The son of the famous and eccentric ecdysiast recalls his life with his mother and her sometimes outrageous struggle to survive and to maintain her style of life, her menagerie of pets, and her teen-aged son

Some people only dream of leaving behind everything that is familiar to them in order to travel the world. Teresa actually did it! For the past five years, she has been leading a very unconventional life.This book is about her world travels and the international house-sitting business that helps to make these travels possible. It is also about making the choice to retire early and finding the courage to reinvent herself. She not only includes a lot of autobiographical material about her experiences in foreign locations, but also explains in detail how an ordinary person can lead such an adventurous life. Teresa has lived in Spain, Ireland, Prague, Malta, an island in the Dutch Antilles, multiple cities in Mexico, England and Italy. She even lived on a 57-foot boat in a marina in Baja California. Usually, she takes care of homes for up to ninety days. This book is a testament to an alternative lifestyle that supports a different way of looking at money, time, and travel. It incorporates sound advice that is based on first-hand experience. Teresa may very well be the poster girl for how to be adventurous at any age, on any income.

A masterful work of personal reportage, this volume is also a vibrant portrait of a mysterious people and an essential document of a disappearing culture. Fabled, feared, romanticized, and reviled, the Gypsies—or Roma—are among the least understood people on earth. Their culture remains largely obscure, but in Isabel Fonseca they have found an eloquent witness. In Bury Me Standing, alongside unforgettable portraits of individuals—the poet, the politician, the child prostitute—Fonseca offers sharp insights into the humor, language, wisdom, and taboos of the Roma. She traces their exodus out of India 1,000 years ago and their astonishing history of persecution: enslaved by the princes of medieval Romania; massacred by the Nazis; forcibly assimilated by the communist regimes; evicted from their settlements in Eastern Europe, and most recently, in Western Europe as well. Whether as handy scapegoats or figments of the romantic imagination, the Gypsies have always been with us—but never before have they been brought so vividly to life. Includes fifty black and white photos.

Since the age of thirteen, Christabel Alderton has been troubled by a sort of second sight that works sometimes, but not always. Death is much on her mind because the men in her life tend to die before their time and she's come to think she's bad luck. Fascinated by Christabel, diabetologist Elias Newman is keen to know her better but she's afraid of what might happen. Taking the reader from the River Lea via a haunted woodland bog, out to the crash of the Pacific surf on Kahakuloa Head in the Hawaiian Islands, this is Russell Hoban at his engrossing, inimitable best.

Mikey Walsh didn't know what life was like beyond his Gypsy community. But after fleeing home at age fifteen, he had no choice but to find out. After centuries of persecution, Gypsies are wary of outsiders, and if you choose to leave, you can never come back. Torn between his family and his heart, Mikey struggled to come to terms with the Gypsy culture and its violent, conservative traditions. At last, he decided to set out on his own. He soon discovered the outside world wasn't all that he expected, and his life would never be the same again.A shocking yet ultimately triumphant memoir, Gypsy Boy on the Run follows Mikey as he comes to terms with himself, his family, and his past—and builds a new life for himself.

New York Times bestseller In their first book, the Junk Gypsies—sisters and stars of the popular Texas-born brand and HGTV show—combine big dreams, stories of roadside treasures found, and down-home design projects inspired by epic makeovers for friends like Miranda Lambert, Billie Joe Armstrong, and Sadie Robertson. Amie and Jolie Sikes, the Thelma and Louise of the design world, are the Junk Gypsies: a family with an addiction to flea markets, wanderlust, and Americana inspired design. In their world, cowgirls are heroes, road trips last forever, and junk is treasured. Beginning with a little bit of faith and a whole lot of heart and soul, the sisters travelled the back roads of America like gypsies, collecting roadside trinkets and tattered treasures while meeting kindred spirits and lively characters along the way. With a mix of hippie, rock n’ roll, southern charm, and big dreams, these small-town Texas girls became restless wanderers and owners and operators of their dream business and bohemian brand, Junk Gypsy. Filled with stories from their unique journey as well as DIY projects and bohemian inspired designs, Junk Gypsy is a tribute to all the rowdy gypsies, crafty junkers, free-spirited romantics, and true-blue rebels who have ever dared to dream big.