An excerpt from Anna Tietjen’s travel journal. Anna is the tour leader of OE68, a Wanderlust Adventures overland trip from London to Kathmandu.
~*~
Felixstow, England.
There are eleven passengers on the tour, and for a change the male/female split is about even. The ages range from 19 – 32 and there’s a mix of Australian, New Zealand and British passengers with one lone American. Like most trips, all the passengers seem pretty subdued at the moment, feeling their way with people who will become close friends or possibliy enemies for the next four months.
After checking off names, Greg and I loaded the luggage in the back locker and the passengers piled on board Alice (our truck). Home for the next few months. It should be a good trip. I’ve driven the route from London to Kathmandu a couple of times before. This is my second trip as leader. Greg, my co-driver is great to work with and thankfully, he doesn’t spend time trying to talk me into sex. Not gonna happen. Ever. It’s a personal rule. I don’t sleep with my co-driver or the passengers, although I might share a room to keep costs down. This is work. My personal life (Sebastian) is separate and that’s the way I like it.
Once we were on board the ferry, we left the truck and headed up to the passenger deck. I had a quick word with the passengers, trying to connect faces with names, and arranged a meeting point for them in the morning. That done, Greg and I went to the bar for a quick drink before finding our cabin. The passengers were on their own…
Wanderlust by Shelley Munro, coming to Cerridwen Press on 17 April 2008. Read an excerpt here.
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April 12th, 2008 at 9:22 pm · Link
VERY much looking forward to this one, Shelley. I loved travelling (before kids).
April 13th, 2008 at 12:37 am · Link
Thanks, Wylie. When the kids are older…
April 13th, 2008 at 1:17 am · Link
Great yarn, Shelley. I read the above and your excerpts and was impressed.
It’s always great to use our personal experiences. Gives us the chance to relive them again.
Amy
April 13th, 2008 at 1:59 am · Link
A quick drink is an essential.
April 13th, 2008 at 12:23 pm · Link
Looking forward to reading this !
April 13th, 2008 at 7:26 pm · Link
Thanks, Amy. There’s a lot of me in my upcoming release. Wanderlust was fun to write and you’re right – it brought back lots of great memories.
Jane – it sure is!
Thanks, Estella. I hope you enjoy it.