| Veronica and Richard Naylor with Sharree Jensen, Progress employee. |
Three years ago Richard and Veronica Naylor who reside in England, set out on a life changing adventure. Richard was working as a quantity surveyor, which is equivalent to a financial engineer in construction, and was downsized after 20 years of service.
He decided to do some freelance consulting for a while and then he and Veronica decided that they would take advantage of early retirement and set out on a venture to bike around the world.
They called their two sons, one in Australia and one in Los Angeles, and told them of their plans and put their house up for rent. They ended up with renters signing a three year lease to their home and they headed out.
They ferried from England to Eastern Europe and traveled down through Turkey, and into the Middle East, where they traveled through Iran, Pakistan, India where they visited the majestic Taj Mahal, Thailand and down through Malaysia and the islands. While in Bangkok, Thailand they encountered the first of only two problems on their trip to date. They were robbed by, they believe, another tourist staying at the same hotel.
They traveled from Malaysia down to Australia where they spent some time with their son, before continuing on to New Zealand and Tasmania. From there, they flew to the Argentina’s Cape Horn. They headed north until they reached Santiago. North of Santiago they encountered a desert that caused them to have to ride the bus a bit to cross it.
They then continued up through Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador. In Bolivia, is where they encountered their second bit of trouble when some young men came up to Veronica and tried to cut her back pack off of her. Richard started to make some noise and tried to tell them to stop and the young men ran off.
Their family had advised them to avoid going through Colombia, so they took a plane to Panama. They rode across Panama, from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean, which only took them four hours. They then traveled up the Panama Canal and on through Central America, hitting Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatamala, and Belize and into Mexico. They traveled through Mexica and up through Tiajuana and into the United States.
They arrived in Los Angeles and stayed with their other son through Christmas and then started again for New York, which they are planning to reach by August of this year.
They headed through Las Vegas and then up through Zions National Park and stopped in Castle Dale on their way to Price and then will head up through Vernal and weave their way across the states. When they reach New York they will fly back to England and then fly down to Portugal and ride north along the western coast back home to finish their loop.
They talked about all of the many places that they have seen and how wonderful the people have been to them. The said that the friendliest country they have visited was Iran, the families invited them to stay with them and were very happy to have them. They said that the Turkish and Curds were also very friendly.
Their worst experience with foreign food occured in Pakistan. The food was very spicy (which doesn’t usually bother Veronica) but she got very sick and lost about 30 pounds. They decided that if you want to lose weight, you should visit Pakistan.
What they would like to share about their experience the most is that there are good people everywhere. The people have made this trip for the Naylors and they hope that others will take opportunities to see other cultures and meet other people.
While in Castle Dale, they stopped at Headquarters for a little breakfast and then headed over to visit the Museum of the San Rafael. They also talked with Montell Seely, and gave him a wallet that they had found along I-70 and asked him to return it to the owner for them. Seely was impressed with their honesty.
The Naylor’s said that this is their “SKI trip,” they are Spending their Kid’s Inheritance. They said that “You just have to go on faith. Get out of your front door and do it.”