The Red Sea Smuggler
An excerpt from the book A Driven Mind by Garry Sowerby I awoke at 5:20 that April morning in 1984 on a flat car at the end of a creeping freight train. Ken and our Ethiopian guide, Tim Cat, were asleep w...
Urban Assault In Prince Edward County
Be it Friday evening or Saturday morning, a sea of stuffed silver and grey SUV’s clog Southern Ontario’s eastbound artery throughout the spring, summer and fall. Helmed by like-minded drivers who’ve loaded up k...
Riding The Beartooth Pass
There are many ways to get to Billings, Montana, the start of one of my favourite rides – the Beartooth Pass. For Debra and me, getting there can be a bit of a challenge with 850 kilometres of open prairie to c...
Jaguar Prowls The Coast Of France
I could swear I’d seen this before; the rocky cliff face to my left, the concrete blocks standing in as Armco barriers to my right, technically there to stop one from tumbling down a steep incline after sliding...
Car Ferries – Unsung heroes of transportation
When I asked if the sea we were sailing on would get much rougher, I couldn’t understand why husband Garry’s face registered humour, instead of adopting the serious expression I required to feel comfortable. Ho...
It’s Baghdad or Bust!
An excerpt from the book A Driven Mind by Garry Sowerby In 1984 Kuwait was the wealthiest country in the world per capita. Its port was the most efficient on the Persian Gulf, busy with tankers shipping out ...
Nicaraguan No-No: Travels And Travails Along The Interamerican Highway
An excerpt from the book A Driven Mind by Garry Sowerby It was May of 1978. My girlfriend at the time, Solange Fortin, and I had just spent a few days in Panama City, Panama. After five months on South Am...
Stranded in Burundi
An excerpt from the book A Driven Mind by Garry Sowerby The airport was empty except for a lanky individual sweeping the floor at the far end of the terminal. The scene had a surreal feel, especially conside...
Milkshakes Conquer the Pan American Highway
An excerpt from the book A Driven Mind by Garry Sowerby It was mid-summer of 1987 and I had been on airplanes between Tierra del Fuego, at the bottom of South America, and Canada for almost 24 hours. The ord...
A Little Gift Goes a Long Way
An excerpt from the book A Driven Mind by Garry Sowerby Toronto’s CN Tower was less than five years old in 1980 when Ken Langley and I set off from its base in an attempt to drive around the world in 77 days...