What could be a better learning experience for a Langdale Grade 7 student than to spend 25 days travelling at breakneck speeds across four continents and visiting 13 countries?
On May 3, Petra Chalmers came back from her world travels that started in April with GreatEscape2008, a global scavenger hunt competition.
"I went on the adventure because my father organizes these annual travel adventure competitions and this is the fourth one. I was asked to go, finally," Petra said. "I wanted to see the world, because I love travelling, and mainly I wanted these experiences that would last a lifetime."
Petra said she had many amazing, interesting and wonderful experiences in her travels in Europe, Malaysia and the Middle East.
"I loved seeing the elephants at the elephant sanctuary in Malaysia and feeding and riding them," she said.
She also enjoyed the pyramids, which on the blog she wrote while travelling, she describes as more immense than she realized they were going to be. She also had the chance to visit Anne Frank's house, which she read about with her dad a few years ago and got new insights into cultural cooking.
"I really enjoyed the market places with all the people and shops, especially the night food market in China with scorpion and snake on a stick among many other strange foods," she recalled.
In travelling through such different countries, she said she made a lot of personal discoveries.
"I learned how extremely lucky I am to have food, a home and, like it or not, a decent school to go to," she said. "Also, I realized how much we take for granted, and the luxuries we have compared to some people."
While on the road, she met many new and interesting people.
"There was an 11-year-old boy in Nepal named Raju that I met. He spoke six languages and was his family's doctor. I liked that in a place where opportunities are hard to come by, he is making his own chances at a better life by educating himself and learning. He was so positive and upbeat too," Petra said.
Three of her favourite countries she would like to go back to visit some day are Greece, the Netherlands and Singapore.
For details about the great escape or to check out Petra's blog, see www.globalscavengerhunt.com.
