This is a question I get asked all the time. What country, which project, wildlife or community- which do I like best.
I generally tell people it's a situation akin to being a mother. You love all your children equally but you can see where some really shine and some may need a bit more of a helping hand. I’m lucky to have 3 smart, funny and independent children and despite each thinking the other is the favourite, they’re all my favourite in their unique ways.
The same more or less applies to the wide range of countries I’ve now visited. Up to 2018 I had only ever been to France and Spain, ‘exotic’ travel was for other people and definitely not for me.
Going to Thailand was such a big leap for me, even now I can hardly believe I did it. My parents were utterly horrified and felt they were now disgraced forever. What on earth would the neighbours say!
I still remember the feelings of fear tinged with excitement as I undertook that first flight to Asia. Arriving at the airport and finding my driver. The blurb from Bamboo had said I’d be met with a big hug, so when I saw the man holding my name on a sign I rushed over, embraced him and squeezed tight. Turned out he was a taxi driver doing pick-ups and he was more than a little taken aback by my Western exuberance. I'd love to say 'how we laughed' but it was actually quite uncomfortable and the language barrier raised its head for the first but definitely not the last time.
There were a lot of firsts for me on that trip to Thailand. Although I lived for many years in New York I still consider myself an Irish country girl. So Temples, jungles, monks, incense, vegans, yoginis, tribes, offerings were all totally foreign to me. And it was amazing, beyond amazing. I had found something that I didn't know I had been looking for. And it wasn't just the travelling or the novelties, it was living with and among the Lahu tribe or beside the rescued elephants that was transformative. On two occasions we all slept either in bunk beds or in a raised room and it was such a lot of fun. Well nearly always fun- you learn about snoring pretty quickly in a dormitory.
The biggest novelty of course was using a machete to cut sugar cane. In the blazing heat. For what seemed like interminable hours but was more likely about 20 minutes. The funniest moment for me was when I asked if we could help in the kitchen cooking a Thai meal. I had studied Thai food (Irish country girl remember- my staple is potato) before I went so I could have some idea of what to expect. So Jai kindly arranged for us to have a cooking lesson to make pad Thai. We prepped the vegetables and all took turns on the wok over an open gas ring in the back of the raised hut. The bit I was looking forward to the most was the spice mixture. I'd read all about it and was waiting to crush coriander, peel tamarind pods, measure out fish sauce and have the authentic recipe straight from the jungle. Well when they handed me a pack of Blue Dragon pad thai sauce and gestured to open it I was truly crestfallen. But it was a true lesson in expectations and going with the flow.
I have so many great memories of that first trip. Friends for life, different ways of looking at the world and a new unquenchable thirst for travel. To give back something when travelling, to genuinely get to know the community I visit at some level. And of course now it's taken on a wholly different meaning as I travel to find those communities who would benefit from purposeful tourism and help others to find new meaning in travel.
So which is my favourite? They're all my favourite and over the next few posts I'm going to share some of my other travels. But on August 25th I head away for the biggest adventure yet. 10 countries in 14 weeks- Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Namibia, Morocco, Borneo, Cambodia, Laos and Nepal. Each of these will hopefully be an EVA tour in the future once I find the right project and the right partner. I hope you'll continue to follow me on my journey and maybe even join me one day.
