Red Bikini
Loading Map
London,
England,
United Kingdom
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Red Bikini? Yes red bikini Steve mused..."Round the World in a Red Bikini". I stared across the table at Steve, his expression was deadly serious..I began to realise just how big the divide between men and women really was. Steve and I were sat in Tas, a Moroccan restaurant near Waterloo station, going through possible themes for my forthcoming trip. Steve was a close friend of mine - originally from Newcastle. We'd met in Floriditas at a corporate function night. I'd had a few too many Mohitos in quick succession and was looking for someone to dance Salsa with - there were just a few couples braving the floor.. and no one looked the type who could dance . My account manager had then spotted Steve wearing a trendy white shirt, and led me over to him. It turned out he'd never danced salsa in his life but he bravely let me show him some steps and we managed to accomplish something resembling salsa. We'd been friends ever since.
"Men will love it" - Steve stated proudly with a degree of self satisfaction. .... "But whats wrong with dancing round the World?" I asked in desperation, trying to get the focus back to the real point of the trip. I thought my idea - or rather an idea I'd hijacked from one of my best friends Annabel several weeks ago over a few glasses of wine, was rather a good one. Combining dance with meeting new people in different countries. One difficulty would be finding the dance partners in each country - knowing how reluctant men often are to dance...but not insurmountable. It was a good idea but it could mean a lot of countries.
I'd recently been made redundant - well two days ago precisely. IT Projects had apparently been "diminishing" in the Company and there was no longer the same requirement for IT Project managers. I'd been with the Company for almost 20 years (on track for the gold watch or whatever) and had held a lot of different roles in the Company. I'd loved my time there but this was an ideal opportunity, too good to miss - the timing was perfect as I'd just done up my flat, I had no ties, nothing to stop me. ...
So some twenty years on from when I first embarked on a world trip after Uni, with two girlfriends I was about to embark on a second big trip. Back then I had been more naive, and although I'd spent six months on a kibbutz I was still new to travel. We'd traveled to India arriving at Midnight in Delhi airport without booking any accommodation. Even worse, one of the girls - Louise, had missed the first flight out (she got her times confused) and we'd not met up with her again until two weeks later when we found her slumped against a pillar in Delhi airport after the family she was staying with had treated her to a special alst night meal . Back then we had traced the familiar GAP route - searxching for tigers in India, lounging on the beautiful and back then unspoilt beaches of Thailand - the cool Cameron highlands of Malaysia - breakfast at Raffles in Singapore - working and circumventing Australia from Sydney to Perth, up the West Coast to Darwin in an old Holden van, hitching through Kakadu to the east coast to Cape Trib and back to Sydney. I'd done the final leg alone - through New Zealand trekking round ski resorts staying in gorgeous hostels, then the last 3 days in Hawaii staying with other travelers, sharing a private house in the North of the island. I realised then that you are never on your own for very long.
This time I was planning to travel alone (at least to start with) with a bit more money in my pocket but still intending to make it last by using hostels, surfing couches and staying with contacts where possible. I was also gonna be taking a laptop - to keep a record of my travels...I was hoping to finish in St Anton - where I'd spend a ski season - a dream I've had for a long time. ...
