Living the dream..

10,000 miles, 22 days, nine different countries. What effect did traveling across the globe have on Gary Merrill? 

When he quit his job after eight years at Cardiff University in May 2008 and set out to travel to Taiwan traveling only by train and boat taking a total of 22 days to get there. What effect did this journey have on Gary? In a bid to seek adventure Gary Merrill decided to travel 10,000 miles across the globe and leave his friends, family and home.

Gary had a great job in a fantastic university but he was bored with it. He hadn’t travelled before, and he thought if he didn’t do it now, then he wouldn’t ever do it, so he took a leap of faith and took the chance to travel. Understandably he felt if he could do this then he could do anything. so he did it. It wasn’t until he got to his third or fourth day of his drastic decision when it had really hit him that he left home, quit his job and with only a single ticket with him, he had no idea when he would be going home. It could be one month or even six. There were a lot of unknowns on this journey but he was committed to see it through.

He wanted to make the journey using only trains and boats, he doesn’t enjoy flying, he finds it claustrophobic and not only that there was the global factor as well and thought about the carbon footprint. He wanted to do something radical and a plane would have been to easy, if you travel by train you meet different people and different cultures, its dealing with the unknown and with whatever may come your way.

On his journey he stopped in various different countries such as Brussels, Moscow and Tokyo. All with had different atmospheres and culture. His train in Brussels was as he described ‘sleek and fast’ but once he got on his train in Moscow it was a hot stuffy carriage, he really was experiences completely different surroundings during his journey. These surroundings did make him appreciate the UK more, not having the a mobile phone or the food he’s used to, in traveling it made him realise how good his life is at home and how billions of people in the World are suffering more than he is, which is pretty pro-founding on a journey like this.

Many would think meeting people in a situation in different countries could be difficult and you could feel isolated on your journey when your traveling alone, yet Gary said language wasn’t a barrier, he was able to mix with locals and see everyones kindness and generosity in his visits, the conversations involved talk of food, love and life. Topics of politics weren’t brought up as food, love and life are the things that unite people.

Gary’s mission was to travel to Taiwan without flying. He had no idea he would meet such interesting people and he especially remembers one man fondly, a Russian soldier named Slavich. He seemed cold at first, but one night he brought brandy and chocolates and shared his warmth with Gary, they spoke about their homes and lives, Slavich showed him photos of his girlfriend who he hadn’t seen in a year. He showed everyone has a story and his positive personality is what kept him going and hit home with Gary. He knew it would be easier to get along with people if you didn’t stereotype and this proved that thought perfectly.

When returning Gary’s perspective had changed from at the start of his journey, he had an empty feeling, he wasn’t illuminated, the realisation of no job, no home, no savings had got to him. He says he thinks the pessimism he had felt was from his mum and although he had to tackle finding a new job and home, he remained optimistic, if he journey taught him anything there are more people out there with worse problems then him.

The one thing I think that this journey really taught Gary is that ‘No matter what tomorrow brings, it’ll be okay.’ Paul Therox’s conclusion of optimistic fatalism and although sometimes he thought himself a pessimist but the experience he had proved is that destiny in life is to be positive and not optimism. You have to trust the good in people and that people do help you out and that you do have to put some trust in human kind. So when looking back at what he would change about his journey, one thing came to mind rathe than second class he would try third or fourth, just to make it a bit harder.