Gina Chick has a wisdom to do on the driving of travel waves.
“Things happen on vacation – your belongings are stolen, the car breaks down, you miss your flights, there is a giant weather event,” she said. “But afterwards, these are the things that bring you together, which you remember and tell stories for the rest of your life. And I like the holidays that turn into an adventure. They are my favorite.
Chick knows one or two about the adventure. She won the first season of Australia alone after surviving 67 days – fully solo – in the Tasmania bush. It was a feat that she had trained all her life. Before his turn of stars on reality TV, Chick spent a third of each year abroad teaching dance meditation pensions, a third program of wilderness programs in the Australian Outback and the rest of his Time to live on a seven -meter Toyota bus, driving wherever it felt like. Despite the harvest of $ 250,000 only, Chick still lives on this bus, preferring the nomadic lifestyle to the comfort of creatures.
For the moment, Chick is back in Tasmania, perched on the edge of the ocean and working on his next book (Her First, a thesis entitled We Are the Stars, was published last year). Here, Chick tells us about the most memorable moments of his unconventional life on the road.
Who makes an excellent travel companion?
Usually they are not human. If I go around Australia, I like to travel with a parrot. I feel like a pirate. He’s a conversation starter. And it’s always happy to see me.
If I’m going to international, I like to travel with a good guitar. I am a completely crappy guitarist, but if I am stuck in an airport and I take a very good guitar, each guitarist around his eyes and their ears and come to find me. The next thing you know, there are 20 people sitting around an incredible musician who goes absolutely. The hours go by and it’s just Kumbaya, baby.
What is your first childhood vacation memory?
Camping – All family holidays were camping. My parents were teachers, so every school holidays, we were driving somewhere to sleep in these old canvas tents. I remember being at the back of the van with my sister and our dog, who farted all along. Then we arrived at the campsite and eaten braised steak and onion of a can for dinner, which, for any reason, has an incredible taste when you camp and like a dog’s ass when You are not.
Describe your most memorable – good, bad or simply surprising travel meal.
I was in France to teach a retirement and I crossed the campaign when I saw a Roadkill squirrel. I had never eaten squirrel and I wanted to try it. That night, I made a fire, I put the squirrel on a stick and I cooked it, feeling like Robin Hood. He had a bit like a nut rabbit.
What is the most relaxing place you have ever visited?
The southwest of Tasmania for 67 days in Australia alone. I’m kidding! It is the Harbin Hot Springs in California. It was this incredible hot source in which I went in 2002 on the way to Burning Man, where I spent hours spending the hottest hot pools with cold and again. I don’t think I never felt more relaxed in my life.
And the most stressful?
It would be the evil of altitude leading from Salt Lake City through the Rockies to Denver, Colorado. I receive the evil of altitude at more than 5,000 feet, but I did not think about it because I was going to visit a lover in Denver overnight. I said to myself: “Yeah, I can drive!”
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I was sick throughout the way. It was probably one of the most tormented trips I have ever made. But it was fun with the lover, even if I was not really up to par. We did our best.
What is your vacation ritual?
When I travel internationally, I always try to swim in whatever their local water, because that is part of the way I overcome the jet lag. I find that if I can swim in the water, my caliber system in the time zone. It may be psychosomatic but I think it works.
And if I can, I hire a car and drive rather than fly to places because I want to be able to explore. I will always look for places where I can see a horizon because I need an infinite edge. I will always try to do something risky, something that will push me outside my comfort zone. And eat local. Mingle on the language. Fall in love. Don’t die.
What element you always put in your suitcase?
I always take what looks like a Swiss knife, but it is full of tools to sculpt wood. And then, when I travel, I will find pieces of wood and sculpture spoons, which I will bring home as memories.
What is your greatest regret of travel?
The world has changed, which means that for me as a solo traveler, there are places that I cannot go now. My aunt, who is now 89, has done hitchhiking through the Middle East alone in their twenties, about 65 years ago now. I am sad that what I can do with something I could do.