Post trip

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After the trip I read Heart of Darkness, the book which inspired the film Apocalypse Now. Although written in the times of colonial atrocities in the Congo, the section below captures well the feelings a long term traveller may have when returning to his home town. It certainly summed up mine pretty accurately.


I found myself back in the sepulchral city resenting the sight of people hurrying through the streets to filch a little money from each other, to devour their infamous cookery, to gulp their unwholesome beer, to dream their insignificant and silly dreams. They trespassed upon my thoughts. They were intruders whose knowledge of life was to me an irritating pretence because I felt so sure they could not possibly know the things I knew. Their bearing, which was simply the bearing of commonplace individuals going about their business in the assurance of perfect safety, was offensive to me like the outrageous flauntings of folly in the face of a danger it is unable to comprehend. I had no particular desire to enlighten them, but I had some difficulty in restraining myself from laughing in their faces so full of stupid importance.

(Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad 1899)

 

These feelings do fade a little with time but the previous seed of wanderlust that bore such ripe fruit still rises within. It's only a matter of gathering the accursed cash together before the next trip into the wonderful world of adventure begins again.

The next big trip will be a full circumnavigation but in a different vehicle. Next time I hope to be piloting a 70's Rolls Royce Silver Shadow across the deserts of the Sahara, through the jungles of Malaysia and the steppes of Russia. Of course made easier by full four wheel drive, big tyres and a wacking great diesel engine! (no hand winch either!) This won't be possible without a lot of assistance, the engineering alone will be a huge challenge. If the vehicle works well then it's hoped it could be entered in the Paris-Dakar race, if only to try and finish, as a good starting point for the world trip.

If you, or somebody you know has the contacts, skills or finances to get involved in a project like this then let me know on the contact page here. Sponsors certainly needed! Otherwise I'll probably end up driving around in a Unimog!

Unfortunately the reality of family life has meant that nothing has happened particularly out of the ordinary as of early 2009. Now, what were those lottery numbers....?

 

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