I would like to say good story, but that story was scary as hell. I was screaming at you, "Get out of that car!" Heart-pounding tension! Glad you came out of it.
Ah bless you Mimi! It was only really scaring in retrospect. As it was happening, I was at best, nervous. I was polite, as it was all I could think of to do. It seemed he wanted attention, and my photographing him lounging male-model style was enough to sooth him. As far as jumping out of that car, I had nowhere to go! Nobody and nothing for miles and miles and miles!!!
Isn't it funny (as in strange or odd) that we see older stories from our 21st century lens? Too many horror movies and stories of serial killers live in my brain. You did a great job talking yourself out of this one.
I guess talking my way out of it was the only option for me. Besides, at that point in my young life, I don't think I'd seen a horror movie of any sort. (Sheltered life, and all that!) Sometimes ignorance really is helpful!
Thanks so much Syd! It is always so heartening to have people comment on your writing. Naive pup that I was, I don't even think I was especially concerned (once it was over, of course!) I must not have "learned my lesson" because the following day I went hitch-hiking with a man I'd just met in order to cross the island to go to Suva, the seaport. That was an OK experience, although slightly hairy, in that we arrived at night with no accommodation. A kindly Fijian saw us standing by the side of the road, asked us where we were staying, and when we said, "We don't know!" took us in and gave us a room in his house. Honestly, those guardian angels were working overtime!
Thanks for this well written memory Rose. My Mum warned me of the modern day, 'white slave trade'. You'd wonder if any girls were left hearing her talk! So I had a mixture of scorn towards her warnings and anxiety to adventure.
Thinking back mostly we are safe but if you aren't it could be curtains.
A dear friend was taken prisoner in Chechnia for almost 2 years. Her book about the experience is evidence of her own and her partners survival.
Being an adventurer like yourself makes for good reading . Ballast for the mill. Feal the fear and do it anyway. It's a bit easier, though shocking, when we are naive. In the main we are safe but near misses are good teachers perhaps and can make good stories like yours.
Unfortunately, my mother wasn't very specific about what to watch out for. Her advice (which covered everything) was: be a good girl. Actually, I hadn't thought of white slavery, now I feel a chill and am grateful to the Powers that Be that got me out of there. To be honest, I think I made my guardian angels work overtime! Thanks so much for your comment!
Could feel the tension as you climbed into the taxi. Great story and made me remember my own foolishness finding myself in a car with strangers, taken to an underground cave outside Grenada with a cheesy disco floor and far too much wine. What was I thinking?!! As many of us at that time of our lives, we weren't. Does make me wonder, however, if much has been lost in my life as that oblivious boldness has now turned to a timidity I don't like in myself at 71.
Gosh, you could feel the tension as I got in the taxi? I certainly didn't at the time! I really was a lamb out in the world with no idea that there were such things as wolves! Still, it worked out OK in the end, although I have to admit it surprised me at the time. I never fully thought I was in danger, but an uncomfortable situation, to say the least. I am as timid now (in my old age) as I ever was, but to be honest, glad of it. Goodness knows what dangers I'd get into if I was bold. Despite my years, I don't feel any wiser than I was when I was on that deserted trail in Fiji!
I felt fear as soon as you got into the taxi at the airport. I've had experiences like that...enough for a story like yours to bring long buried memories to the forefront. I feel the same way, writing about my own experiences is a way to travel back in time and re-think about them from different perspectives. Great article, Rose. I was there with you!
Gosh Linda, what a great compliment, "I was there with you"! Every writer hopes and strives to get inside a reader's imagination. Yes, I do find writing about my past is a way of re-visiting it, and at times, I want to scream at my younger self, "For goodness sake! What ARE you thinking!" But life is only lived going forward, and maybe that's a good thing. No rewind button!
Thanks Lindsey. As they say, it could have turned out quite differently! And as we know, for many young solo travellers, they are never heard from again. I never truly felt in danger, but it was not a comfortable situation either, that's for sure!
I would like to say good story, but that story was scary as hell. I was screaming at you, "Get out of that car!" Heart-pounding tension! Glad you came out of it.
Ah bless you Mimi! It was only really scaring in retrospect. As it was happening, I was at best, nervous. I was polite, as it was all I could think of to do. It seemed he wanted attention, and my photographing him lounging male-model style was enough to sooth him. As far as jumping out of that car, I had nowhere to go! Nobody and nothing for miles and miles and miles!!!
Isn't it funny (as in strange or odd) that we see older stories from our 21st century lens? Too many horror movies and stories of serial killers live in my brain. You did a great job talking yourself out of this one.
I guess talking my way out of it was the only option for me. Besides, at that point in my young life, I don't think I'd seen a horror movie of any sort. (Sheltered life, and all that!) Sometimes ignorance really is helpful!
Ooooh, thanks for the time travel story, Rose! Definitely got my heart racing there! Great story!!
Thanks so much Syd! It is always so heartening to have people comment on your writing. Naive pup that I was, I don't even think I was especially concerned (once it was over, of course!) I must not have "learned my lesson" because the following day I went hitch-hiking with a man I'd just met in order to cross the island to go to Suva, the seaport. That was an OK experience, although slightly hairy, in that we arrived at night with no accommodation. A kindly Fijian saw us standing by the side of the road, asked us where we were staying, and when we said, "We don't know!" took us in and gave us a room in his house. Honestly, those guardian angels were working overtime!
Thanks for this well written memory Rose. My Mum warned me of the modern day, 'white slave trade'. You'd wonder if any girls were left hearing her talk! So I had a mixture of scorn towards her warnings and anxiety to adventure.
Thinking back mostly we are safe but if you aren't it could be curtains.
A dear friend was taken prisoner in Chechnia for almost 2 years. Her book about the experience is evidence of her own and her partners survival.
Being an adventurer like yourself makes for good reading . Ballast for the mill. Feal the fear and do it anyway. It's a bit easier, though shocking, when we are naive. In the main we are safe but near misses are good teachers perhaps and can make good stories like yours.
Unfortunately, my mother wasn't very specific about what to watch out for. Her advice (which covered everything) was: be a good girl. Actually, I hadn't thought of white slavery, now I feel a chill and am grateful to the Powers that Be that got me out of there. To be honest, I think I made my guardian angels work overtime! Thanks so much for your comment!
Could feel the tension as you climbed into the taxi. Great story and made me remember my own foolishness finding myself in a car with strangers, taken to an underground cave outside Grenada with a cheesy disco floor and far too much wine. What was I thinking?!! As many of us at that time of our lives, we weren't. Does make me wonder, however, if much has been lost in my life as that oblivious boldness has now turned to a timidity I don't like in myself at 71.
Gosh, you could feel the tension as I got in the taxi? I certainly didn't at the time! I really was a lamb out in the world with no idea that there were such things as wolves! Still, it worked out OK in the end, although I have to admit it surprised me at the time. I never fully thought I was in danger, but an uncomfortable situation, to say the least. I am as timid now (in my old age) as I ever was, but to be honest, glad of it. Goodness knows what dangers I'd get into if I was bold. Despite my years, I don't feel any wiser than I was when I was on that deserted trail in Fiji!
I really enjoyed your time travel in this article. Nicely written. Thanks for sharing, Rose. 😊
Many thanks Jan. Sometimes I think it's amazing we make it to our middle or later years. Or it is for me, being such silly goose in my youth!
I felt fear as soon as you got into the taxi at the airport. I've had experiences like that...enough for a story like yours to bring long buried memories to the forefront. I feel the same way, writing about my own experiences is a way to travel back in time and re-think about them from different perspectives. Great article, Rose. I was there with you!
Gosh Linda, what a great compliment, "I was there with you"! Every writer hopes and strives to get inside a reader's imagination. Yes, I do find writing about my past is a way of re-visiting it, and at times, I want to scream at my younger self, "For goodness sake! What ARE you thinking!" But life is only lived going forward, and maybe that's a good thing. No rewind button!
That part spoke to me too...sometimes I'm very hard on my younger self. Thank you, Rose.
Wow, that was quite an experience!
Thanks Lindsey. As they say, it could have turned out quite differently! And as we know, for many young solo travellers, they are never heard from again. I never truly felt in danger, but it was not a comfortable situation either, that's for sure!