‘O
ne of the things that I remember strongly is how things changed so much at borders. You
cross a line on a map and things are different; you go through zones of time back as far as the
Middle Ages. In the Ukraine it was like being on the set for Dr Zhivago; everyone was still
ploughing the fields with horses and everything else seemed to be being done by hand - back
breaking work. I learned though that people around the world are pretty much the same; they
want a house to sleep in, food on the table, a better life for their kids and a little bit of money on
the side. We in the west live in a very bling bling society and I think it’s awful that people expect
so much. Ewan has become an ambassador for UNICEF as a result of the trip.’
‘Our ideal was to set off early in the morning and stop early afternoon so we could relax and kick
around a bit, but that almost never happened. The days we did manage to stop before nine at
night were special, and a few times we found ourselves in amazing spots that seem to have been
put there at just the right time for us to enjoy. It was those times that taught me that camping
was better than staying in hotels; I’d started off with a real fear of camping. I’d hardly ever done
it and don’t like creepy crawlies. Ewan and I started off sleeping in the same tent but after a
while we realised that even though we are such good mates, we needed our own space when we
were together twenty four hours a day.’ Charley laughed and said, ‘The tent really has to be big
enough to get changed in too; it’s your home.’
‘Ewan once said to me that he’d realised that though the three of us were doing the trip together
we were all seeing it in a completely different way. This was a major thing about the trip and was
a real advantage; we always had loads to talk about because we were seeing each day through
our own eyes and with our own thoughts. We are very different people and sometimes that
caused problems. I make fairly rapid decisions but Ewan likes to take a little more time and I
would get niggled with him because sometimes there just isn’t the time to think something
through, you just have to go for it. We both have to take responsibility for bad decisions though.’
Charley wasn’t prepared to elaborate on that point.
He did go on to say that Ewan was a terrific travel partner. ‘He has a brilliant way of expressing
himself and he’s a very generous guy. He does have some really black moods but he knows that
and can talk about them.’ When I asked him how he thought Ewan sees him as a travel buddy
Charley rolled straight out with, ‘Short fused, but um, maybe happy go lucky, and um, positive;
able to see the good side of things. The trip has taught me how to handle that short fuse; I’m
grateful, and trying with it.’
One of the pressures we set on ourselves was a time limit. It was really hard to stick to it but both
Ewan and I were both conscious of our families at home, and of the fact that neither of us could
afford to be out of work for too long. We think that people who normally set off to ride the world
allow more time but I suppose that is why everyone who rides around the world does it
according to their own circumstances and dreams. It would have been nice to do it over a year
but in the end the time limit became part of the challenge for us. At times, the limit gave us the
will, plus urge to get up and on the move. Sometimes we really needed that spur; you get
incredibly tired from some sections of a trip like this. You get real low moments and you need all
the help you can get, some of which you find from personal reserves or talents. When conditions
get particularly hard, you’ve crossed the same river four times and in between you’ve been stuck
in bogs, it all gets absolutely miserable and then you dive down into that place where I suppose
every overlander has been. It was often Ewan that helped me out of that place and I think that I
did the same for him. We compensated for each other a lot and were dependant on each other.
There was always the risk that we’d set off on this trip as best friends, but that it could end in a
very opposite sort of way. We have ended up with a life’s bond that will always be there;
sometime even now we catch each other’s eye and know exactly what each of us is thinking;
that’s quite amazing.