Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Ithinktheypulledoutbecausetheysawthatinmyfirstcorrespondence,theorigin-
albeneficiarywasUNICEFandsinceUNICEFdidnotwanttobepartofthetour,Cookson
lost interest (Catch 22). I must admit I wasn't deeply upset. It was Richard Oster, the CEO,
and Cookson America Inc. that were the first to support me. With their initial backing, I
had the confidence to put the tour into high gear and to them, I was (and still am) eternally
grateful.
Another idea came to me while I was serving beer at the Petty Officers' Mess. I
wanted to visit STC projects en route during my tour of Africa. That way, when I did inter-
views, I could speak from what I saw and not from what I read. I posed the idea to Chris,
my local STC contact. He offered advice and diplomatically said that officially it was not
possible. However, unofficially, he hinted that when I got to Africa, I could visit the local
STC field offices and have the field coordinators decide if I could visit or not. And that
was exactly what I did.
By the end of February, I received great news from STC-Canada. They felt that I
was “much more organized than [we] had expected”. They said that if my first year was a
success (and they would want evidence of this) they would likely join me in carrying on
the Canadian segment.
Notlongafter,STC-Australiajoinedthetourandwantedregularupdates.However,
STC-USA backed out of the tour. I felt like a yo-yo!
By the end of March, I received more international publicity through several
sources. An Italian magazine called La Salisienni Bulletino, used my press photo (me cyc-
ling in Switzerland) as its cover with a lengthy article inside. The International Youth Hos-
telling Federation also published an article using the same press photo.
I enlisted two more sponsors: Bartholomew, who donated my maps, and Field &
Trek who discounted my camping equipment.
By May 14, 1992, I had finalized everything. My routes (UK and World) and my
sponsors were ready to be officially printed on my T-shirts. I went to place my order in
Ivybridge,Plymouth.RonHillSports'logowasplacedonthesleeves.Unfortunately,there
was not enough time to place B&I Ferries and Sea Link Ferries on the shirts.
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