Adventures on Wheels

In the grand picture of what the motor vehicle has meant to our society, good and bad, we sometimes forget that it provides the opportunity for adventure, as in the classic road trip. Many excellent books have been written on the subject, including Blue Highways, by William Least Heat Moon, (the title refers to non-interstate roads), Jupiter's Travels, by Ted Simon, ( four year journey around the world on a Triumph motorcycle), Jack Kerouac's On the Road, (beat generation and kind of spacey), and John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley. Charley is a dog, the book is a sixties gem by the noted author.

At its worst, travel by motor vehicle is a long duration punishment, filled with junk food, frantic traffic, getting lost, dirty, dangerous rest areas, as well as strained bladders and relationships. Actually, just about any motoring escapade will involve at least a bit of this. On the plus side is the liberation offered by skipping from place to place, touching down long enough to create a connect-the-dots picture of a different world. This story came from an Australian friend, Dan, and it deals with his parents travels around Eastern Europe in the nineteen sixties.

Jan, the mom, is from Hawkes Bay in New Zealand, while the dad, Laurie, hails from Sydney, Australia. Anzacs rarely do travel in half measures. Chat with any of them in London, where they are selling their vehicle prior to heading home, or for that matter, here in Whistler. Most journeys are measured in months or years. Jan and Laurie's trip was no exception, and in time-honoured fashion, they travelled in a VW Microbus. It was their honeymoon, and they were among the first westerners to travel unescorted (not unobserved) in the Eastern Bloc.

They travelled through Finland, Czechoslovakia, Russia and Poland before crossing into East Germany. In Russia, they viewed first hand line-ups and food shortages, feeling guilty as westerners that they were sent to the front of the queue. Food vouchers were the only currency, and it had to be spent or forfeited. Border guards, for obvious reasons, confiscated their tins of fruit. Spontaneous wandering had to be done carefully, since check-ins with authorities were required at points along the route.

Crossing into East Germany, they were stopped and held for some time by the authorities. You may imagine their fear and apprehension. Eventually, Laurie was taken outside, given a pail of water, and ordered to wash the Microbus. It turned out that in Poland, someone had scrawled swastikas in the dust on the vehicle, presumably because it was German made. The washing completed, they were allowed to proceed, which proves if nothing else that a clean car runs better.

We'll skip ahead from the Warsaw Pact countries to the wilder parts of Turkey, a backdrop for several more adventures. One night they awoke to find a rifle barrel poked through an open window. The dialogue between the newlyweds, as recounted by Dan, was classic.

Mom: "Do something!"

Dad: "What do you want me to do? I'm the one the gun is aimed at."

Fortunately, it turned out to be two lonely army officers, checking out their vehicle and probably eager for a bit of company.

They stayed in a campground for a couple of weeks, and on trying to leave found the price had doubled. A too brave Englishman, in another car, suggested they make a break for the gate, which had opened to let in a tour bus. This was a bad idea, and in moment, the locals were brandishing firearms. When the police arrived, the Brit almost got shot for his efforts. One policeman was about to fire when his partner grabbed his gun arm and the bullet went astray.

My favourite story was about a sheepherder's dog, a massive and vicious thing, which actually leapt through our intrepid pair's window. Hurting the dog would have been as popular as running into a Bedouin's camel, but fortunately, the only damage done was to the VW's rear view mirror.

I'm sure many of you have great travel stories to share, and it is a reminder of how many wild places remain and of adventures still to be had. In my own wanderings, a main requirement for any vehicle was that it could be used for camping, and fossil fuels have carried me through every province and state, as well as most of Europe. There is still lawlessness, as Dan himself knows from a couple of summers working in Greece. I've encountered it everywhere from Yugoslavia to Florida and Mexico. Still, the trips were worth the cost.

Freedom, of sorts, can still be found in a curious spirit, a set of car keys in the pocket, and gasoline money.

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