Jessica Coulton of Bicycling writes of An Internet-Famous Bike-Touring Cat? Read All About Her in ‘Nala’s World’:
Even over video chat, it was clear to see the depth of the bond between Nala the cat and her owner, Dean Nicholson. Nala’s tail flicked in and out of the video-chat window, and every time she walked in front of the screen, the two-year-old, brown female tabby cat received purrs and nuzzles from Nicholson.
Nicholson’s story—of how he met Nala and his life with her since then—is recounted in the book, Nala’s World: One Man, His Rescue Cat, and a Bike Ride around the Globe. The feel-good adventure memoir went on sale on September 29.
The Scotland native took to documenting his bike tour adventures to numerous countries on his Instagram account. His online following really took off, though, after a fateful encounter in December 2018 with a feisty, abandoned kitten that he happened upon in the middle of nowhere. After she followed him down the road, he decided to take her with him, knowing that she probably wouldn’t survive otherwise. Because of her adventurous and lovable personality, Nicholson named her Nala, after the fictional Disney lioness.