About flyingpiglet
With the students from my conversation class at Tibet Charity
In 2009 I closed Flying Piglets, my small (very small!) touring agency for folk musicians and thought about what to do next. I had been organising other people's travel for ten years - now I wanted to leave New Zealand for a while and live somewhere else - somewhere different and interesting. So I did a CELTA course & became an English teacher. In 2010 I spent three months in Dharamshala, India, teaching Tibetan refugees at Tibet Charity. A great experience! When I came home I mulled over all I had seen and learned (far more than I taught!) and wrote a book, "Between Monks and Monkeys", which is available as an ebook on Kindle, Kobo and several other ebook outlets. It's also for sale as a paperback with photos and drawings - contact me below for details.
In March 2012 I went back to Dharamshala once again,to teach at Tibet Charity for another three months. (Sadly NZers could only get 90 day visas to India at that time. It's now changed (2014) so you can exit after 90 days and return immediately for up to 6 months total)
I published my second book "The Yeti in the Library" in early 2013. It's available as a paperback direct from me and via Amazon, and as an e-book on Kindle, Itunes, Kobo etc. gillwinterbooks.wordpress.com for details.
In May/ June 2013 I spent 3 weeks in Peru with a Trade Aid group - a great trip to visit the talented people who make some of the craft work we sell in Trade Aid's fair trade shops.
I returned to India once again in late July 2013 for another 3 month stint of teaching at Tibet Charity, and learned what it's like to experience the monsoon in India... Interesting...
2015 - Back to India again - it's becoming a habit. This time we are spending 3 weeks touring Rajasthan, then I'll teach English for three and a half months in Jamyang Choling Nunnery near Dharamshala. Another new challenge..
2016 Jamyang Choling for the second time. It was here that I started my first novel, "Before the Magic Fades", published 2018 in e-book and paperback.
Check out my website gillwinterbooks.wordpress.com
My Travel Map:
