Derro Days

By: Urquhart, Ian Duncan

Like many young guys and girls in their twenties, our dubious "hero" decided to leave home, go see the world, then come back and settle down. His orIginal plan was to leave Australia, where he grew up, and head off to what he considered the "promised land", namely the United States. Even before he left, things went off the rails. From Singapore to Scotland, from Morocco to Mexico, our dubious "hero" finds himself embroiled in a coup d'etat, having encounters with authorities, and meeting all sorts of interesting characters, while holding down a variety of strange jobs. This is in addition to learning things, like how to make a "Whisky Mac", and play the drinking games "Twenty One" and "Dead Ant". The common thread is being broke and alone and doing things you have to do to survive. Often bawdy, sometimes poignant, we follow the adventures of our "irresponsible horn dog" who finally meets his match after a chance encounter with a beautiful woman in the Louvre.
"You haven't lived until you've lived like a derelict, or 'derro'. A main ingredient for this experience is some mega, crowded, bustling city like New York, London, or Paris. The second ingredient is finding yourself in that city alone, broke, and without a job. Maybe you can't even speak the language. Often, you end up in some third-world digs, eating scraps. There's nothing like desperation and loneliness to fire up the synapses. Later, you shake your head and say, did I do that? In some instances, you question your sanity and your motives. In other instances, you pride yourself on taking a chance."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0HDFS6Z99
• ISBN13: 9798187754083
• Release Date: August 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 274 Pages
• Weight: 0.81 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"