About | Slow Flow Adventure

About

Slow Flow Adventure

Overview:

This website is the result of six linked activities. First, the travel purpose had to be established: Overland from the Pacific to the Atlantic. Second, establishing the feasibility of such a journey. Third, preparing to undertake such an ambitious journey. Fourth, conducting the journey. Fifth, deciding to share my story and then how best to do so. Sixth, learning to build a website including choosing a domain name, a hosting service, and securing expert guidance in website design.

SlowFlowAdventure.com only appeared after the completion of six rather complicated journeys. I will try to be brief.

Movement through space and time – the actual adventure – is often built upon a concept or purpose. I was introduced to the idea of travelling by train from China to Europe at a seminar conducted by Professor Gerald Chan in November 2017. Sure, there is the Trans-Siberian railway but who really wants to spend that much time in Russia. On-the-other-hand, European and Chinese business-partners had succeeded to link together a number of railway lines from Duisburg Germany to Chongqing China – a technical, managerial and international relations accomplishment that serves as a contemporary Silk Road. This discovery captured my imagination !

I am grateful to Professor Chan and his research into China's Belt and Road Initiative, which was entitled the "Silk Road and Bullet Trains: Assessing China's New Diplomacy" (Centre for Global Cooperation Research, Duisburg Germany). At that time I could see that China's plans would substantially change the world's largest continent with its many cultures. I felt that I should see this land - with my own eyes - before these changes unfolded. At that time I had no plans to document that journey through pictures and words.

I investigated the possibility of passage, but the railway line only serves freight trains. So, I took a serious looked at the historic Silk Road, which is actually many paths that once linked China to Europe (from 100 BCE to 1400 CE). But the principal route dips into Afghanistan and Iran – not an ideal travel itinerary. It was not wasted effort, however, as it made me think. What about the entire EurAsia continent – from the Pacific to the Atlantic. Why not?

The second journey began once I embraced this concept. Figuring out how to travel the entire EurAsia continent took months of research and planning. Obviously, my journey would begin at the eastern edge of EurAsia. The Pacific shore near Shanghai became my starting point followed by Xi’an (and the terracotta warriors), as the historic Silk Road is said to begin and end in Xi’an. But where and how would I enter Central Asia? Furthermore, are there trains and buses that travel daily (or at all) in Central Asia - given that parts of Central Asia are sparsely populated - and how does one cross the Caspian Sea and enter the Caucasus region, and the Balkans, and on and on... to the Atlantic shore. A journey of this magnitude is not a casual venture.

Once these questions were answered, with some degree of certainty, my third journey began. I had to prepare for an extended adventure. A time schedule and a general route was established through eleven countries. Visas were obtained for three of the eleven countries, as these three (China, Azerbaijan and Turkey) require that a visa be secured prior to arrival.

I recall that Uzbekistan, just that year, changed their policy and no longer required that a visa be secured prior to arrival for Australian citizens. I printed this information off their website but figured that might not be good enough. I sought and secured written email confirmation from the nearest Uzbekistan embassy (in Singapore) about this policy change. Later, immigration officials at the Uzbekistan border began by asking for my visa and did not back-down until I produced a copy of that email from my baggage.

All of that was relatively easy, as I also had to convince my family that my planned route was no more dangerous than journeys I had recently taken in Latin America for work. Fortunately, the Australian government ranks the potential travel risk for all nations (see: https://www.smartraveller.gov.au/) so I had data. It did not alleviate my family's fears but did provide a context that put the issue to rest.

In addition, I promised to purchase a geo-tracking device (see: discussion about my geo-tracking device, Spot Gen 3, in Journal Entry 20). Spot Gen 3 sends tracking data and even messages anywhere in the world. I also agreed to regularly send emails and pictures. Thus, the first draft of SlowFlowAdventure was written as I travelled.

The fourth journey was the actual on-the-ground EurAsia Adventure – captured in 32 journal entries. Fortunately, my family's fears were not realised, as I had no accident, illness or criminal difficulties throughout this adventure. Perhaps I was lucky, but I'm also smart, as I am able to identify complications in advance and prepare.

The fifth journey began upon my return home. It occurred to me that I had the start of a travel-photo narrative that might sit as a picture book on a coffee table. I drafted a book prospectus and emailed my literary agent - whom I had not contacted in 20-years. The son of my former agent kindly passed me on to a serious London agency, who patiently explained that the travel-photo narrative book market had been destroyed by the Internet. Now, these project are all online typically as travel blogs.

I figured that I would have to abandon my book project or embrace the Internet. I am not technically sophisticated, nevertheless, my sixth and final journey involved choosing a domain name and a domain provider (Google Domains), and a hosting service that attaches the domain name to the Internet. I chose Wix.com because Wix not only hosts the domain name that I own, but also offers many tools to make my content beautiful - especially when viewed with a computer and/or monitor. Learning to use these web-tools was challenging, but it was just one more journey.

Jill, my website advisor, has also added value to SlowFlowAdventure by developed the two maps on the homepage, developing regional pages, the thumbnail pictures that link to each journal entry, and more.

In reflection, I was fortunate to be the first to combine three concepts into a single package (my domain name), as I have been told that SlowFlowAdventure.com is a very attractive Internet name but I am much more fortunate, as I secured the time and made the effort to slowly travel across the EurAsia continent. It is about the adventure...