In previous Chrissy Facts, I may have hinted that the love of my life and my husband, Steve is a traveler. He has shown me parts of the world that I’d never dreamed of visiting and taught me not to be afraid of adventure. Since I met him in 2002, we’ve had some grand adventures, visited some amazing places and created fantastic memories. I don’t think I mentioned that I am a reluctant flyer.
Planes make me very anxious. Not just a little anxious but break out in a cold sweat anxious. Many a time, poor Steve has pried his hand from my deathly grip after takeoff and landing. I suspect he probably has fingernail marks and bruises where I’ve gripped his hand so hard in absolute terror. I may look calm and serene to everyone else but I’m filled with fear when we fly. Sometimes the fear is so great that I am physically ill.
As you might imagine, a fear of planes can make travel a little challenging. Especially when you live in an isolated big country like Australia. We are so far away from the rest of the world. To travel to New Zealand to see his family, it’s is a four hour flight for us (closer than our most western capital city, Perth). If we want to venture further afield, it’s a minimum of seven hours in the air to Asia, 14 hours to the USA, 30 hours to Turkey, Over 14 hours to the middle-east and then a further five or six hours to Europe. So you get the picture…
You might wonder why someone who is reluctant to fly agrees to travel.
There are a couple of reasons. Firstly, Steve loves to travel. He is happiest when he is wandering round a new place with his camera capturing the sights. The joy on his face when his hours waiting for an elusive sunset photo is just magical. I love sharing his happiness. Experiencing a little fear is a small sacrifice if he experiences happiness.
Secondly, you learn so much when you travel, not only about the places you visit but about yourself. We usually travel independently – no tours and just loose plans. Sometimes things don’t quite go to plan so you need to come up with solutions “on the fly”. Some solutions really test you and push you to the limit. I never in a million years thought I would ever sleep on a bench in a Ho Chi Ming City park (Vietnam) with my eight year old daughter because we arrived too early to check into any hotels. Yes we survived.
Of course, you see cool stuff and meet wonderful people too. If you’re interested in finding out more about our travel adventures, visit Steve Graham Photos on Facebook. Steve has posted some of his best shots.
Then there are the trains.
I LOVE train travel MORE than I dislike air travel. Most holidays of our vacations include train journeys. This means fewer flights. No traffic congestion. Sea sickness isn’t an issue either. There is something incredibly soothing about the slow rock of the train as it meanders through rolling hills, vast deserts, small villages and towns.
Some of our best experiences and funniest travel stories involve trains… Scrambling to find your carriage and chasing a porter who had absconded with my friend’s suitcase in the chaos that was Jaipur train station (India) was hysterically funny. Dodging the cows and Monkeys on the platform as we boarded the New Delhi train to Varanasi was a real eye opener. It was fun playing charades with the chef in the Beijing-Jiayuguan Train Dining Car… we so were hungry, couldn’t read the menu and no one in the carriage could speak English. Charades was the only way to communicate. The locals got a kick out of the Tourist Policeman strutting round like a chicken. On reflection, he might have been trying to be Mick Jaggar. By the way, the meal was awesome and I think it was chicken. ( Jiayuguan is the western end of the Great wall of China.)
It was pretty relaxing, playing cards with our backpacker companions as we meandered through the Vietnamese demilitarized zone on our Hanoi to Saigon journey. And yes, we remembered to “Mind the Gap” on the London Tube. The New York subway is an experience that I won’t forget anytime soon.
Strangely, we actually don’t have many photos of us on trains – I found this one of my beloved on the Kuranda Railway in Far North Queensland (Australia). It was the most beautiful journey to Cairns on a lovely old steam train past rushing waterfalls and lush rain forests. A perfect way to spend a day!
My goal is to travel on the Orient Express one day. We might need a lotto win before that happens. Everyone has to have a dream!
