A bit over a week ago I conceived the somewhat crazy idea of popping over to Portugal and bringing my Landrover to Turkey. Portugal is over 4000 km from Turkey, which is not that close. By comparison, the furthest I'd driven into Africa from Europe was less than 3000 km, to Senegal.
So... traveling from Portugal to Turkey is generally not something you just decide to do one morning and begin to do it in a couple of days. Or is it? Of course it all depends on your mindset. If you have a decent car, long trips like these are actually not that difficult, you just need a good enough reason in your mind to justify the trip. My reason was that I wanted more freedom, more ability to get off the beaten track, sometimes off the track completely.
The Landrover, which made its' way from Gallipoli across to Lapseki today is basically a home and an office for me. I can recharge batteries, sleep in the roof tent, there's a fridge and over 50 litres of water. My hope is to get to some remote settlements, if they exist and to be able to stop at places I like, to wait for the light that I want and not to have to return to some hotel which might be totally out of the way.
For anyone reading this entry, I want to share one little philosophy that I try to live by. Perhaps this particular trip isn't the best example, but, it's good enough. These long journeys, whether from Portugal to Turkey, or many of the other journeys I've made, they seem crazy or impossible to some. So many times before I set off on a motorbike around India, or around Ethiopia, or before I bought the Landrover in Spain, I was told that it can't be done for various reasons.
It's strange how people love telling other people that something can't be done. I have no idea why, but, I've always heard a lot of voices telling me that I'm insane and that whatever I've planned won't happen. So... my philosophy is simple these days. I don't listen to people who tell me what I CAN'T do. I only listen to people who tell me what I CAN do. The former obviously can't help me much in my quest, the latter might offer some advice, or, if nothing else, a bit of encouragement.
In turn, when someone asks me for advice, I also try not to tell anyone that they can't do something. If I have no idea how to do it, I'll admit that. I'll say - that would be cool, if you did it, but... don't know how to help you. Much better than wasting their time with limiting ideas. That's it. Very deep and meaningful stuff, I know. :)
