The author of Bedouins and Bears, Margery Franklin, has been interested in seeing the world ever since she was a child. Her enthusiasm for discovering new places in Great Britain, France, and Sweden with her family planted the seed for a lifetime of wanderlust. Margery has visited many countries in Europe, as well as Australia, New Zealand, the French Polynesian Islands, China, and India. She has sailed in the Caribbean and the Greek Isles, joined photography expeditions to Thailand, and traveled to Peru, Namibia, Tanzania, Provence in France, the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, Canyonlands, and Olympic National Park in Washington State.

Margery recounts her travels in “Bedouins and Bears”, including the time she and her brother took their mother’s small car and a pup tent and camped around Europe as teenagers.

She takes readers along as she becomes a mahout in Thailand for a day, forming a strong bond with her matriarchal elephant, Ma-Long, and shares stories of hitchhiking through the Australian Outback with truckers. She also reflects on the challenges that inevitably arise when traveling abroad. Her stories are often educational, sometimes humorous, and always immersive, inviting readers to experience other cultures through her eyes.