A Bicycle Trip to Great Britain Changed My Life

My first big adventure opened my eyes to the world

I was a Girl Scout from start to finish. I started in Brownies in the first grade and continued to be a member until I graduated from high school in 1977.

There were national and statewide opportunities for travel through the Girl Scouts. My high school friend Janet went on several of these trips and came home excited to tell us all about her adventures. She inspired me to go on a bicycle trip to Great Britain with a few teenage girls from our state of Ohio and two experienced adult leader. I was the oldest girl in the group, being seventeen, and had just graduated from high school.

At the time, I had never been out of the United States, and rarely out of the state of Ohio. I assumed at the time that my life was “normal” and everyone lived like me and the people I knew.

One of the great things about the trip is that we earned most of our own money and paid our own way. This was a great lesson in independence and self-sufficiency for the young women involved. The group earned money mostly by having yard sales and selling stuff that was donated by our families and friends. We started going on bicycle tours to get in shape. The girls learned about how to change a tire and make minor repairs. All of us purchased bags to carry all of our belongings on our bicycles.

The two women leaders did an excellent job preparing us in every way. They had experience going on many similar trips and were excellent role models for a group of Girl Scouts.

After preparing for about six months, we flew to Gatwick airport in London.

This was about 45 years ago, so I don’t remember all the details. Some memories are stronger than others. We stayed almost every night in youth hostels, which I mostly enjoyed. One fun activity was cooking our own meals in the kitchen at the hostel and getting to meet tourists from other countries. Some of the hostels were very beautiful and close to exciting and historic places.

I remember walking around and looking at Oxford University and the town of Oxford. I also remember that the town of Bath was very old and had beautiful buildings.

One of the things that made the biggest impression on me was how old everything was, as compared to the United States. We visited castles and churches that existed back in the Middle Ages. The group went to see William Shakespeare’s house and a play at the Playhouse in Stratford-Upon-Avon. I was enchanted to see the fairytale cottages in the Cotswolds.

Stonehenge was a little disappointing. We biked several hours into the countryside until we came to this rock formation out in the middle of nowhere. I was not very impressed.

Sometimes, we needed to go to places that were too far to bike to, so we rode on the train. I believe that’s how we got to Scotland. I remember looking around Edinborough, and the big castle on a hill stands out in my memory.

Even though it was summertime, it was cold in Scotland, even during the day. Fortunately, we went shopping at a wool goods store, and everyone bought a sweater to wear.

One of the strongest memories I have is the day that we visited the Loch Ness. The day we were there, it was dark and cloudy, and kind of spooky looking. It’s not very close to any towns and we were the only people in sight. After visiting, I can see why people have imagined that there is a monster living there.

I also remember riding up a bunch of hills and seeing many pastures full of sheep.

The last few days were spent staying at an international Girl Scout house and touring London. We actually visited the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey, where many people were actually buried inside the church. I had never heard of such a place before this.

After four weeks of touring, we flew back to Ohio.

I knew that this had been a great adventure and learning experience for me, but I didn’t realize how much I wanted to see more of the world after this experience.

I don’t think I had met many people at that time who could be called world travelers. When I imagined what my life would be like at age 62, I imagined that I would be a little like my grandmothers who had lived all of their lives in Ohio. I never in my wildest dreams expected that I would be living in Mexico.

That fall, when I went off to college at Ohio State University, I planned to study psychology. I didn’t like my first few classes in psychology and changed my major to anthropology after taking a couple of classes. I had no idea at the time what I was going to do with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology. Even though I never worked as an anthropologist, I believe that hearing my professors talk about tribal people in exotic places got me excited for a life of adventure.

After I graduated from Ohio State, I wasn’t sure how I was going to make a living. I decided to get a Master’s degree in Business Administration, but still had trouble finding the job that I wanted. At age twenty-five, I started a Ph.D. program in Marketing and ended up working for twenty-five years as a marketing professor.

My job as a professor gave me occasional opportunities to travel. I went to conferences all over the United States and a few out of the country.

One summer, a professor in Hungary offered me a free apartment to stay in at a university if I wanted to come and visit. Of course, I took him up on the offer. For the first few days, I stayed in a terrible hotel in Budapest. It smelled like the toilet and was not very comfortable. I tried to get out and go sightseeing as much as possible. Things got better when I traveled by train to the university town of Pecs. When I was there, I was able to make a few friends. The professor had me over for lunch with his family a few times. There was a really nice art museum there. Overall, it was mostly a fun and interesting trip.

My biggest adventure was teaching for a couple of semesters at a university in Malaysia.

The first time I went to Malaysia, I stopped for a few days of sightseeing in Tokyo, Japan. I didn’t know anybody and didn’t meet anyone there who could speak English. When I was hungry, I went to the convenience store where I could pick out a drink and a sandwich without having to talk to anybody. I developed a method of traveling by train around the city and not getting lost. I would get on a train and look out the window until I saw something interesting, and then I would get off. After walking around and looking at stores, parks, and coffee shops, I would get on the same train route, but going the opposite way until it got to my “home” station.

After about a week in Tokyo, I flew to Malaysia. On the first night, I met a guy in the karaoke bar who ended up becoming my husband and the father of my son. I wrote a story about it.

My future husband and I traveled all over Malaysia together. I spent a lot of time with his family members in Penang.

After I was done teaching, we traveled to many places on the island of Borneo, like Kuching, Brunei, and Kota Kinabalu.

Many years later, I retired and moved to Mexico, where I live today. Moving to Mexico and spending time here has been another great adventure. I have written several stories about my life here.

I haven’t had much extra money for travel in the last couple of years. At age 62, it’s also physically harder for me. I have a bad back and carrying luggage around is getting more difficult every year. There are still many places I would like to see.

Since I can speak a little Spanish, one of the next places I would like to go to is Spain. I would also be interested in visiting some other countries in Central and South America.

I am looking forward to having many more adventures in the future!