Offshore Odyssey: Insight into My Father's International Journeys

Offshore Odyssey: Insight into My Father's International Journeys

The Big Journey: My Father's Epic, Pocket-Change Adventure

In 1980, a mere £1,800 was all it took for my dad, Peter Hare, to embark on an epic, two-year-long travel spree that spanned fifteen countries. With only a backpack and a dozen bills in his pocket, he journeyed through cities, towns, jungles, and mountains, embracing raw, real experiences.

This grand adventure was part of New Zealand's cherished tradition known as the "Big OE" - the big overseas. It's a rite of passage for young adults in New Zealand, a chance to explore the world when the island is often isolated due to its close relationship with Australia and geographic distance from other continents. Common travel destinations include London, New York, Queensland, France, Melbourne, and Italy.

When my father began his journey, the law required citizens to take no more than NZ$2000 abroad. Keeping costs minimal was essential, as the luxurious hotels and resorts we associate with vacationing were not in the cards. Instead, he stayed at youth hostels, slept in shared rooms, camped, and cooked his meals. The conditions were far from comfortable, but to him, traveling was never about splendor; it was about the experiences.

He kicked off his adventure in London, England. With only £800 from his New Zealand assets after currency conversion, he had to work to make ends meet. Life there was tough, and he lived in a cramped room with fellow travelers from New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa. His meals consisted of canned vegetables and a prized vegetable pie - tomatoes being the cheapest.

Next on his itinerary was Spain, where my father, an avid lover of religion and religious spaces, toured historically Muslim regions like Granada, Seville, and Cordoba. However, he soon learned that most of the Muslim population had long been forced to flee the country under religious tensions. survive. In Cordoba, he visited the Mezquita-Catedral De Cordoba, a stunning reminder of the region's multi-faith past.

The Spain he encountered was still marred by ethnic tensions. My father observed armed police wielding machine guns, a sign of ongoing problems with the Basque people. This was his first taste of instability in the regions he visited.

After a stint in Portugal, my father fell in love with Italy, where he appreciated the locals' humor and lighthearted approach to life. He was particularly enamored with sculptures like Michelangelo's David and the religious sites requiring modest attire for visitors. In Greece, similar dress codes were enforced at religious sites, respecting regional customs.

However, his visit to Turkey proved both thought-provoking and unexpected. During a Turkish coup d'etat in the 1980s, my father was instructed to remain in his hotel at all costs.overthrew the civilian government. For three days, he and six strangers shared a room, reflecting the turmoil in the city. Military jets roared overhead, adding to the unrest. After the lockdown, he continued onto Istanbul, where he joined a group of German university students. Together, they explored the city, often choosing their destinations based on the city's unique architecture.

Throughout his travels, my father came across women who faced challenges that he did not. One instance stick out to him- a German student traveling alone. Sadly, such independence wasn't widely accepted, and she had to pretend to be married to protect herself from harassment.

He eventually found himself at home in Ankara, Turkey, staying with a Turkish family. Despite their optimism about moving to Australia, they couldn't help him, as he admitted he had no idea how to facilitate such a move. In a shared taxi, a woman spoke to him in Turkish, assuming he was Turkish. Frustrated, she snapped, "Are you stupid?" He later learned of the altercation from a friend.

After a brief trip back to Greece, my father moved on to Regensburg, Germany, where finding an affordable place to stay was a challenge. He had to settle for a shared small toilet located in a corner stairwell. Finding work in London, he became a substitute elementary school teacher, filling in for absent teachers in various subjects. Here, he remembered teaching Bangladeshi immigrant children and taking them on field trips to the beach, many of whom had never seen the ocean before.

Despite the meager accommodations, work, and frugal spending, my father had to return to the United Kingdom to earn more money. For him, a trip home wasn't as fast as it may be today. Instead of flight layovers, he boarded a multi-airline trek home with multi-month stops in other countries.

His first stop on the way home was Egypt. There, he witnessed another moment of instability when President Anwar Sadat was assassinated by members of the army. The mood and landscape mirrored the emotional turmoil, appearing bleak and brown.

Next on his journey was India. He stayed for six months, marveling at the abundance of monkeys and witnessing strange behaviors among the locals, such as a woman handing him her baby and disappearing for a few minutes only to reappear when he handed the child back.

In Nepal, he hiked through mountains and villages, experiencing the darkness that enveloped the region due to its low light pollution and high elevation. His last stop before returning home was Malaysia, where he visited a temple and had his fortune told. Skeptically, he listened as the seer predicted he would always wear black and navy blue and have one child. Stunned, the fortune has come true in the form of a small, blue-and-black-clad family.

After some final stops, my father was home. Two years had passed, and he had no material possessions left. However, he bore no regrets. His stories had lived in his head for almost five decades and remained priceless treasures.

In 1980, a small fortune took my dad across the globe, teaching him a lifetime of lessons. His journey reflects the adventurous spirit of New Zealanders, their desire to explore the world, and their enduring connection to their humble homes.

1. The historic Mezquita-Catedral De Cordoba in Spain, a vestige of the region's multicultural past, was a site that captivated my father during his adventurous travel in the 1980s.
2. While embracing budget-travel in Turkey, my father was unexpectedly ensnared in the aftermath of a coup d'etat, leading to a shared confinement with strangers.
3. The global exploration, with its diverse lifestyles, editing together stories of adventure, history, and cultural encounters, ultimately resulted in my father's revered, priceless legacy of experiences.

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