In 2000, after her two children set off for new lives on the other side of the globe, Vivien Fallows embarked on a solo travel mission. Vivien kept a diary of her travels which have formed Travels with George, the Diary of a Mum on a Mission. Throughout the book, Vivien shares stories of her adventures; from visiting her backpacking son, Matt in Australia, spending 24 hours in Los Angeles and snorkelling in the Cook Islands, to adrenalin-pumping activities in New Zealand. Vivien’s husband encouraged her to keep a journal, and so she did. Fuelled by a diet of beer and muffins, funded by a piggy bank pension pot, completed with a trusty suitcase called George, Vivien hopes that her journey will inspire others to take the plunge and solo travel.

Author Vivien Fallows lives in Midhurst, West Sussex with her second husband. After a turbulent relationship with her first husband and father of her two children, Vivien and her children lived in a number of places. Firstly in Urban London before moving to rural Somerset. In 1976, Vivien moved to Ibadan in Nigeria for three years – followed by Qatar and Kuwait in the then under-developed Middle-East. Vivien then started to work for British Airways and her love of writing came to light when she was asked to write the Heathrow Airport staff newsletter. After a ten year career with British Airways, Vivien moved back to London where she re-married and started to work in the disability sector on a voluntary basis – raising money and awareness for disability causes. 28 years later, and with the London treadmill upon which Vivien had been happily running coming to a crashing halt when her two adult children revealed that they were moving abroad, Travels with George was formed.