Yesterday I was delighted to walk on home soil again and to be welcomed and hugged by my son and two younger grandsons. I am now making up for lost time with them, staying in an apartment building next to Lake Macquarie, which is almost three hours train ride north of Sydney. It will be another nine days before I return to Melbourne to see my daughter, son-in-law and oldest grandson, my brother - who so kindly looked after my house, my mail and financial affairs all this time - and my friends.
It was not easy to leave my family and friends for so long. They are so precious to me - how I have missed them! And yet, whilst I was away, I had to discipline myself not to dwell on that or I could not have kept going on my adventure with such a positive spirit.
What I did not expect was the interest people have showed. Wherever I have gone, fellow travellers have been intrigued and even amazed that someone my age (72) would set out on her own to travel right around the world for eight months - and without going on a single flight. Quite a few have told others about me and introduced me to them as “that lady I told you about”. Many have wanted to know whether I travelled with open arrangements, going wherever I wanted when I wanted, or whether it was all arranged beforehand, and if so, who worked out my itinerary. Did I book it all online? Most said they thought I was “very brave”.
Why can't I fly?
One witty fellow passenger on one of the ships said to me “Well I can't fly either. That’s why I catch planes.”, which of course was greeted with peals of laughter from all of us. The truth is that in the year 2000, my ear specialist said that if I were to ever fly again I most probably will be totally deaf for the rest of my life. He continues to give me that warning. I have had ear problems since I was four years old. When I was just in my twenties I was totally deaf for several months. Believe me, I would never wish to repeat that experience. It was a completely socially isolating, dreadful time, like living in a sound-proof glass cage. I was constantly afraid that my young two-year old daughter might be hurt or scared and I would not know. To not be able to hear her and hence to communicate effectively with her at that crucial age was just awful.
What was the biggest challenge I faced?
The legacy of that time, despite several operations, is that I am totally deaf in one ear, which cannot be helped by any hearing aid. That was the big challenge for me on this long journey, as it was over my teaching career, especially as my hearing in the other ear is not so good either. What is it like to be totally deaf in one ear? I cannot tell where sounds come from. Who is calling out a greeting or asking me something? Where is that siren coming from? I have to constantly look around to work that out.
I have to concentrate very hard to hear people, especially those on my deaf side. Though I have not had any formal training in lip-reading, I watch their mouths all the time, trying to fill in the gaps. And I generally cannot make out announcements that are made in ships, trains, railway stations . . . and I may not even be aware of shouted warnings or approaching vehicles. And of course, I only hear everything, including musical performances, in ‘mono’, not stereo.
But I have never let my deafness rule me or define me or stop me from doing anything, though no doubt it tests everyone's patience and forbearance. I thank everyone for that.
Why eight months?
Australia is a vast island in the southern hemisphere. The only way to reach any other country if you cannot fly is to go by sea. But ocean liners and cruise ships only come to Australia for its summer months - arriving in October and departing in March. So I had to be prepared to leave in March and return in October. There was no question of me going on a cargo ship instead. For a start, they do not have any medical facilities on board. With my history of chest infections and associated asthma, I could not risk that. And besides, they would not enable me to see the many interesting countries along the way.
Why did I travel on my own? What difficulties did that present and how did I deal with them?
Apart from the expense, none of my family or friends could be away from all of their commitments and their own families and friends for so long. So if I was to realise my long-held dream of seeing all these wonderful places, I had to do it alone or not at all, even though solo travellers have to pay almost the same as couples wherever they go - on ships, on overnight trains and in hotels. This makes it far more expensive than it should be.
But this did present another big challenge. I had no-one ‘in my corner’ to check if I was alright, or to help me if I was in trouble. So I simply took as many precautions as I could.
First, when I travelled on ships, including river ships, I only went on escorted shore excursions, even though that was very expensive. I did not wander around unknown places on my own where I could help it. (On my train journeys I did have to do that, but they were in relatively safe places.) And the tour guides always must check to make sure no-one was left behind. Moreover, if an official shore excursion is delayed in returning to the ship, the ship cannot depart without you.
Second, when travelling about on land, I went on escorted coach tours where possible. So the only time I travelled completely on my own was when I was ‘re-positioning’ by train. This, however, was the aspect of the trip that worried me the most before I set off. What if I missed a train? It did not bear thinking about. How I managed to avoid that will be part of my next post.
Third, when travelling about a particular city on my own, I did not go on suburban trains or other forms of public transport. I only went about by taxi. As well, I was extremely careful with my luggage and anything I carried on my person, to reduce the likelihood of being robbed by pickpockets. (As it was, they managed to relieve me of a purse. Luckily it only contained a few euros.) More about that issue in my next post.
Of course, I also communicated with my family and growing number of friends by email whenever I could. With that and my blog, they could keep track of where I was and what I was doing. It also helped prevent a sense of loneliness and isolation. Mind you, apart from lugging around quite a heavy laptop wherever I went, that brought its own problems in terms of frustration with the technologies and the expense. The WiFi on ships, including river ships, was very expensive and very inefficient. Many a time I nearly 'tore my hair out'!
How was the trip organised? How long did it take to organise?
Ii is important to realise the trip had to be organised like a military operation because I did not have the luxury of a back-up of being able to catch a flight if I missed an important train connection or if I missed boarding a ship on time. So I could not possibly have wandered around as the fancy took me.
In fact, because I was to be away for so long, the trip took a year to plan and organise. For that I thank my brilliant travel agent:
Naomi Garrett
italk travel
Shop 2, 79 Hamilton Place
Mt Waverley, VIC, 3149
We spent many an hour discussing the plans, and poring over travel brochures, but it was Naomi who did all the investigating and booking. Naomi is so well-travelled herself, she was able to point me to opportunities and places I would not have otherwise known about. And I was so busy over that 12 months with writing commissions and other big commitments I would never had time to do all the organising myself. It was enough organising all the other things that were required - the renewal of my passport, the management of all my affairs for when I would be away, etc., etc.
Naomi continued to look after me whilst I was away, particularly with regard to all the train trips, as only a few of the tickets were available before I set out.
So if were not for Naomi, believe me, my trip would never have happened!
But one thing I did do before I left home that made all the difference in keeping track of what I was doing and ensuring that I was in the right place at the right time was to create a document with a table (not a spreadsheet!) summarising everything I was doing and all the arrangements. This of course was based on all the documents Naomi gave me and her own summary. I used colours and highlighting so I could see at a glance what I was doing each day and where I had to go and when. If you would like to see a copy of this, send me an email or give me your email address via a comment on this post. I will not be able to send this until after I reach home. I will annotate it to show you which hotels I would recommend, in the light of my experience of them. I will compare the different ships in my next post.
Also, we were only able to book some shore excursions before I set off. So as soon as I boarded all the other ships, I first headed to their shore excursion desks to book my shore excursions for that cruise.
Was it all worth it?
Of course it was! I have been on a steep learning curve discovering so much about so many places, but I loved every moment. Each place had its own unique character and its own fascinating story.
But most of all, I met so many wonderful people and experienced so much kindness right across the world.
This trip-of-a-lifetime was the most enriching, unforgettable, magical journey I have ever undertaken. I thank everyone who helped make it such a beautiful, worthwhile, life-changing experience.
I hope I will see at least some of the new friends I made on this journey in Melbourne some time! Remember - I cannot fly to you, except in my dreams.
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