It’s quite easy to have a few bad experiences, and
quickly close yourself off to little interactions with
the local people. After spending three months in
India, Danielle was completely fed up with being
pushed and pulled around, grabbed, and even
groped at times. She grew tired of trying not to get
herself killed on the roads, or being yelled at on the
street for no reason. “By the time I got to Pakistan,
I was completely empty and an emotional wreck
“she said.
“I hadn’t realised that I was shutting out people
and refusing help” she explained. It wasn’t until two
young guys pulled up next to her on a busy street
of Lahore and asked her if she needed some help.
“I shook my head and walked away. They called
after me “don’t be scared, we just wanted to
help...” I felt so embarrassed of how I acted. I told
myself this wasn’t the point of travelling. I told myself that travelling is about interacting with people
and learning about their culture - the good and
the bad. From then onwards, I took everything in
my stride and had the most amazing time in Pakistan - a far better one than in India.”
Danielle Murdoch’s journey spanned 27 countries,
learnt about other cultures and shared hers, touching the lives of many along the way. She owes it to
an early life wake up call.
“My mum died quite young. It was hard for me, as
she was only 16 years older than me.
I thought, if I was going to get
anything out of this life, I had better stop waiting for it to happen
and seek it myself.
“I hear of people saying they wish they could do
what I do, my advice to them is to just do it - there
isn’t a reason out there that should stop you. If you
have children, take them with you.
“If you have a job, arrange leave. If you have a
mortgage, rent the house out. As my Dad said to
me once “If you really want to do this, you will make
it happen.”
You meet so many people and have so many different experiences on a daily basis… some people Danielle is in the process of writing a book about
and some experiences will be bad. Just take it day her adventures, and can be found blogging reguby day and don’t let yesterday’s bad experience larly at motomonkeyadventures.com
affect the next moment of your journey”.
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