Travels off the Beaten Path

This episode recalls the start of a supposed 6-month overland journey from London to Harare, Zimbabwe. It was a fateful journey from the start. This episode details the start of the journey from London to Gilbraltar. In that short period we already had a last-minute change in driver/leader and two passenger casualities - an ominous start to an eventful journey. 

Photo: similar truck diagram from the current Oasis Overland company. Hann Overland was an old Bedford truck similarly decked out but no storage on the side of the truck.

In this episode, I recall my difficult decision I had to make at a crossroads in life when I decided to leave my horse-riding job in Austria and travel overland. I discuss the decision I was facing, the steps I had to take and the importance of how these decisions at these pathways in life can change your life.

Note, I mentioned Isle of Wright but I correct myself as I should have said Holy Island off Angelsey in Wales. I stayed at Holyhead and also did a trip over to Dublin while I was there. 

Cover photo: Evelyn Mostrom on Unsplash

This trip was part of my journey around Europe. It was the year before the war broke out between Bosnia and Serbia when we caught a train from Vienna down to Thessaloniki in northern Greece. The train trip took over 24 hours and it was an eye-opening journey through a former communist state with obvious poverty and associated issues, visa problems and over-crowding. Apparently these days you cannot even do this journey by train as a result of the ongoing tensions.    

My first journey off the beaten path when I was in Egypt and I was invited to spend a week living at a local village close to the earliest step pyramids. Travelling around Cairo as a solo female traveller during Ramadan was a challenge, even when I dressed conservatively. I went to Giza, spent the morning going from cousin to cousin's shops but I only bought perfume and papyrus paintings. I also got to run a camel and a horse across the Sahara in front of the Giza pyramids. Something to tick off my bucket list.........

I met a couple of young lads up on the citadel overlooking Cairo and they invited me to stay at their mother's village. I was there for five days living in a one-tap village on the outskirts of Giza near the ancient step pyramids. I experienced Ramadan with them, dining with the family every night. At one stage I asked to find somewhere I could have a shower. Little did I know that the mother carried water to fill a tub in the stable, heated it up and proceeded to wash me. It was such a humbling experience that I have never forgotten. But cemented my desire to experience countries and cultures by immersing myself into their everyday lives. It was a wonderful journey and a great life lesson in expressing humility and humbleness, and be exposed to different religions and cultures.   

The first episode describes my slow introduction into travelling and how a quick decision to travel to Jamaica on a US vacation led to change my whole way of looking at travelling and experiencing different cultures through a traveller's eyes.