Randburg resident Philen Naidu took a sabbatical of five years and travelled across Africa.
He has now published a book, My life My Africa after his experiences with new cultures and interesting people. His journey across Africa started in a book store at Cape Town International Airport in 2002. As Naidu was browsing through the store he noticed a magazine with a cover that read “Real Africa”.
“Without expectation I bought the magazine and boarded the plane. The main article was four pages long and focused entirely on the nation of Zambia,” said Naidu. When he arrived home after his visit to his parents in Cape Twon, he immediately started packing for his trip to Zambia. “I was going to leave behind the known and head into the unknown with just a backpack over my shoulder,” said Naidu.
Two years prior to the life-changing journey he was a university student with the prospect of a good job after he graduated. But something felt wrong and he wanted to start living without rules, and leave behind the mindset that he found himself in.
“There was the obvious question about why I could not complete my degree first, to keep it as a backup if all else failed. My response to that was that if I carried a safety net, it would be too easy to rely on during my toughest trials and that it would defeat the purpose of what I was trying to achieve.”
He said his way of thinking had to change for him to cope and live with challenges along the way. “I took along money and a couple of months into my travels I was flat broke. So I figured out that the only way to survive is to help people by doing something for them and in return I received a place to lay my head down and food.”
The journey was not all easy going as Naidu almost became involved with illegal traders. “I got to a point where I had to make the decision as to if I wanted to make money abroad or if I wanted to live and become part of the community. I chose the latter.”
He concluded, “If aspiring travellers want to do the same as I did, they must follow their hearts and take the first step.”
