When distance ≠ depth of journey
(Or, inspiration for raising adventurous girls)
Welcome to NE Where, a weekly travel-focussed journal for curious people. This piece is free for everyone today, but it will be archived in the coming week. For less than $1 a week paying subscribers also have unlimited access to NE Where’s growing archive, which is packed with inspiration and ideas for an unforgettable trip to Bali, stories about exceptional women, and other tales about interesting people and places. Thank you for joining me on this journey!
Dear NE-One
It’s just over a month since I last dropped you a line but, with the madness of those year-end endings and the new-year beginnings, it feels like a lifetime ago – and so before I get back to writing regular NE Where pieces I wanted to drop you a quick note to reconnect. These days we’re inundated by demands on time and attention, and I am so grateful that you’ve chosen to to receive NE Where in your inbox. Thank you!
I thought I’d open 2024 by sharing a video that has me grinning madly every time I watch it. You’ll find it below – but first, the back story:
Do you remember the Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Lives interview I ran with Shale Biggs, a few months ago? (It’s here , if you missed it.) Shale is one of South Africa’s top adventure racers and through our conversation it dawned on me that while some of us travel to the ends of the earth in search of new experiences, the depth and impact a journey will have cannot be determined by the distance covered.
The video below is a brilliant example of that.
Early this month Shale, her husband Shaun and their three daughters – aged just 6, 8 and 10 – hiked a pretty tough two-day trail that had them traversing a sea of steep sand dunes, across dairy farms and through lush coastal forests. They slept under the stars (for most of the night), feasted on trail snacks (and condensed milk) and found whale bones and other treasures from the sea. The trail head is less than a three-hour drive from their home and they might have walked ‘only’ 38km (yes, those little legs walked every step of the way), but the memories made and the impact that this walk will have on the little girls in particular will, I am certain, last a lifetime.
Go on, take a look – I’m pretty sure that, like me, you’ll be grinning all the way through. All that happiness, and that beautiful sense of freedom…
Video © Shaun Biggs, and shared here with his permission.
The Biggses walked the Alexandria Hiking Trail, which is in the marine section of South Africa’s Addo Elephant National Park. You can find more details on the national parks website, here.
I’ll be back at the end of the month with an OWEL interview I’ve been hanging onto since November. Here’s to a brilliant 2024… may the adventure continue!
Until next time
In a reading kinda mood? Put the kettle on…
Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Lives: “I want to do things that challenge my destiny” – Emma Vånemo, who walked solo across Africa
Dervla Murphy: The solo adventurer considered the greatest female travel writer of all time
Borneo: This is not a story; this is the truth
Luang Prabang – in 5 photos
Apo Whang-Od: The woman who speaks the language of skin
Author interview: Mark Eveleigh on his novel Driftwood Chandeliers