In the1970s, my parents Rose and Alan left Adelaide in their early 20s to embark on an epic overland adventure around the world. Following the famed ‘Hippy Trail’ in reverse, from south to north, and traversing around the world as well, dad filled several notebooks with his travel diary entries and took slide film photographs.
I was conceived on the way home, in Indonesia, and though the marriage did not last upon return to Australia, the stories did (I have proudly pre-inherited the diaries and slides), along with the travel bug - I’ve been semi-nomadic for the past 19 years, with almost 14 of those years living all over the world with my kids.
Together with my mum Rose, who has been diligently digitizing the now aging diaries and scanning the slides, we are thrilled to be sharing the tales of this epic round-the-world adventure with you on Substack.
17th July, 1976
This diary which is being kept by Alan and Rosemary, is to be a permanent and everlasting memoir of our journey from Adelaide to Adelaide via the world. Hopefully it will be religiously kept, to record events, times and dates of places visited, people met, observations and reflections, milestones reached, miles covered, money spent and lost, timetables, and trips to take, hopes and fears, laughs and tears, in fact anything worth remembering in years to come from our journey. As I have said to be religiously kept. So here goes.
Ayers Rock ‘Uluru’ Campground in 1976, Alice Springs, Australia. ©Alan Davis.
