Follow your dreams. Do what you love. Sure: but how, in practice?
I decided to give up the other stuff. The things that I merely liked, even though I was quite good at them… and focus instead on sharing my knowledge of the places and things I really love. So now, while not indulging my other great love (writing) I lead walking tours of Oxford and Uzbekistan.
What connects these very different places is a dreamlike quality, which I first experienced in my teens. Oxford is famously the city of dreaming spires and I fell in love with it fifty years ago, while visiting a friend in Trinity College. I was studying geography at “The Other Place” and back then Oxford was a vibrant city compared to that dour town in the Fens. Today they both seethe with tourists in summer: but when I started tour guiding I rediscovered the quiet backstreets and hidden gems that I had almost forgotten. If you know where and when to look, the enchanted places can still be found.
Uzbekistan first enchanted me through old travel books, with their photos of architectural wonders that seemed unreal, as if they were illustrations from The Arabian Nights, or fantastical travellers’ tales. Samarkand. Bukhara. Khiva. Names that resonate with stories of Marco Polo and the Silk Route, conjuring up images of Tamerlane and camel trains across the desert. Then a Canadian friend who had worked in many exotic corners of the world, invited me to join her first commercial tour to Uzbekistan and I realised that this was something I had always dreamed of.
And so came that rare and wonderful moment, when the reality surpasses the dream.
So now I am leading tours of these places, which means I can share the wonder: and perhaps the greatest delight is that with each tour, my own knowledge and appreciation grows. You never tire of the things you truly love.
In Oxford I guide for Experience Oxfordshire, the official partners of Tourism England. If you’d like to visit the dreaming spires, then you can book public or private walking tours at www.oxfordofficialwalkingtours.org We focus on smaller group tours that enable us to go into more depth than most; but if you want something truly personalised then contact me here or via LinkedIn.
If you want to experience the glories of Uzbekistan, contact Silk and Wine Routes at www.silkandwineroutes.com which also covers other exotic destinations. We only take small groups, my next Uzbek tour is departing on 13th October and I really hope to see you there.
Why just dream?
Alan Brunstrom, Author Site 