The Herald - The Herald Magazine
THE BEST SEAT IN THE HOUSE Awards Ceremony is on Thursday, September 27, 2018 at The DoubleTree by Hilton in Glasgow
It is like I have gone back to the undamaged Ishbel, which is amazing
healthy and living in Scotland (Maria with Holmes and Murphy with a family in Aberdeen). Their story will form part of a future book, along with Holmes’ other experiences, which included being robbed only hours after arriving in Anchieta in south-east Brazil. Holmes was unhurt, but her camera equipment was stolen.
“Afterwards I cycled back to the last place I felt safe,” she says. “That was a campsite in Marataizes where I had first met Maria. I has been talking to some locals and misunderstood the Portuguese because I thought they were saying she was already owned.
“That is common in Brazil, where dogs on streets have owners who feed them. I was so disappointed and cycled away. I got 40km [25 miles] and that’s when I lost all my camera equipment. When I went back to the campsite, I learned Maria was a street dog and adopted her.
“I had no intention of adopting a dog, but I fell in love with her,” says Holmes. “Maria gave me ringworm the first day that I met her. I had ringworm up my arm.”
When she began writing her memoir, something jarred. She realised the words being poured onto the pages were those of a mixed-up 16-year-old girl rather than a confident 37-year-old woman and made the decision to return to therapy.
“I’m a million times healthier now,” attests Holmes. “It is like I have gone back to the undamaged Ishbel, which is amazing because now I can enjoy life.”
Despite short-lived glimmers of hope for a reconciliation with her parents – Holmes reached out to both her mother and father last year – she has since made the painful decision to cut ties for good.
“I had just started writing the book and realised there was a chance I could self-sabotage but thought: ‘No, I’m not doing this any more. I need to be free to live my life.’ The door is closed. It is finished. That door will never be opened.”
There’s no bitterness as she says it. Rather, Holmes has adopted the sanguine view that the term “family” doesn’t need to apply only to those with whom you share biological ties (she speaks fondly of 75-year-old Jack, a kind man who used to help fix her bikes, with whom she spent last Christmas).
Holmes is pedalling into the future and not looking back. “I feel lucky and blessed because I know there are so many adults out there that haven’t had the positive experiences I’ve had in recent years,” she says. “My past isn’t dictating things or pulling the strings in my life any more.”
That doesn’t mean the process of telling her story has been easy. “Once I submitted the book to the publishers, I panicked and thought: ‘What the hell am I doing? I need to get that book back, there’s no way I can share what I have,’” says Holmes.
“I was in a panic thinking that I had made a huge mistake. Then the #MeToo campaign kicked off and I knew 100 per cent it was OK to share my story. I’ll always be so thankful to #MeToo.”
It is apt that she chose Holmes for her new surname because finding a permanent home between her travels is very much on her mind. “I’m thinking, ‘What if?’ because I have no idea will happen next,” she says. “Do you know what the ‘What if’ is? It’s what if I could get Maria and me a home. If that happened it would be my ultimate dream.”
Me, My Bike and a Street Dog Called Lucy by Ishbel Holmes is published by Bradt Travel Guides, priced £9.99. The author will be cycling on a UK book tour from August 15. Visit worldbikegirl.com and ishbelholmes.com