Nala's World: One Man, His Rescue Cat, and a Bike Ride around the Globe Kindle Edition

Here's what Puddin's has to say!Wow! Mum read an awesome book about a cat who’s on a ‘round the world trip with a guy on a bicycle. I’m not sure I want to travel on a bicycle—or at all—but it’s a grand adventure story. And it’s not fiction. It’s true.Nala was a tiny kitten, when Dean, a cyclist from Scotland, found her on the side of a mountain road in Bosnia, at least ten miles from the nearest town. He couldn’t believe it when what he thought might be a squeak in his rear wheel turned out to be a kitten meowing. How could she have turned up on a mountain road in the middle of nowhere?Well, I can answer that question. Someone in a pickup truck threw me into a bush in midtown Atlanta when I was a “wee thing” as Dean would say. I bet that’s what happened to Nala, whom Dean named for the lioness in “The Lion King.”What a lucky kitty. Not only did Dean hear her, but he also decided to take her along on his journey. He left Scotland, determined to cycle around the world with a friend. When his friend bailed on him, he went his merry way alone. Finding Nala meant he had a new companion. Maybe you’ve seen the video of their adventure on the youtube video posted by Dodo. If you haven’t, you don’t know what you’re missing.Yes, Nala, is lucky, but so is Dean. He says she’s given him a new outlook on life, and their relationship has changed him. I think all cats can have a positive influence on their peeps, given a chance, but this tale is an exceptional example of the power of one tiny kitty.Dean and Nala sleep most nights in a tent, and Nala loves it. Again, I might like spending a bit of time playing in a tent, but every night? No way. I like my beds. The more Mum read, the more I learned about all the accouterments Nala has. She has toys and a harness and a pet carrier for the back of the bike, though she prefers riding up front on the handlebars where she can keep an eye on Dean and take in the scenery. The first day, she left the bike bag, climbed up his arm to his shoulders, and wrapped herself around his neck. How cute is that?When she developed a chest cold after the two were caught in a downpour, they spent three weeks in a hostel instead of a tent so she could recover, and she enjoyed that too. She’s quite a hit, not only with people the two encounter on the journey but also on Instagram and YouTube. Dean has GoPro camera plus a drone with a camera and is forever posting photos of their adventures.Mum says she was skeptical about how good the book would be, but it turned out she couldn’t put it down. Well, I could have told her that would be the case. What’s not to love about a book with a cat in it? She enjoyed it so much, she now follows Nala and Dean on FaceBook at 1bike1world. Yup, she’s hooked.You know my Mum writes the Dickens & Christie cozy mystery series, and Christie, the sassy black cat in her books, rides in a backpack when her owner goes on walks. Thankfully, Mum hasn’t tried that with me. I’ve made it clear I’m happy observing the world from the screened porch and Dad’s lap. I’m a little worried, though, because Mum has a bicycle with a pouch on the front. Goodness knows what I’ll do if she gets the idea I need a bicycle ride. Repeat after me, “No bike, no way.”

Like so many others, I'm one of the followers who discovered Dean and Nala after The Dodo featured them back in April of 2019. I'm an avid traveler and a huge fan of cats in general, so his story spoke to me and I've followed their journey online every day since then.This book is way more than just cute pictures (although there are definitely plenty of those), as it tells Dean's story of why he set out on this journey in the first place, what he's learned along the way, who he's met, what he's seen, and how Nala has literally changed his life. It's part travelogue, part cute kitty story, with a healthy dash of environmental and animal awareness, sprinkled with some life lessons and inner growth, and a side of faith restored in humanity from all the kindness he's shown from strangers. It's definitely a recipe for an enjoyable read that's tough to put down.Having followed Dean and Nala for over a year now, many of the stories in the book and the people he met along the way were familiar to me. But it was interesting to get more details about those stories and learn aspects that I never knew - and that honestly shed some light on his plight. For example, I didn't really know the details of his journey before he found Nala in Bosnia. And I didn't know how he'd gotten his kayaking job on Santorini for the summer, nor that he was actually supposed to stay and work there longer, but he chose to leave the island early. It seems he primarily left early in order to get back on the road and get new content for his now massively swollen follower count -- but it made me a little sad that one of the reasons he chose to leave early was due to all the solicited (and unsolicited) visits to his workplace by his followers. I get the desire to see them, but he was actually working. As it happens, I was actually on Santorini the same time they were, but I didn't want to be a crazy stalker fan, so I didn't go find them. In retrospect, I'm glad I didn't. It was also interesting to learn that the idea for this book was pitched to him way back then, when he was on Santorini.His life really did take such a huge turn after The Dodo featured him. I'm sure not all of the changes have been positive, but overall he seems to have used his newfound power/fame for good, which I fully respect. He always impresses me with his care and concern for people, animals, and the environment, and I love that he continues to donate money to charities around the world. (As an aside, I was shocked to learn how many calendars he sold and the total profit!). I also really love hearing about all the strangers he comes across who help him in various ways (either in person or virtually/online). The world has been a pretty ugly place lately, so reading how complete strangers help him and Nala is really the feel-good story we need right now.This book ends in the spring of 2020, right after the lockdowns had crippled the world in the wake of the Covid-19 global pandemic. Dean and Nala have continued their adventures (as much as possible) since then, so I'm hoping that there will be another book sometime in the future.