Barry D. Hampshire - Journey to Self: Discovering Paths Beyond My Dreams

Andrew Benzie Books
Martinez, California

Published by Andrew Benzie Books

www.andrewbenziebooks.com

Copyright 2019 Barry D. Hampshire

www.bhdwrites.com

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system without prior written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Salutes/Salaams

I have been unable to contact a number of individuals mentioned in the story and have, therefore, renamed them in the following account. I suspect a few of these people have already diedIm saddened I couldnt share this book with them. I offer my condolences to their families and may this book be a tribute to their adventurous spirits.

eBook Edition: October 2019

Hampshire, Barry

Journey to Self: Discovering Paths Beyond My Dreams

ISBN: 978-1-950562-03-9

Cover and book design by Andrew Benzie

www.andrewbenziebooks.com

I dedicate this memoir to those who suffer, no matter if it be caused by ill health, social injustice, or financial inequalities. I also dedicate this account to all the people who have chosen to spend their careers or volunteer some of their time to work with these people in their time of suffering. And lastly, I dedicate this book to the adventurers who explore the world and who, in doing so, are willing to discover themselves.

Contents

Map of England to Greece (1977)

Map of Turkey to Saudi Arabia (1977)

Map of Saudi Arabia (1977)

Foreword

Chapter 1: A Different Paradigm

Chapter 2: Camp Life

Chapter 3: Preparations

Chapter 4: Unto Europe

Chapter 5: Old Familiar Places

Chapter 6: New Territory

Chapter 7: West Meets East

Chapter 8: Ancient Worlds

Chapter 9: Getting Hotter

Chapter 10: Being Tourists for a While

Chapter 11: Home-Style Cooking

Chapter 12: Indiana JonesYou and Me, Both

Chapter 13: A Couple of Minor Incidents

Chapter 14: The Home Stretch

Chapter 15: Post Journey

Chapter 16: Al Hofuf

Chapter 17: Diving in the Red Sea

Chapter 18: Uplifting Winds

Chapter 19: Spelunking in the Desert

Chapter 20: What Next?

Chapter 21: The Empty Quarter

Chapter 22: Life Thereafter

EpiloguePart I

EpiloguePart II

Appendix

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Map of
England to Greece
(1977)

Map of
Turkey to Saudi Arabia
(1977)

Map of
Saudi Arabia
(1977)

Foreword

This is the travel story of a stubborn, determined young man with a taste for adventure, who 40 years ago drove an American car from London to Dhahran. His journey took him through Europe and into Syria, much of which has now been devastated by conflict.

Often in the face of adversity, encountering crooked officials and bureaucracy, Barry and his friends pressed on.

On reaching his destination his love for exploring led him into the deserts of Arabia, spelunking down a massive sink hole and other deeper caverns, discovering archaeological sites, and contending with the hazards of driving in such a scorched, remote region.

This self-confessed rebel eventually discovered the importance of faith and compassion, thereafter devoting his life to the service of those who suffer. Perhaps the emptiness of deserts has this effect; as a great spiritual leader found 2,000 years ago.

Colonel John Blashford-Snell

President, the Scientific Exploration Society

Chapter 1
A Different Paradigm

Why did you buy this great big American car? Mother demanded to know as she sat erect, dressed in a fawn-colored tweed skirt, stockings, and light cardigan. She looked intently into my eyes as if reading my mind. Why didnt you buy a nice English car here? You plan to drive that monster all the way back to Saudi Arabia? Couldn't you have bought one there? Its 1977. They sell cars there, dont they? Her volley of questions battered me as we sat drinking tea .

I fidgeted. I thought. I folded my arms across my chest. I need it for getting around camp. Maybe youve forgotten the size of our camp in Saudi; its about the size of a small English town. And the average temperature is over 100 degrees for much of the time. Most vehicles in camp are American, theyre bigger than what we drive here.

When she realized my brief answer hadnt explained my decision to drive back, her brow furrowed and her eyes narrowed. Her stare held me while she fired another salvo. What will happen if you need help while you drive all the way from England back to Saudi Arabia?

I had no answer, proving her constant criticism. She felt I never thought thoroughly about situations. My hands glistened with sweat and twitched. Oh, many friends have driven back , and they say getting help isnt any big deal.

Mothers exasperation boiled over. Barry, youre so infuriating. I just want to know what youre planning to do. I dont understand this trip. It sounds dangerous and not a good idea.

Words failed to form, I sat in silence, unable to reply. In that moment, I realized nothing in her experience allowed her to connect with my plans to drive across Europe and the Middle East. I wished I could give her some reassurances, but outcomes of adventures were never foreseeable. I had already bought the Blazer and arranged to take two friends with me on the trip. When I purchased the vehicle, I informed my mother of my plans in a letter. However, I realized in later conversations she had dismissed the letter as just another crazy idea of mine. At the time of my mothers barrage of questions, my Chevy Blazer sat at the curb outside her house; my intentions were concrete and real. In Mothers eyes, the prospect of driving all the way to Saudi Arabia looked frightening but, for me, it looked like an exciting adventurefull of unknowns.

Her shoulders slumped forward, I felt relieved to see the tension in her arms ease as she placed her cup on her lap, and her stare softened as it drifted down towards the floor. I sat waiting and drank another mouthful of tea; she had no more questions. She shook her head in disbelief and took another sip of her teaI wondered if it was a sign of her resignation that I would do what I intended. I let out a long breath to assuage a sense of guilt because Id just lied to her.

The truth is only a few of my friends have ever made the journey. Theyve told me finding help with mechanical repairs, money problems and paperwork issues would be a headache for most of the trip.

I couldnt admit these details to my mother and minimized them for myself. I found comfort in an internal state of denial where I could hide from my concerns and fears. If she knew how vague my plans were, she would have picked holes in them causing herself to be more worried which would have heightened my own level of angst. I felt the need to protect both of us and thought it best to shut down.

Her worried thoughts stayed with me over the next few weeks. Being a rather arrogant 28-year-old British guy didnt help my unpleasant sense of being cornered by my more sensible and much wiser mother. I grew up in London in the post-World War II 1950s, and life had its challenges and its blessings. Through it, I developed a false sense of self-resiliency, whereas my mother who had survived the war and witnessed much hardship had a better sense of what I needed to be considering. However, her war-time experiences had left her with a need to control situations. My proposed trip was far beyond her control which my rebellious side purposefully sought. On the few occasions I did listen to her, she talked about my safety, the security of the Blazer, potential health problems, communicating with people who didnt speak English, and my ability to contact British embassies. I believed her concerns were well founded, but my immature stubbornness prevented my listening to her words or engaging in a meaningful dialogue.