TRANSITING EUROPE TRANSITING LIFE

Although ‘Transiting Europe Transiting Life’ has been written almost exactly a year after ‘A Winter in Africa’ in fact its subject matter predated this book in terms of my travel dates by a year and serves as a necessary prequel to my continuing search and discoveries through Africa. Without some of the significant reading and experiences of my time in Europe I may not have reached the understanding, growth and decisions I wrote about in ‘A Winter in Africa.’ As far as I am concerned there was never any doubt that I would start my journey in Europe and keep a log of it as it unfolded. Most of the locations I visited and the situations I found myself in are entirely credible and don’t stretch the imagination greatly but maybe the combination of all of them in such a short space of time will inform the reader of the kind of impacts they can make even on a more extrovert and self-assured person than I was at that time. Quite often I found myself on the back foot and avoiding difficult social situations as much as possible but on the odd occasion I did make some necessary challenges as in Austria. However, this book is not just about experiences but also about some of my observations from reading, further contemplations and discussion while in Europe that helped me to grow in understanding and towards the new life outlook described in ‘A Winter in Africa.’ So my time in Europe was an important bedrock for what was to come later. I hope readers will want to embark with me upon this journey through Europe and then on into Africa.