Basia Meder - Around the World in an Aussie Hat

After twelve months of simplified life, with only the pack on my back, an Aussie hat and the people that I met along the way, I returned happy, in April 1996, to my home in Canberra, Australia.

The museums and galleries of Asia, Europe, and North, Central and South America enriched my knowledge. Traces of the ancient rulers of China or the vanished cultures of the Aztecs and Mayas in Mexico, Guatemala, Venezuela and Bolivia transported me into the distant past. As if in a day-dream, I looked towards the huge statues of Easter Island, rooted in a volcanic, dry and grassy soil.

I admired the beauty and wonders of nature in South China, with vertically growing mountains, and the intense green of summer in Alaska. I saw to the bottom of the world's deepest canyon (Grand Canyon, USA) and stood breathless at the foot of the world's highest falls (Angel Falls, Venezuela). The colourful Indian textiles of the markets of Central and South America amazed me.

I walked among the steaming and spurting geysers in Yellowstone National Park, USA. I wondered and meditated in the mountains of Poland, Spain, Alaska, Canada, USA, Venezuela and Bolivia. The culmination of my journey was a long dreamed-of trek in Patagonia, South Chile and then a trek in New Zealand.

Sun-bathing on the white beaches of the coral islands of the Carribean Sea or Tahiti, crossing the fiords of Alaska, Chile and New Zealand, those are other parts of my solo adventure.

Moreover, full of excitement were "close" meeting with black and grizzly bears, caribou, moose, elk and bison in the USA and Canada. Also, I had encounters with a white puma in Chile, the long-legged jungle monkeys of Guatemala and Costa Rica and with beautiful Magellanic penguins in the very south of Chile, close to Tierra Del Fuego.

I saw many places of great interest, animals, birds and other living creatures, but also I learnt about my limitations and boundaries, and about my resourcefulness, openness and tolerance towards the new people that I met and their different point of view.

As a single woman travelling alone across the big planet, the scariest thing was the difficulty of communicating with my close friends and family in Australia. I had tears in my eyes and felt hopeless in Bolivia and Chile, where unexpectedly, I was fully financially dependent on my friends and family in Australia. It was very stressful, very risky and hard on me, and could have stopped my trip at any time. However, my courage, wealth of confidence and experience helped me to accomplish my fondest dreams.

The many friendly meetings in Europe and North America with family and friends, which I treasure in my memories, the surprising warmth of the people in Alaska, which I enjoyed so much, and a lot of fun I had with other travellers in Central and South America made my trip remarkable.

Since my return to Canberra I have already started to dream about my next trips. I feel the necessity to challenge myself and set new goals. At present, it is not easy for me to exchange the fulfilling life of travelling around the world for the everyday routine of office work in Canberra, but I am looking forward to being able to adapt to a new way of life, enriched by past experiences.

I am enjoying all the photographs and slides that bring back my memories from the past year of the most beautiful time in my life. Many times I have happily shared my travel impressions, experiences and values with friends and other interested people by writing about them or through slide presentations.

I believe that this way, with my enthusiasm, I can participate in building world peace, goodwill and understanding and also promote harmony within my family, friends and myself.


South China, 1995	Alaska, USA, 1995

Grand Canyon, USA, 1995	Alaska, USA, 1995

Easter Island, Chile, 1996	Patagonia, Chile, 1996

Tierra de Fuego, Argentina, 1996	Patagonia, Chile, 1996

Around the World in an Aussie Hat

April 1995 - April 1996