There must be something between the retirement party and buying a zimmer frame. JO CARROLL decided this was the time to revive her teenage dreams and go round the world. So she packed her rucksack, a round-the-world ticket, and a notebook. Not prepared, then, for being marooned on a beach in Australia with the tide rising and nothing but cliffs behind her, nor negotiating with a gunman who wanted to marry her in Lucknow. Let's not think about the snakes and leeches in the jungles of Malaysia.

But could anything have prepared her for the drama that brought her home? Nor the kindness of strangers who kept her safe at that moment when she was least able to do it for herself.