Shaun Donovan (Taffy's Travels')
From scorching deserts to snow-capped mountains, through forest fires and gangland war-zones, Shaun Donovan rides the Greyhound Bus to the four corners of America…. and beyond.
White water rafting in Colorado, sky-diving in Las Vegas and swimming with sharks in Florida, he journeys on, diving for shipwrecks and coral reefs and riding roller-coasters for pleasure as he travels the continent.
Lucky escapes, a pilgrimage and a dream fulfilled as his twelve thousand-mile trek through forty-eight states, Canada and the Bahamas are completed - and a promise to his children is finally kept.
An epic voyage of discovery, combining thrills and excitement, disappointment and despair, as each normal days ride is turned into the adventure of a lifetime.
For more information please go to www.taffys-travels.com
Shaun Donovan was born in Cardiff, South Wales, on 9th August1959. The son of a carpenter, he joined his father in the building trade after leaving school at the age of 16, but was soon disillusioned and so changed careers, working first as an office clerk, before moving into the lucrative world of sales and marketing.
Being a keen motor-cyclist and also a travel enthusiast, he spent several holidays riding his bike around Europe and North Africa, spanning a distance of 10,000 miles and visiting 13 countries and several islands between 1981 and 1983.
In 1984, he married and became the father of three children, but after being made redundant in 1990 due to the recession, his marriage collapsed the following year.
After reading the best-selling paperback ‘Jupiter’s Travels´ by Ted Simon, Shaun transposed the book into a movie called ‘Freedom Run’ and spent a week with Ted at his home in California, where after lengthy discussions, they decided on promoting the idea to film and television companies on both sides of the Atlantic.
Because of the cost involved the BBC suggested a 6-part documentary series for television called “Steps of Jupiter – 20 years on” in which Shaun would re-create the journey himself and Ted would meet him at strategic points along the way, but unfortunately sponsorship was not forthcoming and so the project collapsed.
In 1998 Shaun moved to Tenerife and in 2000 he took his 3 children around America, into Canada and across to the Bahamas – just as he had promised them he would do when he had left them in the U.K. two years earlier.
In 2001 Shaun met Sally on the island and in 2007 they took off on another great bus ride – only this time around Australia.
I was in a 'Wild West' mood and as I walked joyfully along the never-ending road in front of me, I recited the words from one of my favorite films - The Alamo. I had recorded it aeons ago and had watched the movie so many times over the past ten years that I knew practically all of the script off by heart. Considering where I was, it seemed an appropriate thing to do as it would inevitably see me to the end of the road without becoming bored of just walking and whistling.
Like a delirious pensioner in the latter stages of senile dementia, I waffled on as Davy Crocket (John Wayne) one minute and Jim Bowie (Richard Widmark) the next, shutting up only when I caught sight, or heard the sound of approaching cars from behind me, as I raised the thumb of my right hand instead, in a vain attempt to cadge a lift - but always to no avail. As the night darkened, my voice seemed to get louder in the still night air - or was it my own nervousness that was purposely causing me to raise my tone, just in case anyone else was out there, listening to my dulcet tones and could alleviate my solitude by simply calling out to me?
As dusk settled into dark and my long-range view diminished by the minute, I began to get a little nervous of the blackening skies and ghostly silence that surrounded me. Out here in the middle of nowhere, I was at nature’s mercy, open to all the elements and an easy prey for the likes of muggers, murderers and crack-heads - let alone the carnivorous beasts of the night that roamed free and survive on anything from fresh meat to rotting flesh! And what about the insects! The mosquitoes who suck you dry of blood, while depositing deadly viruses into your veins and arteries, rapidly destroying your immune system until it collapses and you keel over in agonizing pain, ending up a gurgling heap on the floor for several minutes until you finally die!
As you might have already guessed, my imagination was working overtime - as it always does in situations like these, so my antidote for this is to count to ten and think of one of the happiest times in my life, before returning to reality and looking at things in a more positive manner. I am not normally afraid of the dark, but being in a strange place does add spice to ones thoughts, however I was over the worst of my fears now and ready for the final part of tonight’s journey.
Suddenly, out of the corner of one eye I saw someone - or some 'thing' crossing the road about a hundred yards in front of me. On my second glance it seemed like that solitary figure had now turned into two smaller creatures, their shadow-like features moving towards me at a rapid pace and the sound of their ever-increasing gallop sending iceberg-size shivers down my spine.
Immediately I halted and backed myself up against a small hedgerow, trying to get a clear view of whom, or what was heading for me in such a hurry? Within seconds of my semi-retreat, two monstrous-looking canines bounded onto my pathway, both of them barking furiously at first, their saliva dribbling down between several rows of ominous fangs, before lowering their tones to a blood-curdling growl.
"Nice doggies", I slurred, my underpants already needing a change, followed by "Sit down -be good doggies", but they were adamant at standing their ground and staring deep into my eyes, their long pink tongues lapping their faces, as the remaining droplets of their saliva released themselves, slopping aimlessly into the dust.
Were these two beasts America's answer to The Hound of the Baskervilles - or were they the Tinderbox Dogs, reincarnated from the 'Grimm’s fairy tales' book I had read religiously as a child. The first dog had 'eyes as big as saucers' said the storyline, and the second had 'eyes as big as cartwheels' (if I remember correctly from 40 years ago?). Neither of these carnivorous canines could boast such attributes, but what they had was enough to scare the pants off me.
