VAGABOND SOUL
Vagabond Soul tells the story of a young woman who came of age in the Swinging Sixties and spent the next decade fearlessly traversing the globe in search of romance and adventure. While Carrie Evans’ first memoir, The Fun We Had, traces her peripatetic childhood and teaching career in ten countries, this second volume offers a thoughtful and intimate look at her personal life.Embracing the era’s ethos of Free Love, Carrie launches into adult life with exuberance, fearlessness and a touch of naivety. After reading this book some may wonder how Carrie is still here to tell her tale. Her adventures are full of risk-taking, some might say recklessness, as she hitches her way across the Continent and embarks on expeditions further afield, entering into many a romantic liaison along the way.Vagabond Soul is a vivid portrait of a life lived boldly. It is a testament to resilience, curiosity and the enduring appeal and consequences of choosing adventure over convention. At times you may be shocked, but you will certainly be entertained and amused as Carrie finds herself in extraordinary situations, only to emerge unscathed and triumphant.Available to Order online from sites such as; Bookshop.org, Amazon, Good Reads and many more, also available to order on Kindle and from all good bookshops!
ISBN: 9781806345144
Published August 28 2026
What People Are Saying
A Charming Journey of Travel, Love and Life
''Vagabond Soul is a warm and engaging memoir filled with travel, romance, colourful encounters and unforgettable characters. What makes it special is the sense of curiosity and adventure that runs through the stories. It feels like travelling alongside Carrie through different places and chapters of her life. A lovely read for anyone who enjoys memoirs, travel and stories about the people we meet along the way.What I particularly enjoyed is the honesty and warmth with which Carrie looks back on her experiences. There is humour, emotion, spontaneity and plenty of moments that make you pause and smile. More than just a collection of travel memories, the book is a celebration of friendships, love, unexpected encounters and the courage to embrace life as it comes.A delightful and uplifting read!''— Rebekka R, a five-star review on Amazon, 31 August 2026The Book Stayed With Me
''I came to Vagabond Soul expecting a travel memoir. What I found was something rarer: a portrait of a woman who decided, in an era that had very specific ideas about what women's lives should look like, that she would simply live differently, and then actually did it.
What stays with me is the particular combination she’s brought to the page: exuberance and naivety in equal measure, which is exactly the cocktail that makes the Sixties and Seventies feel alive rather than nostalgic. Evans wasn’t reckless in the way that word usually implies, carelessly, without consequence; she was reckless in the original sense: unrestrained, forward-moving, refusing to let caution be the organising principle of a life. The hitching across the Continent, the expeditions further afield, the romantic liaisons entered into with full commitment and no apology—these aren't cautionary tales. They're evidence of a particular kind of freedom that most people think about but don't actually choose.
The fact that she’s still here to tell it, as the book itself acknowledges with a wink, is partly luck and partly something harder to name. A quality of attention, maybe. Of being genuinely present in each situation rather than half-elsewhere, planning an exit. That presence is what makes the writing feel immediate even across decades.
As a fellow author, I think about what it takes to look back at a younger self with honesty rather than either judgment or pure nostalgia. Carrie has managed both: to be amused by her, clear-eyed about the risks she took, and not the least bit apologetic about the life she chose. Her memoir made me consider what a life lived boldly actually looks like from the inside. I am filled with admiration.''
—A review by Dan Gardner, New York Times bestselling Author/Journalist/Speaker, September 2026Freebird
''A second instalment of Carrie’s autobiography, which I looked forward to reading after being fascinated by The Fun We Had , an account of her experiences when teaching abroad. Here she travels back in time and recounts her memories as a young woman in the swinging sixties and seventies. She relates with refreshing honesty the travels, adventures and relationships she experiences between studies and work. Truly a life of serendipity and one many of us wish we had had the opportunity and courage to embrace.
A thoroughly enjoyable and liberating read and a fascinating insight into an era when young people were less constrained by expectations or weighed down by worries about the dangers of hitchhiking, free love and the need to conform.''
— Judith Barrett, a five-star review on Amazon, 25 August 2026A Life Well Lived
''Carrie Evans’s Vagabond Soul complements her first memoir, The Fun We Had, diving deeper into the emotional and sensual undercurrents of a life she has lived across the continents. With the same breezy candour and vivid storytelling that made her first memoir so engaging, Carrie now turns her lens toward the intimate entanglements, romantic misadventures, and sexual capers (let’s be plain here!) she had from childhood through to the present. It is sometimes said that a life lived in fear is a life half-lived, and Carrie certainly never allowed herself to fall into this overly cautious trap.''Her detailed and rather personal account has a somewhat genteel tone to the vocabulary and narrative style (seemingly matched by Carrie’s upbringing). However, some of the escapades described are far from genteel indeed; Anita Brookner may well have approved. Perhaps some of the incidents took place in more innocent times, when hitchhiking, for example, while never entirely safe, was a commonly used method of travel; such travellers are seldom spotted these days.Yes, Carrie’s writing is personal, but it is without artifice or pretension. A more self- conscious writer might have been tempted to venture into moralising or politicising the events, or even indulge in some currently fashionable box-ticking. However, the author avoids any such forced profundity. The pleasure in the book is from the author’s honest narrative style, the episodes themselves, and the wry way in which she reflects upon them.How fortunate to be able to view one’s life with such a positive and amused equanimity!''—A five-star review by Brenn Campbell on Amazon, 31 August 2026
THE FUN WE HAD
By the age of eight Carrie Evans had lived in eight different places in the UK. The various schools she attended were not always happy places and some of her teachers, if not actually psychotic, verged on the unstable and sadistic. Although it came as no surprise to those who knew her that she later chose a peripatetic lifestyle, it did puzzle some when she chose to make her living by peddling the present perfect in overseas language schools.Beginning in the sultry, restrictive atmosphere of the Arabian desert in the UAE, Carrie bites the bullet to take advantage of a teaching job with a decent salary for once – but a despotic boss. Valiantly focussing on the positive aspects of her life there, she casts her mind back to happier days of childhood and candidly recalls her development as a language teacher. She reminisces about the places and people she met along the way, pondering her sojourns in far-flung corners of the globe.A thoroughly enjoyable read that romps along from continent to continent, this beautifully written memoir is akin to an enormous postcard from the jaunt of a life. The Fun We Had is a tsunami of incident, gossip, and character vignettes, an exploration of other cultures sure to entertain anyone with a fascination for human quirks and foibles.Available to Order online from sites such as; Bookshop.org, Amazon, Good Reads and many more, also available to order on Kindle and from all good bookshops!
ISBN: 9781805140696
Published September 28 2023
What People Are Saying
A Rollicking Good Read
“The book is a requiem to wonderful adventures vividly brought to life by Evan’s witty and precise sketches. To those who haven’t had such experiences, she skillfully introduces exotic vistas and cultures. For those who have had their own fond memories of traveling and teaching abroad, it recalls that excitement of following your instincts and riffing off the unknown. She is a likable and honest storyteller whose memoir darts between the present and past perfectly”— Julia Hart, 5 out of 5 stars, reviewed on 11 December 2023What Fun Indeed
“A charmingly nostalgic view of the life of an English language teacher working abroad, but much more than that. The descriptions are beautifully written with a level of detail that is sure to take the reader on a journey through memories that anyone who has spent time overseas will relate to and become immersed in. I love the fact that is isn’t written chronologically as our memories do pop up at random moments. Hopefully, this is the first of many memoirs by this author, as I’m sure there are many more tales to be told.”— Janet Panter, 5 out of 5 stars, reviewed on 8 October 2023A Must-Read for Travellers and Budding ESL Teachers
“A fascinating picaresque-style memoir and travelogue that entertains, absorbs and amuses. A must read for the building ESL teacher. Carrie’s character descriptions pinpoint the foibles and strengths of the people she meets with humorous clarity. Her warm and caring personality is evident in all her dealings with students and her more difficult acquaintances. She doesn’t shy away from the more difficult aspects of her life, but handles them with an honest and light touch which made me empathize with her very much. Can’t wait for the follow up.”— Judith Barrett, 5 out of 5 stars, reviewed on 12 September 2023Very Enjoyable
“Very well written in an appropriately chatty style, an enormous postcard from the jaunt of a life. A tsunami of incident, gossip, and character vignettes, carry on Carrie directed by Tati with a nod to Kerouac, seventies fashion magazines and foodie supplements. Very enjoyable.”— David Harrison, 5 out of 5 stars, reviewed 23 October 2023Carrie’s Newsletter
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