Rosalind Redshaw's A Long Way From Sunday is a close-to-the-bone tale of wanderlust in Africa.

What's initially striking about the book is that the events occurred in 1994, with Redshaw taking some 28 years to get it on paper. She must have kept detailed records because her descriptions and remembrances are fresh and vivid.

She explains the why behind the journey:

"So that one day I can look back and think I did alright, squeezed some big things into my little life. I will remember all the amazing experiences and I will be okay with being old and decrepit. This is more than a desire or wish, it is a need."

Redshaw and her partner, Gordon, have a simple plan: backpack north to south down Africa's east coast to "see what happens." Quite a lot, as it turns out. Encounters with gorillas, elephants, thieves, scammers, disease, heartbreak, beautiful vistas, and other kindred spirits. There are also plentiful descriptions of bone-shaking, dusty roadways, funky lodgings, sketchy food, and unreliable lorries and buses.

After arriving in Kenya, Redshaw and Gordon talk themselves into bicycling from Nairobi to Cape Town, their final stop. It's an iffy decision, considering Redshaw has only ridden a bike a few times in her life. Still, the idea kicks the journey up a notch, bringing new rewards and challenges.

The journey takes a toll on the couple’s relationship. Their frailties are on full display, sometimes too much. You want to remind them of the gutsy things they’re accomplishing together.

Redshaw's account is unvarnished. Her emotions and descriptions are honest, and the good and bad stand side by side. God bless adventurers like Redshaw who push the limits. It makes for a great travelogue, and it's a book you're sorry to see end.

Finally, I wonder how the book might have looked if she had written it in 1994, compared to this 28-year-later version. Somehow, I think the seasoning of all those years helped make the tale richer and more full-bodied.

I received an advance reading copy from NetGalley.com.

It had been a while since a travel book had caught my eye, mostly because people travel so differently nowadays that it’s about as hard to find a travel story you can relate to as it is to find a real-life travel companion.

A Long Way From Sunday is different though in that it’s a recollection from a trip taken in 1994. Travel was different then; less planning and booking ahead and researching everything online, and more grassroots exploring. It’s also a time I don’t recall personally, which makes it easier to accept the information given.

Above all though, it’s refreshing to actually read someone’s journey, no photos or social media posts included.

The journey is that of Rosalind and Gordon. In the 90s they felt a fear that is very familiar to most of us: Is this our life? For them it was suburban life in Sydney, for others it may be different. But they all have something in common: they are conventional and predictable.

What isn’t conventional is packing a backpack and heading to Africa, to cross the continent from Egypt all the way to South Africa – no planes.

Redshaw writes about their journey, the people the meet, the problems they encounter (and there are many!), the unpredictability of being on the road, and the strains on their relationship. There is humour but also chaos and anxiety. From the very beginning she is faced with cultural differences and questions about the role and place of the woman (and with it the man) in different cultures and societies.
Travelling without a tour operator, western hotels and online booking is very different and this feels like a time capsule of life without smartphones, when you needed paper maps, guidebooks and relied on strangers. It may feel stressful and as I explained the story to others, they didn’t understand the appeal. My family doesn’t travel and mostly saw the inconveniences, the extra time spent in towns just waiting for a visa, delays and the dangers they sometimes encountered. This is probably because now we are used to measuring a place mostly by how clear the waters are and what we got to see.

Redshaw does describe some of the stops they make and what they visit, the breathtaking landscapes and crowded markets; but mostly she focuses on what you can’t capture in pictures: The kindness of strangers who we have replaced with smartphone apps, the conversations with locals but also other travellers, each on their own journey with their own goals, the friendships you make that only last a day or two and yet matter.

A Long Way From Sunday reads like an old-fashioned travel adventure, but also as a personal reflection of what it’s like to move outside of your comfort zone and going on a truly – forgive the nowadays overused word – transformative journey with your partner.