This talk was generally agreed by those present to have been one of the most memorable in recent years. Keith and Tania described how they gave up their careers when both in their twenties and embarked on the journey of a lifetime. During the trip, they became expert at taking excellent photographs and supported themselves by selling them to good quality publications.

They didn’t do things by halves. In May, 1983, they sold everything they owned and left home on a secondhand motorcycle to see the world, expecting to travel for 4 years before they ran out of money. However it was almost 17 years before they returned home, having travelled more than 250,000 kilometres through 98 countries and worked their passage on cargo ships across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Having made one circuit of the world by motor bike, they decided that they would like to see the parts that, because of changes in the Soviet Union, had become more readily accessible following the fall of communism since they started their first lap.

 

At this stage, their plans were thwarted by the first Gulf War. To avoid travelling by land across a war zone, they bought an old wooden sailing boat in Cyprus. Knowing nothing about sailing, or boat repairs, they bought the boat for £2,500 – the last of their savings – filled the holes, dismantled the motorcycle, stored the pieces on board and prepared to set sail. On discovering that the route through the Suez Canal would entail greasing an almost unending series of palms with “baksheesh”, they decided to change direction and circle the world in a westerly direction. Thus they sailed across the Atlantic to Barbados and then spent 4 ½ years cruising in the Caribbean. They then entered the United States through Florida, where they unloaded and reassembled the motorcycle which, despite substantial corrosion, lasted them for the rest of the trip. Having sold the boat, they crossed over to the Far East and rode a third of the way around the planet through the former Soviet Union back to Europe.

This was a superb evening enjoyed by all who attended and was said by some to be the best talk the MCA has ever staged during their time as members. We are indebted to Keith and Tania for their persistence in driving to Manchester from Southern Leicestershire via the M6 on a day when some businesses in Coventry were closing at lunchtime because snow was seriously impeding road transport.

ST