Inspiration

The two things that most inspired me to get travelling. The history classes when I was but 6/7 years old at school. We learned about the pharaohs and ancient Egypt. I was genuinely fascinated. The images and photos stuck with me. I dreamed of the day I would see the River Nile and the pyramids. The day did come in June of 2000. History was my favourite class in school, right up till I was 14. At that point, the single worst teacher I had the misfortune to experience (I’ll name and shame him, Mr Wood – probably long since deceased) decided that we should should spend two terms studying the history of the school.

Admittedly, the school had a long and interesting history. But two terms? At the end of the second term, we had to select which subjects to study for GCSEs (I was the first or second year to switch from O Levels to GCSEs) and which to drop. Mr Wood would be teaching History again. So I dropped my favourite subject. To be fair, subsequent events meant that this did not really matter.

The second great inspiration was the Globe Trekker television series. I loved that show. I loved the theme tune. If ever there was a more upbeat tune on television than this one, then I haven’t heard it. I travelled the world from my bedroom, through Panasonic tv with the latest Nicam sound. Remember Nicam? And then I upgraded and travelled the world through a fancy Sony unit – I was an early adopter of the widescreen format. 

Im sure I’ve watched every episode. The one I’ve shared is perhaps the most influential. I watched this and thought, ‘I really must go see Sri Lanka’. So I did, and it remains one of my favourite countries. If I were to name my Holy Trinity of must visit places, Sri Lanka grabs a spot along with Mexico and Vietnam. Those three provide quite a nice spread of cultures.

The main point of this post though, is to alert you to the fact that Lonely Planet have launched Lonely Planet TV. With every episode of Globe Trekker, and much more. In better quality than the YouTube copy above. I have my binge watching sorted for a week or two…