Modern Travel Attempts: Becky Sampson
Expedition Equus, a horse ride for the ages
Two girls traveling overland on horseback from London to Tokyo, taking 4 years. An adventure which will involve traveling from the United Kingdom - France - Germany - Czech Republic - Slovakia - Hungary - Romania - Bulgaria - Turkey - Iran - Turkmenistan - Uzbekistan - Kyrgyzstan - China and Japan.
It is a great travel trip that we can follow alongside. Well the good news is Expedition Equus on the move. the bad is it's just been delayed. But, that means there's still time to find out what it's all about.On August 5th 2008 the girls were about to embark on this journey. A little countdown clock on the site www.expeditionequus.com ticked away. But no updates. Then the following appeared on the site.
"AUGUST 2008 NEWSFLASH - Zena is no longer coming on Expedition Equus. In view of this, the expedition has been postponed until February 2009. Regular updates will continue on this website. The ride will go on!!!"
Watching an overland journey as it happens
And so the drama of an overland journey starts. What I like here is how we get to follow everything from the start. 
The site is set up with lots of snippets of info. I have been following it for quite a while and had been in touch. But then the updates slowed and then the announcement. It happens to a lot of great travel adventures. And in this day and age we can watch the adventure unfold online. It may not be the original intention of the girls for this to happen, but it has, and so the learning curve of travel has taken hold before the first step is made.
The good news is that Becky Sampson is still going ahead with the journey.To her credit Becky will do the trip alone (well Bertie the horse is going for a while too). Making it that bit more special. For me, I will be staying tuned to this future great travelers tale as it unfolds. It is after all what travel is all about, the unexpected, the journey, the learning, the living. Here's her website - Expedition Equus (website offline: see below)
Update 1 I recently interviewed Becky about her journey: Interview with Becky Samson
Update 2 I heard that Becky has become ill and journey has been halted. I certainly wish Becky all the very best, and a speedy recovery.
Update August 2011 I note now that the domain for the website Expedition Equus is no longer working. I can only assume that this attempted journey is no longer active. For the past 2 years I've tried to make contact with Becky and Expedition Equus to no avail.
There was no press release from the Expedition Equus team regarding any of this. It was only through a third party I found out some more details. Whilst the journey is still planned in the future, at the moment it is no longer active.
From what I can ascertain, they got as far as France. Moreover the original idea of traveling overland by horse to Japan did not say it would be done seasonally. e.g. going back home for breaks, seasons etc.
As such, the Great Modern Travel Award Badge will be removed from this profile. In lieu of the attempt and as a matter of keeping records, Becky's profile will be now listed as an attempt.
Editors note: A new section called Modern Travel Attempts has been set up for future incomplete journeys or ongoing journeys until they can at least reach a stage which qualifies them for a Great Modern Traveler Award.
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