Joining a women’s tour to do this trip was a great idea – It is a regular on the Bushwise Women Calendar. I get to enjoy a trip like this on my own, but not on my own. We began to get to know each other – Yvonne – the tour leader and owner of Bushwise Women, who lives in Northern NSW, her friend Fiona from Adelaide, Sam from the Blue Moutains west of Sydney, Gwen from Christchurch NZ and me from Waipu, NZ. Read more

A sleepless night before heading off to France – hadI not quite caught up with the timezone and also the anxiety about being on my own and not speaking the language – or perhaps just about being on my own full stop. It seems like aloneness moments are going to be frequent experiences on this trip – I guess to be expected by this relentlessly communal person on a 4 month journey alone. Read more