The intense, very personal and deeply moving true story of how one mother coped (or didn’t) after saying a nightmare goodbye to her only daughter leaving for her gap year from Heathrow Airport.  After the farewell hugs and tears, the story moves on to the very personal account of how Fiona Fridd coped, sometimes well, sometimes not at all with the emotional strain of being parted from someone so precious. 

Whether you are a mother, father, brother or sister, you will discover through the sense of loss Fiona conveys in this roller coaster ride of a story what it is like to be parted from a loved member of your family for the very first time. Being parted from Lottie in such circumstances was like enduring bereavement but without a body to mourn, leaving Fiona wondering how long it would take for her pain to ease. 

Contact between mother and daughter was chiefly maintained by text and email, most of which are transcribed, word-for-word. These build up into a fascinating picture of the realities of backpacker life ‘down under’.

Email from Lottie:
I’ve quit the Oxfam job. It turned out that working for them basically means you’re a glorified promotions girl and to get people to sign up they tell you to make guys think they can sleep with you! I was told to say stupid stuff like ‘Hey guys, why don’t you come and talk to me, I’ll make it worth your while’. Anyway, must dash as almost run out of internet credit! Missing you all lots and lots! Xox

Fiona says:
“It wasn’t until months later that I discovered just how badly affected Lottie had been by the Oxfam job. At the end of her second day of standing on street corners she had phoned David in floods of tears. He and Stu hotfooted it into Sydney and found her in a dreadful state. All she wanted to do was come home there and then and quit the remainder of her gap year.” 
 

Fiona Fridd - Biography
Fiona was born in Banbury, Oxfordshire in 1955. The only daughter of a GP/Surgeon, she boarded at The Ladies’ College, Cheltenham for five years and then completed her education in Oxford. After working in London for several years as a hard-nosed pensions analyst within the oil industry, in 1985 she married Nick, a barrister. In January 1988, their daughter, Lottie was born and, 22 months later, their son, John. Life in central London with two young children soon lost its attraction and so in 1993 the family moved to Somerset where they bought a rambling 15th century farmhouse desperately in need of restoration. Once the structural work was completed, with seemingly endless energy and drive, Fiona set about decorating and furnishing in earnest until she had created a stunning family home. However, as the work and the bills multiplied, extra income had to be generated. Not wanting to leave her young children and go out to work, Fiona started B&B at home. She has turned this into a successful business which she loves doing and many guests return again and again. Two years ago, in addition to his full-time legal practice, Nick commenced studying for the Ministry. Last year, Lottie left home to travel around Australia during her Gap year. Fiona found she had time on her hands and decided to write a book, her first, about what life was like “without Lottie”, how this deeply affected her, and the rest of the family, how she maintained contact with Lottie and what happened both at home and in Australia during that year.