Spending nearly a decade on the move gave me a deeper understanding of the importance of conversation, people’s boundless generosity – and my limitations
I have often felt as if I was born 100 years too late. There was a time when satellites weren’t whizzing above us and everything had yet to be discovered or filmed. Growing up, it seemed as if all the great adventures had happened before I was born. But in 2013 I discovered that – although it had been attempted – no one had made an unbroken journey through every country without flying. I had a shot at becoming the first to do it.
I was fascinated that such an adventure was still out there, untouched. However, I was in my 30s, I had just met a wonderful woman, my peers were having their first children (and in some cases their second) and I had a 12-year career in shipping and logistics. But I couldn’t let the idea go. So, at 34, I set off – and didn’t return home until almost a decade later. These are the lessons I learned along the way.
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