Around the World in 106 Days

In October 2024 my wife and I left our little life in Devon on the huge high of our wedding to head on a three and a half month trip around the world. We started in India where we were blown away by the huge contrast of incredible wealth and extreme poverty. Then onto Nepal where we did ten incredible, mind blowing days of trekking in the Himalayas. We overcame challenges and fears, such as crossing terrifyingly narrow paths on fatally steep and fresh landslides, and the ever increasing fear of altitude as we climbed to 5100m to cross Larky La Pass. With a complete change of approach we then spent 3 weeks on the tourist trail of Thailand enjoying the amazing food and beautiful beaches. The sea life was incredible! And despite the great unpleasantness of standing on a sea urchin swimming with a black tip reef shark is certainly one of the animal highlights of the whole trip. Next stop was New Zealand - 6 weeks, two islands and 6000km. The magic of our New Zealand trip was that despite the hours of driving, which would normally have left us feeling exhausted, it in fact left us feeling more at peace and invigorated than ever before. Every turn and twist in the road and each crest of a hill opened up huge skies and incredible views and landscapes only exaggerated in their majesty by the huge space and emptiness of the islands. Nothing for miles but untouched and seemingly unadulterated landscape. The image at the top of this post is lake matheson on the south island of New Zealand. Our final stop was the much contrasting bustling city of Sydney, Australia. We stayed with some lovely relatives and this last week or so was an amazing opportunity to relax, see the city and drive a little way out of town to experience the bush. 

All in all it was an amazing trip, unforgettable and ultimately life changing. However, one of the key takeaways for me, which came as a bit of a surprise, arose from the passion which emanated from all of the people we met along the way. The places we visited were self evidently amazing, but it was the local peoples passion for their ‘place’ that opened our eyes to the small details and often overlooked parts of where we were. The opportunity to spend time off of the beaten path and see things that most tourists don’t have the privilege to notice. What this did for me was to inspire me to my own local area. I know how lucky I am to live in Devon and especially to be on the doorstep of Dartmoor and wedged between its foothills and the stunning south Devon coast. Yet as the people we met expounded all of the incredible information about where they lived upon us, it dawned on me just how for granted I take the extraordinary place that we live. So, very much like the story of the Alchemist I have travelled the world in search of treasure only to discover that it lies buried on my doorstep and that all I need do is put on my coat, hitch up the dog to his lead, and head out the door to once again be invigorated by the same passion that my friends around the world share for each of their own special little corners of our world.