Write about a Challenge!! I have had so many challenges in my life – it is hard to choose which one to write about.  This is what is asked of participants in the Ultimate Blog Challenge on Day 6.  “Today can be another teaching moment – Share with your visitors a valuable lesson you learned that helped you overcome a challenge you were facing. As you share this lesson, tell your story of what your problem was and what the outcomes was.”

One challenge I could write about is a little raw for me still, so I won’t go there.  This story is about a huge challenge that I took on.  I left my husband after 43 years of marriage.  I won’t go into the details, but I had been struggling for a while, and on my various journeys – the Irish trip and the teaching journeys in China and South Korea, I learned that I could manage on my own.  It wasn’t easy initially.  I felt guilty about leaving my husband, though I suspect I was seen by friends and family to be quite comfortable and confident about my decision.  Behind closed doors it was different.

Still, after I left my marriage, I did some house sitting. I had little more than my suitcase, my computer, and a few personal items, and no car.  Luckily my house sits came with a car.  As I was not able to find work, I studied. So back at Uni with lots of work to do, I managed to keep myself busy.

After graduation a couple of years later, I was at a cross-roads.  My father had died, and my mother was in a nursing home.  I had inherited some money and had been able to buy a new car.  I reflected on one of the items on my “Bucket List” – I had always wanted to travel by car or caravan around Australia.  It was something my ex and I had discussed.  I decided to do it on my own.

The Plan

Whenever I told anyone about my plan, I was actively discouraged.  It was dangerous.  I shouldn’t do it.  A former policeman almost lost his temper with me warning about the murder in the centre of Australia.  Click here to read about it.

I gave myself four weeks to plan it.  I bought

• a tent (a five man tent because I am tall and felt that I needed to be able to stand up in it.
• sleeping back and inflatable bed
• various foodstuffs
• two-way radio

I studied maps and found a house sit job in Adelaide for 3 weeks.  I studied strange places to stay – apart from camping grounds.  I set myself some rules – no driving at night (didn’t want to crash into cattle, kangaroos, camels or goats in the outback!), no going to the hotel at night, being careful about any invitations I might get etc.

Adelaide – Brighton Jetty. I learned to swim not far from here.

The Trip

In November 2012, I set off spending my first night in an underground bunker, used for storage of ammunition during World War 2.  I arrived back in Brisbane on April 30th, 2013.

I am not going to say much more about the journey here, as it is written about in another blog, but I am here to say that I survived it all – taking 5 months and spending time with family, and friends around the country, driving some 35000 kms, and surviving.

What did I learn?  What lessons did I learn?  I learned that I could do it. I learned that it was not safe to stay in a tent on my own.  The tent, sleeping bag, and two-way radio weren’t needed.  My rules stood me in good stead, though one night I did break one.  I’d not calculated that on a dusk boat trip in the far north of Western Australia, I had to drive home in the dark – dodging cattle and kangaroos. It was scary, but I managed to get back to the motel safely.  I learned that I could live a very frugal life.

I did it!  Me! Alone!

(ps.  the tent and the sleeping bag have not been used as yet!!!)

And guess what!!  I am planning another trip.  Maybe only 6000 kms, this time,, but mid August I set off again.