Travel 
The Point of Origin
Paris. Notre Dame
Travel! Something that was not necessary for me,
I decided when I was fairly young. I believed until I was in my mid-twenties
that I would never leave England. I was quite surprised when at the age
of 25 I was persuaded to take a trip to Paris by someone I met in London.
That's where my acceptance of travel began. Within three
years I had visited France three times. Paris became one of my favorite
cities. Certainly I still believe it is one of the most beautiful. The Cote
d'Azur is very different to Paris. The surrounding countryside is very beautiful
and the Mediterranean is at its front door. Visiting France opened my eyes
to the possibilities that other cultures offer.
At the age of 27, I was persuaded to visit Thailand. I
stayed there almost a month with a trip to Singapore for a few days and haven't
looked back since. It was only six months later that I found myself visiting
Singapore again and spending a week in Indonesia.
The Grand Tour
Those trips to the Far East changed me irretrievably
and since the work I was doing was unpleasantly boring, I began to consider
alternatives. One of those alternatives was to quit. But what would I do
if I did? There were a lot of preparations to make between April 1979, when
a world tour first seemed possible, and the time I left. Like most people,
I had responsibilities such as loans and a house. How was I going to deal
with those? Arrangements were made for a friend to take care of my house
and I was pretty sure the debts could to be paid off by the end of 1979.
I would then need a year to save enough for the trip I was planning.
By November 1979 I had paid off all the money I owed.
Work became more and more depressing so in May 1980 about 6 months before
I had planned, I quit my job. The month of May was spent tying up all the
loose ends and buying all the things I would need for my "Grand Tour". I
purchased a ticket that would take me from Great Britain to the USA, on
to Hawaii, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. The ticket ended in Hong
Kong, so I was on my own from there. Travelling to Thailand, Singapore and
Indonsesia had bolstered my confidence.
Visiting foreign countries alone without knowing the local
language (you can exclude the USA from this - just about) had required some
personal risk - I don't mean physical risk, though and since I had managed
even in adversity, I was feeling happy about myself and the thought of travelling
for a year. The daily requirements of food, lodging, transport and other
necessities were quite different in each place, as were the cultural norms
and the etiquette. Proudly, none of them proved to be a trial, more an adventure.
The day I left England was one
of the most exciting of my whole life. The whole of my body tingled as I walked
toward the gate at the airport. It would be a long time before I would return
to the motherland. I don't think I really needed a jet, the butterflies alone
were strong enough to fly me all the way round the world.
Back 
Where to now? 
Fwd