The stories in this book were selected and edited by Hilary Bradt and Jennifer Barclay.

The founder of Bradt guides, Hilary Bradt, has travelled with animals, mostly intentionally, for as long as she can remember. An early memory at primary school was being summoned by the head mistress to be shown her coat, hanging with the others in the hallway. It, and the coats belonging to other little girls, were covered in slimy trails ending in happily exploring snails. She had filled her pockets with them at the bus stop. Later, when lecturing on a cruise ship she lost a Madagascan hissing cockroach in her cabin; fortunately it was retrieved before being found by the cleaning staff. A more successful import from Madagascar was Millicent the giant pill millipede who made it to England disguised as a piece of camera equipment and lived for over a year in an aquarium. The Big Journey with an animal, however, was the thousand-mile ride through the west of Ireland, initially with Mollie (described in this book’s predecessor, Roam Alone), and then with Peggy recounted in this new book. Now semi-retired, Hilary lives with her two guinea pigs in Devon.

Jennifer Barclay is the author of Meeting Mr Kim: Or How I Went to Korea and Learned to Love Kimchi, Falling in Honey: Life and Love on a Greek Island and An Octopus in my Ouzo: Loving Life on a Greek Island. Growing up in a village in the north of England, she has lived and worked in Canada and France, and travelled around New South Wales, Australia, looking after animals from sheep to pythons. A literary agent and editor since the 1990s, she has been involved with books about both travel and animals for over a decade and co-edited the Bradt anthologies The Irresponsible Traveller, To Oldly Go and Roam Alone. She lives on a small island in the Aegean and when not reading or writing can often be found hiking to beaches or taking ferries to other islands while attached to her dog, Lisa. She is always looking for dog-friendly places to stay and despite the name of her blog, has never put an octopus in ouzo.

Introduction Hilary Bradt

THE AMERICAS

From Zoo Quest in Paraguay - Sir David Attenborough

The Llama that Couldn’t - Gordon Thompson

Running with Parrots - Katharine Lowrie

From Eight Feet in the Andes - Dervla Murphy

Barry’s Flying Visit - Adrian Phillips

Pepper Pays her Passage - Celia Dillow

Just a Dog - Emma Laing

From The Whispering Land - Gerald Durrell

Beer and Burras - Graham Mackintosh

Spinny the Sea Cat - Frances Howorth

Dapple the Reluctant Donkey - John Harrison

EUROPE

Goldfish Trek - Emma Macdonald

From Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes - Robert Louis Stevenson

Monty in a Basket - Mike Gerrard

Smuggling Fleur - Hugh Tucker

From High Albania - Edith Durham, selected and introduced by Elizabeth Gowing

Polly Kala - Mary Johns

Understanding Peggy - Hilary Bradt

From Zarafa - Michael Allin

One Man and a Mule - Hugh Thomson

Hedgehogs on the Road - Tanis Jordan

From The Bible in Spain - George Borrow

The Show Must Go On - Sarah Pope

Lost and Found in the Arctic - Kelsey Camacho

From Charles: The Story of a Friendship - Michael Joseph

From Me, My Bike and a Street Dog Called Lucy - Ishbel Holmes

AFRICA

Habibi - Sheelagh Reynolds

From The Sky is on Fire - Magsie Hamilton Little

The White Cockerel - Ash Dykes

Painted Wolves - Jonathan Scott

Annie’s Story - Richard Kitzinger

An Elephant Called Abu - Brian Jackman

Follow the Leader - Suzy Pope

Our Long-Eared Holiday Companion - Alison Ely

From Christian the Lion: the Ilustrated Legacy - John Rendall

ASIA

From Travels on my Elephant - Mark Shand

Finding Gobi - Dion Leonard

Kenny - Dom Tulett

From Unbeaten Tracks in Japan - Isabella Bird

The Road to Blue Paradise - Lu Barnham

Rani and Me - Harjeet Johal

From Across Coveted Lands - Henry Savage Landor

AUSTRALASIA

Piloted across the Indian Ocean - Sarah Outen

Starboard - Michael Howorth

Jack Sparrow - Rachel A Davis

From Tracks - Robyn Davidson