Have you ever wanted to leave the office environment and never return?
Driving up to Manchester one autumn's evening in 1995, I decided something had to change.
The three hour journey from Leicester had turned into a six hour marathon, again.
It was cold, damp and desolate stuck in the endless lines of slow moving cars. In my briefcase sat an unsigned and rather overly negotiated contract extension for my job in Leicester. When I finally arrived in Manchester at 11pm, bored, hungry and miserable - I knew that I could not face another winter of living and working out of a suitcase. It was time for serious change.
A few weeks before, my train journey to London had endured several more hours than scheduled. The woman in the adjacent seat kindly allowed me to peruse her travel magazine when she stepped off the train at Luton. I had read my newspaper back to front and on the second time of reading, I found nothing new.
I reached over and killed a little time by flicking through the glossy magazine, but each time I thumbed the pages, my eyes returned to page 34 which advertised a five month trip to South and Central America. Setting off from Ushuaia in Argentina (the most southerly City in the world) and finishing in Mexico City. The itinerary read like a Who's Who of top travel destinations.
Buenos Aires, Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Punta Arenas, Pucon (Mount Villarica - 10,000 feet active volcano), Bariloche, Esquel, the Argentine lake district, Santiago, Valparaiso, La Serena, the Atacama desert, Arica, Nazca, Arequipa, Cusco, Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca, La Paz, Manaus, Angel Falls and so on...
Do you get the picture?
Travelling together in a flat-topped Volvo truck we would share the wide range of opportunities that the Americas had to offer. Having never done anything outrageous before and with the spectre of middle age looming, I realised that I had to do something different. Would I break the mould of my boring office life or step out bravely into an adventurer's world?
I was single, no obligations and I had the money. What is the point in having a big bank balance while life was passing me by? The following Monday morning, I handed my notice in. Contract discussions had been delayed and I had only ten working days to endure. I couldn't wait to leave that office - it seemed like forever.
Once the deed was done, I was walking on air. Skipping down the corridor and whistling 'El condor Pasa' - I never whistle...
It was a cathartic experience - no more endless miles up and down the M1, no more ironing shirts and resolving other people's problems... What a relief. Top priority on this project manager's list was buying outdoor gear, expensive sleeping bags, boots and all weather jackets.
For me, there was one special location that I knew would be the zenith of my journey, Machu Picchu in Peru...
If you want to find out exactly how my crazy decision turned out... then select the link below.
