Hello there!
MFP, I’ll love you forever.
As you have kindly decided to visit my website it would be rude not to introduce myself.
On April 29th, 2018, at 17:15 my life changed forever. After complications during emergency surgery for a torn aorta, and eventually withdrawing life support, my soulmate left me behind. This blog will now chronicle my journey as I continue to travel alone, navigate my way through grief and figure out who I am without him.
Travel is my passion. You won’t find any pictures of me here on this website (or anywhere) posing in a long flowing dress. Each to their own, but that’s not my style. I’ll show you the world as seen through my eyes and lens.
I like to see as much of our planet, its people, and nature as possible. I chose the name BorderLass because I believe that the world should be without borders, and gave a little twist to the name (BorderLass instead of borderless) to reflect on my “Yorkshire and proud roots”!
The desire to travel hit me fairly young. I was 8 years old when my parents took me and my brother on holiday to the former Yugoslavia (the part that we visited is now Croatia) by… coach! I spent much of the 36-hour journey reading a European phrase book and wobbling several milk teeth. By the time we arrived, I had learned to count to 10 in 6 different languages and pulled out 2 teeth!
A young and toothless me on the ferry from Calais to Dover on the way back from Croatia.
This journey opened my eyes completely and made me realise that there is so much of the world to see. I returned to Croatia again by coach just before the Balkans war.
I didn’t travel abroad again until my late teens and early twenties, when I travelled widely across Europe, spent a total of 4 months in the USA and visited Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, Syria, and Lebanon.
By choosing the travelling lifestyle rather than the “normal” and boring one I may not be as financially well off, but I will become richer in so many other ways.
Some other interesting stuff about me:
- I have attained a Dan grade (black belt) in 2 martial arts, in 1st Dan (Shodan) in Shotokan Karate and (2nd Dan Nidan) in Ju-jitsu.
- I support Arsenal FC.
Some crazy things that have happened to me when travelling:
- 2 flights that I have been on have had to make an emergency landing.
- I was once detained in a cell (well it was more like a stable actually) on arrival in Syria for several hours because I had incorrectly translated visa documentation.
- I once ended up in Chicago, USA in the middle of the night in February wearing only shorts and a T-shirt. Brrrrrrr!
When I travel, I like to try to speak the local language. Sometimes it goes wrong and has hilarious consequences. Here are two of the funniest, straight-faced and honest mistakes that I’ve made:
- I asked for a prostitute (sharmota) instead of a shawarma (a type of kebab) in Syria!
- Asked for a postcard of tablets instead of a packet of headache tablets at a pharmacy in Italy!
I hope you enjoy reading my blog, and if you have any questions just ask!