To Travel Hopefully

This book follows the lives of Diana and Peter Simkin. It combines excerpts from two sources: Diana's weekly letters to her family in Buenos Aires and Peter's diary entries, spliced by explanatory sections. The narrative covers fifteen countries. We follow the adventures of the Simkins from their chance encounter on a plane making an emergency landing in Khartoum, and then to Swaziland with the British Overseas Civil Service. After Swaziland, Peter joined the United Nations, and they moved to Malawi, Ethiopia, Bolivia, Italy, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Angola, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Macedonia and Serbia. We hear of their struggles and successes, and rejoice in the birth and lives of their children and grandchildren. The book is filled with warmth and a spirit of adventure, and stands as a testament to a couple who truly travelled hopefully.