. Cuba, they insist, is on the brink of change. A market economy will finally see off the old cars and rationing....

JO CARROLL decided it was time to pack her rucksack and get back to the mountains. Little things like a pension and bus pass were not enough to put her off. Besides, after her gap year, she knew all about travelling now. But Nepal had other ideas. Storms raged in the mountains; strikes made transport impossible. And then there was the tiger …

Three years ago, during a chance encounter in Cuba, I was asked why I'd never been to Ecuador. I mumbled, for I could think of no good reason. And so thought I'd better find out more for myself. But I had no idea what an astonishing country it is, with its mountains and beaches and Inca treasures. And poisonous frogs!

Three years ago, during a chance encounter in Cuba, I was asked why I'd never been to Ecuador. I mumbled, for I could think of no good reason. And so thought I'd better find out more for myself. What treasures I discovered! From ancient Inca sites constructed on top of settlements build...

There must be something between the retirement party and buying a zimmer frame. JO CARROLL decided this was the time to revive her teenage dreams and go round the world. So she packed her rucksack, a round-the-world ticket, and a notebook. Not prepared, then, for being marooned on a beach in Australia...

Africa. The only continent I’ve not explored on my own. Which seemed a good enough reason to go.   So off I went, full of ignorance and good intentions, to explore the wilds of Malawi. But not alone – for Everlasting was by my side from the moment I stepped off the plane in...

It's 1848. And Sara, aged fourteen, must leave her family in the stinking potato fields of Ireland to seek a better life with her wealthy aunt in Liverpool. But her uncle has different ideas. Will she find solace among the dockers? She finds love, but becomes embroiled in the unrest of the...

If the garlic is too strong, and the tender chives too weak, if your onions make you cry, Take a Leek! It's not exactly an onion. And it's not a chive. The leek - big, simple, and often under-appreciated and misused - is in fact an indispensable flavor component to many of the most pleasing...