At 80 years outdated, Intrepid traveller Bob Corridor, stays passionately dedicated to exploring new locations and making connections with folks everywhere in the world, utilizing his singing and unyielding spirit to bridge cultures and unfold pleasure (with slightly good friend referred to as Herry-Bear in tow).
It takes lower than an hour for Bob Corridor to serenade me with a rousing rendition of Scarborough Honest. Singing, he feels, is a means of speaking throughout language and tradition, of spreading pleasure and together with others; extra importantly, it’s a means of getting oneself into fascinating conditions.
Bob fondly remembers a meal at a restaurant in Punta Arenas, an remoted Chilean city overlooking the Strait of Magellan’s frigid waters. The room was stuffed with Italians and he was stunned to search out there wasn’t a glass or bottle of wine in sight.
‘I bought my cellphone out and used the translator,’ Bob says. ‘I wrote, “It’s very exhausting for an Englishman to see two tables of Italians with no wine.” The cellphone was handed round and the very first thing they stated was: “Thanks for speaking to us.” You don’t realise how a lot speaking to somebody – even full strangers – means to folks. I by no means realised it might have such an influence.’
Bob says ‘singing is a means of speaking throughout language and tradition, of spreading pleasure and together with others.’
By the tip of the night, the Italians had been so enamoured with Bob that they paid for his meal. Wine included. Naturally, Bob insisted he must sing for his supper.
‘I sang Scarborough Honest and Silent Evening. It was unbelievable seeing these Italians bopping away. The next morning, once I left my resort to catch a taxi, I used to be flash-mobbed by all of them. They had been hugging me, kissing me, shaking my hand. In order that’s why I prefer to sing.’
Although Bob and I converse by way of video and are separated by 17,000 kilometres of land and sea, his power is palpable even by my display. Eighty years younger, he has already accomplished his day by day train: a brisk stroll close to Scarborough, North Yorkshire, with 500 ft of elevation thrown in for good measure.
‘I don’t take remedy,’ Bob explains. ‘I care for myself and attempt to do every little thing proper. I’ve to.’
Bob understands the realities of ageing greater than most, having spent a decade caring for his spouse, Mary, who suffered from Alzheimer’s earlier than passing away in 2019. He’d beforehand travelled extensively for work – first within the military, then the British civil service – they usually’d spent a number of years residing in Cyprus, however Mary’s situation made it unimaginable to journey. They remained grounded within the UK.
After his spouse’s dying, Bob returned to journey as a strategy to heal. He flew first to Cyprus however it was, he admits, a case of him operating away.
He then travelled to Australia six months after Mary’s passing however discovered himself in a darkish place along with his grief effervescent to the floor. He arrived at his resort in Sydney however felt like he was trapped in hell. He was distraught. Shouting. He couldn’t get a grip on actuality till a girl settled him down and coaxed him by it. Feeling calmer, Bob walked to Sydney Harbour by heavy rain. And it was right here, by the intense white sails of the Opera Home, that he seen a girl sitting on her personal.
‘I like assembly folks. And I need to try to encourage others [to do the same] as a result of life is there, you already know? However you’ve bought to take the time.’
‘She seemed like how I felt,’ explains Bob. ‘I went over to her and stated, “I hope you don’t thoughts me asking, however you don’t look very effectively. Would you want any person to speak to?” And she or he simply got here out with all of it. She was from Herzegovina and there have been issues again residence. She was frightened about having the ability to return and wasn’t certain whether or not her household and mates had been okay.’
This speaking, this connection – it actually meant one thing to Bob. ‘That’s what I actually, actually need,’ he says. ‘I like assembly folks. And I need to try to encourage others [to do the same] as a result of life is there, you already know? However you’ve bought to take the time. It took me quite a lot of effort. However when you’ve made the hassle – wow. It’s like a drug. Life actually is a drug.’
Bob turned hooked. On seeing new locations, assembly new folks. In 2020, he took his first Intrepid journey to North India, due to a advice from journey agent. He’s clocked seven extra journeys since then. Sri Lanka is locked in for Christmas and he’ll go to Antarctica within the new 12 months, taking his tally to a powerful 10 Intrepid journeys over 5 years.
‘The factor about Intrepid that basically conjures up me is that they at all times attempt to help a local people of some type,’ says Bob. ‘And the no plastic factor. I feel it’s completely admirable. In India, we visited a restaurant run by girls and younger ladies who’d had acid thrown of their faces. So that you’re not simply travelling, you’re additionally supporting a neighborhood, which I discover completely unbelievable.’
That’s to not say there haven’t been a number of hiccups alongside the best way. A brown belt, Bob not too long ago travelled to Okinawa, Japan, to coach on the residence of karate; nonetheless, he was advised he was too outdated to take part. The dojo’s insurance coverage wouldn’t cowl him. Removed from discouraged, Bob opted for samurai coaching in Tokyo as a substitute.
‘They taught me the best way to parry, the best way to strike blows. How one can stroll. After which I took half in a state of affairs the place they got here up behind me, began attacking, and I needed to defend myself earlier than “killing” them with two strokes of the sword. It was unbelievable.’
Becoming a member of Bob for Samurai coaching was a really particular journey companion: Herry-Bear. This diminutive explorer was positioned in Bob’s care by the scholars at Hertford Vale C.E. Main Faculty, who obtain common updates on Herry-Bear’s whereabouts by way of e mail.
‘I dwell proper subsequent door to the varsity,’ says Bob, holding Herry-Bear as much as the digital camera. ‘Earlier than I went to Australia, I requested the headmaster whether or not it may be a good suggestion for the kids to observe my journey as a form of geography lesson. I requested if there was a mascot that the kids might determine with, so that they introduced me with this bear. He’s been in all places with me. All around the world. I prefer to suppose he has a black belt in travelling.’
Bob – or Herry-Bear, I ought to say – sends missives to the scholars of Hertford Vale from around the globe. And upon returning residence, the 2 of them will go to the varsity to offer a presentation on the place they’ve been and what they’ve realized.
Herry-Bear was positioned in Bob’s care by the scholars at Hertford Vale C.E. Main Faculty.
‘It’s actually sensible,’ Bob says. ‘Like a real-life geography lesson. The youngsters are tremendous excited and simply sit there and pay attention. The headmaster exhibits photographs and I level to a map and inform a narrative in regards to the place. It’s to not encourage them to journey, essentially, simply to point out them that there’s a entire world on the market they usually can go see it. I hold providing to offer Herry-Bear again however the headmaster has advised me that so long as I need to journey – and so long as I’m keen to take photos of the place we’re – Herry-Bear stays with me.’
And the way lengthy does Bob need to journey? As you may anticipate, he has no plans to decelerate. However he admits to being slightly too outdated to tough it nowadays. On his final go to to Australia, he travelled throughout Tasmania with a bunch of backpackers however opted to get a resort room as a substitute of sharing a dorm. And as a lot as he liked North India Revealed – a 22-day journey by Varanasi, Udaipur and the Thar Desert – he’ll now fortunately embrace a number of extra creature comforts. So long as there’s room for Herry-Bear, in fact.
Construct bridges, make a connection or uncover a furry pal someplace on this planet on a small group journey with Intrepid.
