Hilary and Liz were two old school friends living on opposite sides of the world when unexpectedly, after thirty-five years, they reconnected. Discovering that they both loved travelling – the more exotic and far-flung the location, the better – and not having a clue whether they will get along (and realising each other’s well-developed eccentricities could make things even more fraught) the pair embarked on a trial journey to Morocco to see if they could survive the stresses of travelling into the unknown. They soon discovered their delight in laughing at themselves and each other, and quickly rekindled their friendship.
That tentative beginning turned into – so far – sixteen years worth of wonderful extended holidays, with Hilary and Liz continually circumnavigating the globe. Growing Old Outrageously is their very funny record of those trips, brilliantly encapsulating their quirky personalities, reflecting on their lives before they became wanderers and highlighting their love of food (some recipes included), art, theatre and music.
Destinations visited in the book include Marrakech, Fez and the Atlas Mountains in North Africa, Patagonia and the Galapagos Islands, Istanbul, Cappadocia and Antalya in Turkey, the western isles of Mull and Iona, safaris in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and the Serengeti plus, music festivals in Naples and Prague and, of course, England and Australia.
Along the way the two life-long friends encouraged, enraged and entertained each other. Hilary took thousands of photographs and Liz wrote copiously in beautiful bound notebooks. After sixteen years globetrotting together, have they changed as individuals?
‘Certainly,’ says Hil.
‘Not a jot,’ says Liz.
Books By Hilary Linstead And Elisabeth Davies
Growing Old Outrageously
Details of this year’s festival programme can be found elsewhere on this website.
