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I scanned this first page of the 1992 Aussie road trip journal recently to email to Lachlan, and because my book is completely falling apart at the seams. I’ve been keeping it in a box because there are bits glued and taped in, and the adhesive isn’t working anymore! I flipped through the book for the first time in a very long time a couple of weeks ago and it made me laugh and cry, as these sorts of memory lane-ish activities tend to do.
This first page is actually the least interesting part of the road trip journal — I wrote long entries, doodled and pasted things on the following pages — but I wanted to show the post-it note glued into the book. Isn’t that how all modern-day road trips with strangers begin? With little square notes stuck or tacked to bulletin boards? I’m really glad I kept this one, though, it’s how I ended up in Scotland (and some other countries) in the first place.
I’m currently reading Timbit Nation, a book written by a Globe and Mail journalist who decided to hitchhike across Canada to experience his own country through the eyes of the locals — the locals who pick up hitchhikers, anyway. I’m thoroughly fascinated by this book, not just for the hitchhiking stories that bring back memories of my own crazy times spent with my thumb out on lonely roads in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Malaysia, but the political and cultural background information the author incorporates into his documented journey. It’s like a crash course in Canadian history mixed with travel journalism. Some parts are absolutely hilarious to me, because I can relate to some of the frustrations the author expresses about hitchhiking and some of the, erm, unusual characters he meets along the way.
Maybe one day I’ll think more seriously about putting some stories together — with a little more than weak tape and glue — but for now I’ll start with some here and there on my website before I get senile and not remember a thing… like about writing that bit from Day 4 of the road trip in Canberra: “…lost a treasured pair of yellow knickers…. where???” What??