‘Wonder boy’ Mick completes global mission
Quitting smoking helped fund his travels
AGLOBETROTTING grandad who began stashing his cigarette money into a travel fund after quitting smoking has now completed dream trips to all of the Modern Wonders of the World.
Travel nut Mick McFadden, from Newchurch, began the seven-leg odyssey aged 40 when he saw his first - and favourite - of the Wonders, the Taj Mahal - although he was unaware at that time of the significance of the trip.
Last month he returned from visiting the most remote - the Incan civilisation of Machu Picchu high in the Peruvian Andes.
It was a special present for his 60th birthday from family which was delayed by two years by Covid.
The 62-year-old, who is married to Pauline and has five children, says he has steadily crossed the exotic tourism meccas announced in 2007 following a global poll - off his bucket list over two decades.
But the former heavy smoker credits it all to a fateful day in his late 30s when he threw his last packet of cigarettes in the bin after an episode of breathing difficulties and hopes it encourages others to think about the financial and health benefits of going cold turkey.
“Every time I would have got my cigarettes in a day I threw [the money] in a drawer,” he told the Free Press.
“I used to smoke fairly heavily - 20-plus a day. I started when I was quite young.
“Then in my late 30s I couldn’t keep up with my pensioner dad walking over the moors.
“I would say to people ‘look at what you could have done with the money and your health’.
“Cusco (in Peru) is 10,000 ft above sea level. How are you going to get there if your lungs are full of tar? Luckily I’ve been able to do it with the help of friends and sponsorships.”
The other five Wonders are the Great Wall of China, Chichén Itzá El Castillo, a Toltec-style pyramid, in Mexico, the red city Petra, in Jordan, Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio and Rome’s Colosseum.
Mick, who has also been to the last remaining intact ancient wonder The Great Pyramid, says he is unaware if the feat makes him part of a select club, but has no plans anyway to put the brakes on his travel adventures - instead eyeing the remaining four Natural Wonders of the World, having already spied the Northern Lights in Iceland, the harbour at Rio, and Mount Everest.
He said: “The Taj Mahal must be my favourite because I’ve been there twice.
“It’s just the scale of it. It constantly changes colour as well.
“If you watch the sun rise on it it’s a different colour at midday. It’s the beauty of it, the changing beauty.
“The Great Wall of China I did for Rossendale Hospice about 16 years ago. I walked about eight
to ten days on the Great Wall.
“The Pyramids was on a holiday. I went to Cyprus and got an overnight ferry with my brother-in-law.
Me and my wife went to Rome for her birthday and whilst there we saw the Coliseum.
“We went on holiday to Mexico to Cancun and so a day out of that was to go to Chichén Itzá.
“And we went to Taba in Egypt, and that’s when I went to Jordan on a boat for the day.
“Machu Picchu was the hardest to get to - about 30-odd hours travelling.
“In Peru you have still got to wear a certain grade of mask and wear that everywhere inside and out. You also need proof of triple vaccination before you can get anywhere. It’s still very strict.”
Mick, who grew up in Irwell Vale, says his foreign excursions and his experiences have made him more ‘open-minded’
to different cultures and religions. Attracting “likeminded” people, the destinations have mostly been plain sailing - with one exception.
“The only time was Rio de Janeiro - that’s not a very nice place,” he said.
“You could hear the favelas and machine gun fire for 10 or 20 minutes, and then everything would fall silent.
“Machu Picchu was better than I was expecting. When you get to the top it is all shrouded in mist - and I thought ‘I’ve come all this way and not seen anything!’
“Then the sun rose and you see the ruins and the mountains around it. It’s about a three-mile walk just to get around the ruins.
“Having a guide is a necessity.
“When I went to see Christ the Redeemer it was also just covered in mist. It was not until the night that I actually saw it. You’ve got to allow for the weather or missing a train here and there; you’ve got to be very flexible.
“With the Northern Lights I went with one of my sons. We had been on a trip to see them going into the glaciers.
“Then for the second night we were in Reykjavík and they just appeared over the sea!
“The ultimate one would be the Great Barrier Reef, but we’ll have to wait for the wife to retire first and spend a month in Australia.”