Around the world - with Derek!
A LEEK MAN WHO HAS TRAVELLED TO MORE THAN 100 COUNTRIES HAS DETAILED HIS MANY ADVENTURES IN A NEW BOOK...
GLOBETROTTER Derek Hudson has released his first book – after travelling to more than 100 countries during 29 years. Derek, from Leek, has put all his adventures from around the globe and his lack of money into a 562 page book.
The book, entitled Poor Boy Travels The World, tells of his scary times in South Africa to shooting events in Uganda. Derek, aged 69, said: “Before I came to live in Leek in 2002. I had travelled for 29 years, in more than 100 countries and I have now released a book describing the first half of this period. It was a time when I was compulsively addicted to far-off adventures and, as a consequence, frequently short of funds. “The book covers a series of journeys that intensify in nature to provide a level of involvement rarely achieved in any other kind of circumstance.
“My travelling life had two distinct halves, one where I was fairly comfortable and an earlier one, where I was nearly always skint.
From a travelling point of view I never appreciated how valuable the earlier times were, as the journeys then were miles more involved than anything I could ever achieve afterwards. “The journeys in this book run from 1967 to 1984, a period of 17 years. Four years in UK, 13 years abroad. I travelled for 12 years later on, after a brief hiatus to gather a few work qualifications, but that’s a possible book for later on; not to do with self-imposed poverty, but cycling, beaches and world preservation. “In this country I travelled with friends, but overseas I travelled on my own, but you soon meet many people. “Travelling became an obsession for me since I was 15. I funded my travelling by working a bit in this country and then taking a few jobs in the countries I was visiting. “When I was 46 I got married and settled down, but me and my wife still did a bit of travelling.
“I was born in Cheadle Hulme in Cheshire and was surrounded by nearby hills. I thought I would like to move to Cumbria where there are many hills, but I came to Leek in 2002 as it is on the edge of beautiful countryside and hills, inset.
“Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to travel in such a solitary, random fashion, knowing not what may appear from one moment to the next? Living each day in a heightened sense of freedom and occasional fear?
“You may meet far more people alone than you ever would in closed company and without doubt would end up with an absolute boatload of stories, some personal, many the works of others, that would live on for a lifetime. Being on a low budget doesn’t always diminish the travel experience, but can often enhance it, as it immerses you into a foreign world, the ultra-real one that was always in your dreams.
“The book includes varied encounters, true, gritty and sometimes comic, that intensify and multiply to the very end.” All proceeds from Derek’s book will be donated to the RNIB. It is available on Amazon as an ebook for £4.99 and in paperback at £12.99.
‘Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to travel in such solitary, random fashion?...