Product Description

Have you ever felt that in order to fulfil the dream of the good life, you need to escape the business and day to day rat race of the bustling metropolis. Dorian Amos - a painter from Cornwall and his wife decided that they were in need of adventure. Having searched their world atlas they decided to sell up and move to Canada in search of a new and better life. Having bought Pricey the car, Boris Lock their faithful dog, a canoe and their fishing equipment they set off into the Yukon Wilderness to find a place they could call home. After months of camping alone in the great outdoors where they encountered bears and madmen, they eventually arrived at Dawson City, home to one of the great gold rushes of the 20th century. It was here that they found a run down log cabin in the mountains nearby and began a new and fascinating life. A life they had always known they wanted.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #80528 in Books
• Published on: 2004-08-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 200 pages

Review
'A great read, full of escapism and gentle humour.' The Globe and Mail

About the Author
Dorian was born in Cambridge in 1967. He left home at sixteen and worked as a Gamekeeper in all parts of the UK. In 1987 he met his wife Bridget on Exmoor and they married in 1992 after he had complete a 3 year course in wildlife conservation at Sparsholt Agricultural college. It was during the long lectures associated with full time education that Dorian's ability to draw cartoons was discovered. In 1995 Dorian decided to capitalise on his talent and set up a cartooning business called Amosart, in Polperro, Cornwall. The business was successful and in no time at all 'life became far too easy' so, in 1998 and on a whim, Bridget and Dorian decided to immigrate to the Canadian wilderness for a bit of adventure. They now live with their 2-year-old son, Jack Julian and trusty dog Boris, in a cabin in the forest outside Dawson City, Yukon Territory.

Excerpted from The Good Life by Dorian Amos. Copyright © 2004. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
I was slowly building up a stock of equipment that covered the garage floor but what we really needed was a tent. A good solid waterproof tent, one we could put a camp wood stove in and keep warm. I went to Tent World and nearly fainted at the price of pioneer tents. They were heavy duty, warm and weather proof and just what I needed. Quite how I was going to set it up without the arm and a leg I would have to pay for it I had no idea. I left pretty smartish avoiding a sales assistant closing in at 3.00 o'clock with a fake smile and solid hair. I knew I could make one for half the price, I just knew it. So, off I went to Canvas World and bought twenty yards of ten ounce canvas and a needle that looked more like a spear for killing water buffalo and stolen from a tribe of pygmies living in the rain forests of South America.

I had a rough tent design in my head and set about transforming the roll of canvas into the desired shape. That was the easy bit. Next I had to sew the pieces together by hand. CRIKEY, was that difficult! My pigmy spear was pushing easier through the palm of my hand than through the canvas. It very quickly dawned on me why the tents were so expensive. Blood is precious and there was enough on my tent after sewing two sides together to attract all the bears in the Northwest Territories. I might as well have hung a sign on top saying "Bear-Food World" tonight's special; Tight Fisted Pommies!

Still, I persevered and eventually had a tent sort of shape canvas lying frozen on the garage floor. After rummaging through the woods for two days I had cut enough suitable straight poles to erect my first Canadian home. I dragged the canvas and poles onto the front paddock and started to put up my masterpiece. Four hours later I was back at the drawing board and contemplating whether I could do without an arm and a leg.

Customer Reviews

Inspirational
I found this book a wonderful read. It is such a good yarn. It is nice to see determination triumph over proper technical knowledge! I like the whole concept of this book and I am sure that it will appeal to a wide audience. I am sure that most of us would like to walk away from our jobs and just canoe off in to the sunset. However, very few people would be brave enough to do it. I recommend this for either total escapism or a manual on starting a new life.

Superb first hand account of a new life in the Yukon
Dorian and Bridget suddenly decide that life in Cornwall, UK is just too boring and mundane for them. They want to get out there and live a different life, not based on wages, taxes, mortgages, bills, insurance and the rest. Together they decide on Canada, and before they can wait any longer they are off there.

The Good Life tells the story from the moment they feel uneasy in the UK, through travelling around Canada, until they realise that the Yukon was exactly what they were looking for. Then starting their new life up there, with all the adjustments to a completely different lifestyle (hunting for food and collecting wood) in a different environment (fast flowing rivers in summer, and continuous below zero celsius freezing in winter).

There is a lot I liked about this book. I liked the first hand account Dorian has written from only a few years ago (1999-2001), rather than someone else summarising it. His many descriptions carry the details of someone who was there experiencing these events, and the emotions he felt along the way.

I liked that it was about fairly ordinary people from England moving to the north of Canada. Okay, maybe not ordinary to want to do such a move in the first place. But they both had jobs and paid their taxes and bills like the rest of us. They were not hunting, fishing, outdoors types (yet). So what they experienced is what most of us would experience if we tried it.

I liked their attitude. This was clearly a monumental change in their life, but they felt so strongly about it that they just got on with it. Doubt never seemed to enter their mind. The Yukon felt right, and they went and stayed there.

And mostly I found myself agreeing with all of the points Dorian makes about the difference in living direct off the land in a different part of the world, and being jealous and envious of someone who had done it while they could. They are far happier in the Yukon, and are living a full life for themselves, rather than earning wages in order to pay taxes and buy goods from a supermarket. They have found a life that is far more fulfilling than the one they had before, and one in which they truly feel at home.

Excelent
Great book, well worth a read, this couple got rid of the cobwebs that hold the rest of us back and went and done it. Truly inspiring, no holds barred, story of the many failings and hard times before they finally conquered their fears and built a life in the Yukon, practically from scratch. A must for any one thinking of doing the same - Hey, make no mistake it can be done! One of the best travel books I have ever read.