The Scribe – Kirsten

From the corporate world of pharmaceutical research, to world traveller and food lover, to now amateur writer and blogger, this is my story.  Up until meeting Rob I had led a relatively sheltered life, pretty much staying within my comfort zone and sticking to things that I was familiar with.  I studied hard, found a good job after leaving university and started working my way up the corporate career ladder.  I was brought up with a love of the outdoors and camping but more often than not, our family holidays were spent going to the same beach town year after year, which holds very fond memories for me.  I did some sight-seeing of parts of South Africa when I accompanied my Dad to some out-of-town road running races that he participated in, but back then I never had the wish to travel or explore.  Nor did I think about doing any overseas travel when applying for my first passport to join a group of friends on a dive trip to Ponta de Ouro in Mozambique.

So when exactly did the travel bug bite?  That’s easy to answer. I was fortunate to be invited to a medical conference in Egypt in March 2008 and upon arriving in Cairo I was completely blown away by the sights, sounds and smells, that the whole way from the airport to the hotel, my face was pressed to the window of the car, mouth agape, just absorbing this completely different environment.  At the end of each day’s sessions, I couldn’t wait to escape the confines of the conference room to be outside, soaking up the atmosphere of this foreign land.  And of course it was during this trip that I bought my first fridge magnet, a camel, which is now joined by countless others adorning my Mom’s fridge.  Over the next couple of years, my work has taken me into Africa, a few countries in Europe, and to Thailand and the Philippines, with an occasional solo vacation in between, but I’ll be the first to admit these travel experiences weren’t completely fulfilling.  Up until meeting Rob my trips had always been according to planned itineraries, flights all pre-arranged, staying in good hotels.  I was a “package tour” kind of girl!

Then I was introduced to the backpacking, travel by the seat of your pants method that he had been doing for years and I was converted.  Through him I learnt that not all backpacker establishments are bedbug-ridden flea holes, nor is eating from a food cart on the side of the road a bad thing.  From not eating any hot or spicy food, I’m now one of the first to say, “I think this needs more chilli”.  Instead of a sight-seeing tour packed like sardines in a minivan, we hit the public transport with the locals and walk (or sometimes bike) to where ever we want to go.  Travelling with Rob, I’ve learnt to be more open-minded and patient.  I’ve learnt and am still learning what my boundaries are and how to push them.  Together we have become more physically active, having started running and doing yoga together.  He is my biggest supporter, and he was the one to encourage me to start this blog.  Together we are best friends and soul mates and I can’t wait to see where our walkabout takes us next.

The Photographer – Robert

Rob’s story is a little different to mine.  After spending his first 10 years growing up on a farm in Kwazulu-Natal, his parents decided to sell up and head to the coast of St. Francis Bay for a few years.  With there being no suitable schools in the area, he got his first taste of independence by attending a boy’s boarding school up until the age of 14.  Rob’s Dad had a love of boating, and whenever he got the chance Rob joined his Dad on his motor boat and hit the open sea, and thus instilled a love of the ocean in him.  This was cemented further when as a family, Rob and his parents, together with his younger brother and sister moved to Portugal to live on a boat and sail the Mediterranean.   So from an early age Rob was exposed to a completely different way of life, and had the opportunity to interact with many other cultures through his friends at the International School he attended.  His Mom also became a pro at Mediterranean cooking so his palate for international flavours developed very early on!

Rob’s last couple of school years were spent in Gibraltar, where after he joined the Tall Ship SeaCloud, a four-masted barque, as a deckhand.  Over the next seven years, he cruised the Mediterranean, the Atlantic and the Caribbean, working his way up to third officer.  In port, if not on duty, he was off the boat and exploring with his crew mates, seeing the sights and sampling the local fare.  It was through his visits to the various countries on SeaCloud’s itinerary that Rob learnt that every country’s food and culture were different and he couldn’t wait to move on to the next port to experience more of what each new destination had to offer.  But Rob admits that he grew up as a traveller when he left SeaCloud and started travelling independently.  He started working on container ships as third officer, and continued travelling by sea, but in between contracts he set off by himself to see what he could of the world.  He backpacked Namibia, New Zealand and South East Asia alone, and it was during these trips he says he found himself.  He learnt how to be more tolerant, accepting that some situations were out of his control, to take a deep breath and just let things be.  After leaving the container ships he joined the world of private yachting, captaining sailing vessels mostly in the Mediterranean, and then he met me!

He has discovered that travelling with a loved one has its pros.  Nothing beats sharing the joys of witnessing a spectacular sunrise over the Pacific, or enjoying a glass of wine around a campfire listening to the night sounds of the bush.  Road trips are now filled with conversation, rather than just the noise of the tyres on the tarmac, although Rob’s biggest complaint is that as a passenger I’m more interested in the road ahead of me, than looking and commenting on the surrounding countryside (in my defence I do look, I just sometimes have one eye looking forward too!).  We were offered a lift by a local woman and her American husband when waiting for a bus in an out of the way part of Samoa, and after exchanging pleasantries and hearing some of our story, their comment to us was “You two must really travel well together”.  And that statement epitomizes our journey.  We travel well together and it’s our hope and dream to continue doing so.