Travel now not tomorrow

Primary school teachers in the UK have criticised an English test of 10- and 11-year-olds because the text included background that was not part of the children’s culture. They said it was unfair as the children had no experience of the setting. It made me wonder if children should only be exposed to stories from their own way of life. I remember being given an excerpt from The Kontiki Expedition to answer question on when I was about 11. It was the first time I had read about travel adventure, and it opened my little world – people travelled for adventure! I’d thought they only travelled to visit relatives or for work. I knew nothing about the Pacific current, the Peru and Tahiti. But that brief passage from the book stayed with me, as did the author’s name, Thor Heyerdahl. Last year, I found the book, reissued, and took nothing but joy in reading the recreation of a transport passage from South America to the Pacific Isles.  Similarly reading Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, wha...

  It is a huge continent, made up of 54 countries and a majority are not war-torn, drought-struck or suffering starvation. International charities, however, consistently use Africa and its people as props for fundraising. They don’t pull anyone from Asia to depict a mother with a tearful, fly-swaddled infant, nor do they use South American residents, nor any of the lands in between. However, it seems that it is acceptable to depict Africans as sorrowful, needy and unable to help themselves. The Zambians I remember working with were often resourceful, hard-working and had a huge amount of self-respect. To remind myself of this, I felt a need to return and discover whether my memory was flawed or were charities misrepresenting so many nations. I did discover need, especially concerning the legacy of AIDS. However, I also discovered proud, hard-working people using innovative ways to help each other. People such as Victoria, a nurse, who cared for relatives with AIDS. Others in th...

Have you ever taken off at the last minute just because you wanted to? From experience, I can say that it is nothing but liberating. It could be by car, train or airplane. You might not know exactly where you are going or how long you will be there, but you will feel free. I did this when I had finished the long slog that was midwifery school and I wanted to be as far away from any medical establishment as I could get. I bought a month long European train ticket and headed first to San Sebastian on the Bay of Biscay. I have no idea what took me there, but it had a beautiful wide beach and, after the dark Scottish skies, I felt I could stand up straight and look out at the world. From there I journeyed through France, Italy and, of course, Greece, taking my time to watch people and lose myself in places that were not my home. There were a few moments when men caused hassle, but I learned to stay calm and remote. Tell nothing about yourself or make up a fake friend you are meeting. I too...

To sit at a café and watch visitors from all over the world pass before you is better than any beauty competition. Some people are truly awed, happy to see something that is nothing like their home and, sometimes, they are joyed to simply not be home. You can tell by their open-faced smile. They feel privileged to be there, and it doesn’t matter how many thousands of people have been here before them. For instance, I felt nothing but a thrill to see the Lion Gate at Mycenae Palace. Similarly to glimpse ancient paint high on a pillar in the Nile Valley and let’s not even discuss the toilets at Philippi. I was like a dog wagging its tail. Visitors like me, walk slowly, breath slowly, they even move our eyes slowly, all in fear of missing something, anything. Others are less happy. They prefer to take some good photos to show people back home or maybe bag a bargain. They want to see what is on offer to them. What they might extract from a place. They walk faster than the awed visitor,...