My friend… Mr. International Man of Movember

It was a trip of a lifetime and very memorable for more than one reason. The eleven-day Reunification Tour through Vietnam from North to South was a great way to see the country and a good way to just relax and let a guide take charge. There were stops in four major cities where our small group of eight plus guide did sight-seeing, lots of eating, shopping and just experiencing the culture; Hanoi, Hoi An, Nha Trang and final destination Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon). You know how it is when you first meet others in a tour group? It’s an up-and-down- sizing of each other with some possible stereo-typical judgements. From our perspective, we were the oldest; probably old enough to be parents to the other four un-related, as well as our son and wife who were our travel mates. We were prepared for a “partying” good time and…so it was. The other four young men, two from Australia and two from South Africa who were part of the group were there for a good time, too. And so it began; polite niceties and general considerations for each other’s overall enjoyment. As the days warmed up so did the relationships as we all became accustomed to each other and our cultural uniqueness’s. The Aussie gents were friendly and fun-loving and great company, and so were the South African guys. Anton Taylor was one of them; a dark hairy South African from Cape Town with a roguishly pleasant and polished demeanor. He was charming and had eloquent stories to tell; one of which was how those angel wings came to be carved out of the hair on his back. He had a plan and it was well-excuted. Although he was well-groomed at the time we met and only sported a small non-assuming moustache, it was made known that our travel companion was indeed the one and only, Mr. International Man of Movember. He was very humble in his acknowledgements but we saw his dark-side, that shadow of black hair that grew so effortlessly on his face and body. Apparently, the whole ordeal of primping and designing his ‘mo’ for the competition took no less than six hours of intense grooming, and some creative carving designs into his chest hair and back growth. He said that his official title was “Mr. Movember South Africa 2011 until he became Mr. International Man of Movember.” At the Movember Gala, Anton won the ‘Ultimate Mo’ category and was awarded the honour of being crowned ‘Ultimate Man of Movember’. The Re-unification Tour package in Vietnam (for 2) was the prize that Anton was awarded for winning Mr. International Man of Movember, so there tells the story of our meeting. By the end of the journey, we were “Mom and Dad” to the whole group and it was a sad day when we had to part company. The guys went on to Cambodia and we took a few more days on the beach in Nha Trang, Vietnam. Facebook seems to be the place for reacquainting now. It will be interesting to see what’s growing on Anton this year. Since Movember first began in Melbourne, Australia, more than 1.9 million Mo Bros and Mo Sistas have participated with formal campaigns in many countries as a global effort. No matter where it’s held, Movember will continue to educate men about the health risks they face and to act on that knowledge with early detection, diagnosis and treatment.