Published by Waverley Books, 2016, 288 pages

If you’ve ever dreamed of buying a campervan and disappearing into the wilderness, this book is for you. It has everything you ever wanted to know about them and then some: buying the right one, dealing with waste (and the pros and cons of a Porta Potti), and DIY.

But this is not a manual. Sexton is a writer who works best in her campervan in the wild: in her case, the western Scottish highlands. Scotland has some of the most stunning landscapes I’ve seen, and her descriptions made me realize how much more there is to explore—places like Assynt, with rocks three thousand million years old and a rich variety of wildlife.

Sexton also takes you on her personal journey as she deals with the breakup of a long relationship. But the real love affair is with campervans. She has had four over the years, each with a name and personality. Vera, “a wee old lady of a van” with a 10-year-old engine under the seats, overheats passengers and melts the cheese. Vera gave way to Vanessa Hotplate, who could be a little unstable. Sexton found out just how unstable when she tried to drive down an open road with strong gusts of wind. It took all her skills as a driver not to be blown across the road into the path of approaching trucks.

Interspersed with lyrical descriptions of nature are some hilarious moments. During a perfect evening by the sea southwest of Kintyre, she watches the sunset, “the pinks and oranges…burning a reflected path across the water to my door”. A seal emerges and blows bubbles at her. She settles in for the night, when a windowless van pulls up, full of men. A voice very close to her window asks if someone has brought a knife. She locks her door as quietly as she can and waits for the worst. There was the “sound of something heavy, like a suitcase full of body parts, landing on the ground”. Fortunately, the men, who were probably surfers, soon go to sleep, and she wakes up unharmed.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this book and was pleasantly surprised at how multi-faceted it was. Sexton is funny, thoughtful, and honest about her fears. Read this book even if you’re not planning to head to the hills in your mobile home: it will remind you of the joys of being alone, facing down your fears, and being close to nature.

This review first appeared on Women on the Road.