Interview final

Rita McKail, a nomad of sorts, recently returned from her adventure in Australia. The 35-year-old loves to travel, and has taken an unescorted adventure on every continent. Her most recent one, however, to the land down under "was like any other trip," she says. She tells about all of the unexpected events and people that came her way under the equator.

When she decided to take a trip to the only continent she had not visited, she decided "flying would just be too boring." Knowing that going by boat would take much longer, she looked at it as a "pre-adventure." It took nearly 3 weeks for her to leave New York City and make her way across the Atlantic and to maneuver through the Mediterranean Sea, where the ship had to pick up more cargo, through the Suez Canal and across the Indian Ocean, to land in Darwin, to start her journey on the outback. The interesting part is that she made this seemingly endless journey on a cargo ship. "I didn't really know exactly what they were hauling on the ship, everything was in huge boxes, or cars, but I knew a guy who knew a guy that could get me on board that ship all the way to Australia, so I took it, I got to learn sea life."

While on board the ship McKail encountered dozens of obstacles. First of all, she had to pull her own weight. Therefore, she helped serve meals to the entire crew; she also had the dirty job of doing the dishes. Since she was the only female on board, she was able to take advantage of having a room all to herself, and used the quiet to keep a journal. The journal included the day by day routines she went through on the trip. One page read: "I never thought I would get sea sick, until I spent a month on a ship. I never thought I would be disgusted by the sight of food, until I spent a month doing dishes. I never thought I would be able to hate the rain, until I spent a month wanting sun." This passage represents how she wanted an adventure, and experience, but she might be relentless to take a ship next time.

"I was so relieved to finally reach Darwin," says McKail. There, she rented a car, bought a map, and set out for a road trip. Unfortunately she had arrived in the middle of their dry season. With only a tent to sleep in, many nights were simply spent on the side of a dirt road. "One morning, I woke up, and a mother kangaroo and her joey were into my food." At that point she had to find a town big enough that she could get more supplies. The remaining animals, that didn't migrate with the wet season, had an unbelievably thirst. McKail said she would often pour an entire canteen of water on the ground and go back to her jeep to observe the several species of animals that would come and try and taste some of the moisture. Since she wasn't taking a guided tour, she may have missed some of the great sites, but she would rather experience the country on her own time. "I've never really liked guided tours, tried one in Antarctica and we weren't allowed to observe the penguins very closely. I would have rather done it solo, and done what I wanted, on my own watch, and my own money." She mostly just saw kangaroos while on her trip, due to the season, but the trip "was very much worth my time."

As for the trip back, she bought a plane ticket. "It was good to get back to the states," she said, "but I would do it all again, I think I would choose a different season for the travel though." Life is short, but Rita McKail teaches us to do what we want with it, wherever we want.