It's on the Meter
Page 30
• Number of passengers: 102
• Number of times Hannah was repaired: 97
• Highest temperature recorded in taxi: 60.4°C (140.72°F) Zahedan, Iran
• Lowest temperature recorded in taxi: -19.4°C (-2.92°F) Rovaniemi, Finland
• Number of countries visited: 50
• Number of languages experienced: 46
• Number of sponsors to help us on the way: 27
• Number of times Hannah was welded: 24
• Number of police fines issued: 6
• Number of times we used the winch: 3
• Number of bullet holes in Hannah: 2
• Number of times arrested: 2
• Number of times Hannah's wheels fell off: 1
• Number of times the engine failed: 0
• Number of people who woke up to a picture of Hannah on the front of their morning Wall Street Journal: 2.1 million
APPENDIX
THE CHEERS GUIDE
England – Cheers!
France – Santé!
Belgium – Santé!/Proost!/Prost!
Netherlands – Proost!
Germany – Prost!
Denmark – Skål!
Sweden – Skål!
Finland – Kippis!
Russia – Na zdorovie!
Belarus – Ŭra!
Ukraine – Boodmo!
Poland – Na zdrowie!
Czech Republic – Na zdravi!
Austria – Prost!
Liechtenstein – Prost!
Switzerland – Prost!/Salute!/Santé!
Monaco – Santé!
Italy – Salute!
San Marino – Salute!
Slovenia – Na zdravje!
Croatia – Nazdravlje!
Bosnia and Herzegovina – Živjeli!
Montenegro – Živjeli!
Kosovo – Gëzuar!
Macedonia – Na zdravje!
Greece – Yamas!
Turkey – Şerefe!
Georgia – Galmajuice!
Armenia – Genatzt!
Iraq – Noş!
Iran – Salâmati!
Pakistan – Kha sehat walary!
India – A la sature!
Nepal – Subhakamana!
Tibet – Tashi deleg!
China – Gān Bēi!
Laos – Cap-ey!
Cambodia – Leuktukchet!
Thailand – Chok dee!
Malaysia – Sihat selalu!
Singapore – Sihat selalu!/Cheers!
Australia – Cheers (mate)!
USA – Cheers (buddy)!
Israel – L'chaim!
Bulgaria – Nazdravey!
Romania – Noroc!
Moldova – Noroc!
Latvia – Uz veselibu!
Lithuania – Į sveikatą!
Luxembourg – Prost!
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost thanks have to go to Leigh, and to Paul and Johno respectively, for being such great travel buddies and friends, and for putting up with living in a cramped, hot, noisy and smelly metal box for 15 months.
Thanks also go to our families, and to Char, Katie and Lindsay for being so understanding and supportive.
Huge thanks to everyone at Summersdale and co., especially Debbie, Sophie and Emily for great editing and general helpfulness. Thanks to Jennifer also for originally seeing the potential in our story.
Thanks to all of our friends for their support during the planning and execution of the trip, in particular, to Pete, for bringing the car up to scratch and teaching us how to 'fold pizza'; to Chops, for the charity advice, general words of support and for being such a great first passenger; to Sam for letting us stay on her floor for so long; to Sarah L. for support and generous use of her office; to Dave P., for excellent China advice; to Nick, Katy and James W. for listening to the taxi spiel repeatedly; to Rachel at UK2Oz; and to everyone else – you know who you are.
Thank you to all of our sponsors, particularly Matthew, Rob, Matt and Duncan with Performance Direct; and Nimrod, Fini, Sofia and co. at GetTaxi (now Gett). The other vital sponsors included Aston University and Aston Business School, CabCard Services, Queensland University of Technology, Modis, WOSP, NGK Spark Plugs, Bloc Eyewear, Gloucester City Council, Gloucester Taxi Drivers Association (especially Steve), Gaz Shocks (Gazzmatic International), Fenchurch, Synthotech, Cygnus Automotive, MaxSport, Flip Video, JBL, Sat Nav Warehouse, Samco Sport, Hotcourses Abroad, Skrapbook, The Roof Box Company, Club 9, Mac Tools, Base hostels and UKHost4u.
Thanks to Ranulph Fiennes, Boris Johnson, Suzanne McTaggart, Ron Miller, Danny Wallace, Bill Bryson, Frank Turner, Peggy Fok, Colleen Sollars, Overland Journal and all the other many media folks who helped support the trip and raise awareness.
A huge thanks to all the Couchsurfers and other generous folk who gave us advice, showed us their city, bought us food, let us sleep on their floors or otherwise opened their homes to us; we couldn't have done the trip without you. Thanks to all the people who gave us directions (except those Georgian farmers), gave us food and water, beeped and waved at us on the road, and took pictures and spread the word about us in their own country.
Thanks to the mechanics, armchair and otherwise, who got our heap of rust all the way around the world, in particular the technicians at Aston University and the students who gave up their free time to help us; the friendly folks at the Erbil Auto Bazaar; Brando in Australia, even if he did turn out to be a murderer; the guys and families at Back on the Road Again in California; and the mechanics at the military base in Germany.
Thanks to all the passengers and hitchers; especially Craig, who refreshed our company, stopped the three of us killing each other and was a vital link in getting through Pakistan; to Matt for the endless supply of comedy catchphrases and Swamp-Donkey anecdotes; and to Rob for being an all-round great dude and amazing photographer.
Thanks to everyone who took an interest in the trip, told their friends and donated to the Red Cross.
Finally, thanks to you for reading this book!
HOW NOT TO TRAVEL THE WORLD
Adventures of a Disaster-Prone Backpacker
Lauren Juliff
ISBN: 978 1 78372 608 0 (ePub), 978 1 78372 607 3 (Mobi)
I had no life experience, zero common sense and had never eaten rice. I suffered from debilitating anxiety, was battling an eating disorder and had just had my heart broken. I hoped by leaving to travel the world I would be able to heal myself.
Instead, Lauren's travels were full of bad luck and near-death experiences. Over the space of a year, she was scammed and assaulted; lost teeth and swallowed a cockroach. She fell into leech-infested rice paddies, was caught up in a tsunami, had the brakes of her motorbike fail and experienced a very unhappy ending during a massage in Thailand. It was just as she was about to give up on travel when she stumbled across a handsome New Zealander with a love of challenges...
TWITCHHIKER
How One Man Travelled the World by Twitter
Paul Smith
ISBN: 978 1 84839 370 7 (ePub), 978 1 84839 368 4 (Mobi)
There were five rules of Twitchhiker:
• I can only accept offers of travel and accommodation from people on Twitter.
• I can't make any travel plans further than three days in advance.
• I can only spend money on food, drink and anything that might fit in my suitcase.
• If there is more than one offer, I choose which I take. If there is only one, I have to take it within 48 hours.
• If I am unable to find a way to move on from a location within 48 hours, the challenge is over and I go home.
Bored in the bread aisle of the supermarket one day, Paul Smith wondered how far he could get around the world in 30 days through the goodwill of users of social networking site Twitter. At the mercy of these rules, he set his sights on New Zealand - the opposite point on the planet to his home in Newcastle. All he had to do next was explain the idea to
his new wife.
In an adventure wrapped in nonsense and cocooned in daft, he travelled by road, boat, plane and train, slept in five-star luxury and on no-star floors, shmoozed with Hollywood A-listers and was humbled by the generosity of the thousands who followed his journey and determined its course.
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