Making My Mark in the World
Since I read the other "Fullest Life" messages, I am afraid my story will seem selfish. After many years of living for others, rescuing stray cats and dogs and helping in the communities I lived in, I thought about my life in another way. Once my chilren were grown I decided I wanted to be remembered for more than my pineapple upside down cake. Admitting to myself that I was too old to win an Olympic medal, not talented enough to win an Academy award, I thought I might do something to get in the Guinness Book of World Records. At first I couldn't think of anything I could do to be listed.
Then, about two o'clock one morning I jumped out of bed and called the Guinness people in London. I realized I could combine my love of train travel with a Guinness record. I offered to stay on the same train for a year if there would be a way to take showers. I was told that the best way to get into the book was to beat an existing record, preferrably the most difficult one.
After searching the Guinness book I found the one I wanted to try. There was a record of the most unduplicated miles traveled by train. I got the go-ahead from Guinness, but not a promise of being in the book, even if I broke the record.
I got more adventure than I had bargained for. Although some of my travel was easy and without mishap, I was robbed in Bucharest, beaten in Berlin, lost many times, mistaken for a beggar, a prostitute, and other unsavory characters. Many strangers helped me along the way. I traveled through 33 countries and my mileage was enough to have circled the globe three and one fifth times(including the waters).
Each mile or kilometer had to be verified by a conductor or an assistant conductor. If I had to retrace my miles there would be no credit.
The hardest part of the journey was not traveling with low funds or as a woman alone, but as a vegetarian. There were times I thought of giving up, but there were those who had donated rail passes or cash, and I could not disappoint them.
I beat the record near the borders of Russia and Kazakstan. The hotel in Kazakstan had kept my passport and visa, so I was worried about traveling into Russia without my documents. With the help of others on the train I managed to appease the border guards and made it back to Moscow.
I waited several months before hearing from the Guinness people that my record had been accepted and that I would be listed in the 1998 Guinness book.When I saw my name for the first time in that book, I cried. Yes, I was proud of myself and my family was proud of me too. I wrote a book about my adventures by train. Now I feel I have made my mark in the world as an author and a world record holder. I was one moth away from 65 years old when I beat the record.
Then, about two o'clock one morning I jumped out of bed and called the Guinness people in London. I realized I could combine my love of train travel with a Guinness record. I offered to stay on the same train for a year if there would be a way to take showers. I was told that the best way to get into the book was to beat an existing record, preferrably the most difficult one.
After searching the Guinness book I found the one I wanted to try. There was a record of the most unduplicated miles traveled by train. I got the go-ahead from Guinness, but not a promise of being in the book, even if I broke the record.
I got more adventure than I had bargained for. Although some of my travel was easy and without mishap, I was robbed in Bucharest, beaten in Berlin, lost many times, mistaken for a beggar, a prostitute, and other unsavory characters. Many strangers helped me along the way. I traveled through 33 countries and my mileage was enough to have circled the globe three and one fifth times(including the waters).
Each mile or kilometer had to be verified by a conductor or an assistant conductor. If I had to retrace my miles there would be no credit.
The hardest part of the journey was not traveling with low funds or as a woman alone, but as a vegetarian. There were times I thought of giving up, but there were those who had donated rail passes or cash, and I could not disappoint them.
I beat the record near the borders of Russia and Kazakstan. The hotel in Kazakstan had kept my passport and visa, so I was worried about traveling into Russia without my documents. With the help of others on the train I managed to appease the border guards and made it back to Moscow.
I waited several months before hearing from the Guinness people that my record had been accepted and that I would be listed in the 1998 Guinness book.When I saw my name for the first time in that book, I cried. Yes, I was proud of myself and my family was proud of me too. I wrote a book about my adventures by train. Now I feel I have made my mark in the world as an author and a world record holder. I was one moth away from 65 years old when I beat the record.
