Rebecca Lowe and her bicycle, ‘Maud’, central Iran, 2016
My friend Rebecca has a new book out called The Slow Road to Tehran. The Financial Times reviewed it on Monday. They described it as “highly entertaining and impressively valiant.”
I call her my friend. But Rebecca is more of an acquaintance. I’m trying to make myself look cool by association. The truth is I wish I had half her guts. She used to be flatmates with my good friend Zoe. One day she decided to leave her job in journalism and ride a pushbike solo to Iran. I remember when she set off. It impressed me but also I thought she was mad. At the time I’d recently left journalism myself and felt brave for doing public relations. Meanwhile she set off on a year-long, 7,000 mile trip. What I like about the book is it might sound like a mad thing to do. But people warmed to Rebecca and opened their homes and hearts. It turns out, being brave and optimistic can also be inspiring. Particularly at a time like this when we’re all so scared of each other, it feels like, when you read the news. It makes for great writing. It makes me change my attitude about the world a bit. I can see that you might change your mind a bit if you read it too. From the FT’s review:
“Dozens of homes are visited, and a huge number of named hosts and friends of friends — aid workers, students, activists, doctors — are called upon and quizzed on their politics and personal lives, as well as the realities and delusions of their home countries, usually over shared plates of juicy kebabs.”
The reality is that the author finds more in common than at odds with many of the people she meets. My copy arrived from the English publisher this weekend and I’m half way through. There’s an American edition out soon if you don’t want to pay for the shipping from London. The book is powerful on the issue of gender, too. We tend to think of solo bicyclists and explorers as men. But this book changes one’s mind about what an adventurer looks like. I can see how it could inspire young women in lots of ways.
Meantime I’m reflecting on what possible things I could do that might be as interesting. I’ve always tried to be brave in the choices I’ve made, and I’m proud of some of those choices. I also see the value in writing about a brave thing you’ve done, because it can help others see the value in it too. Some of the bravest things we do in life aren’t always the big trips or the grand gestures either. It can be the time you said no to doing something when to say yes would have been easier. The time you stuck your neck out to help a colleague or a friend instead of playing it safe. The time you put your name forward. To be brave is to forge a path toward originality. Again, well done to Rebecca on this inspiring publication.
