2008 Interview with George Alagiah, BBC World News
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Here are some of the questions that George Alagiah didn’t ask:
Why did you write the book?
I’d come to a point in my life where I had achieved what I had set out to do as a kid, that of designing my own car and getting a girlfriend. So next, I wanted to fulfil a teenage dream… that of travelling the world. The motivation to invest my life savings in travelling came from a natural curiosity to understand the world in which we live. Something that I felt I needed to experience first hand.
What have you done since your travels?
The main commitment has been to spend two years writing up my diary. In the process of doing this I also adjusted my life back in the UK to action many of the lessons I learnt from different cultures around the world: changing my 25mpg sports car for a 80mpg Hybrid, moving from the city to the country, finding a new office where I am surrounded by inspirational people, employing disabled people where possible, standing up for myself more and choosing to ignore some people whilst consciously putting in more effort with others.
Do you plan to travel again?
I chose not to travel again until ‘Around the World in 80 Handbags’ was finished, because I wanted to keep the clarity of my last trip in my mind as I finished the book. In fact, I have hardly been out of the UK at all. However, now that stage of my life is completed I do plan to go to Africa for the very first time in 2010, Ethiopia or Ghana.
Do you plan to write another book?
I don’t plan to write another book, but then again I didn’t really plan to write ‘Around the World in 80 Handbags’. However, I do dream of inspiring other people to take action and travel. I see my future in empowering people of all ages and upbringings to realise for themselves that:
“Life is not about what you own, life is about what you do.”
Books, videos, TV series, radio, music, one-on-one counselling and group talks will all be part of communicating this message in the future.
