Women with an appetite for adventure!

It’s not just about “big” adventures, however.  Members have also been using the website to arrange group get-togethers in their local towns and villages, house-swaps, weekends away, theatre trips, evenings out or simply to look for inspiration and to share their travel and life experiences with like-minded women.  

Below are some accounts of Thelma & Louise experiences to date.

Ceri & Anne Drive Across The Sahara
Anne and Ceri met through Thelma and Louise. They hit it off immediately and, following a few exchanges of email, decided to plan a trip together.  The two women embarked on a three-week, 3,700-mile driving challenge in January 2010, from Southern Spain through Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania and Senegal to The Gambia. The rally was completed in a £500 left-hand drive car, which they purchased on eBay.  The route they travelled was mostly on tarmac roads in various states of repair but this disappeared completely at stages and Ceri and Anne had to drive across the sand, negotiating mine fields.  
 
Having met only three times before taking up the challenge, it was a real voyage of discovery in both the personal and geographical sense for Ceri and Anne.  Both women had the time of their lives and would do the whole thing again tomorrow, given the chance. During her adventure, Ceri met a new man and the pair are now engaged and are living together in Devon.

Gill & Chris Soak Up The Culture In South Africa
Gill had always enjoyed travel but since becoming a widow, she’d found it difficult to find like-minded travel companions. Most of her friends are in settled relationships and her children inevitably have different interests.  After joining Thelma and Louise she soon began chatting, via email, with a number of women and arranging meals out.  One of the women was Chris.  Chris lives in Scotland but arranged a dinner with Gill during a visit to London.  The two women enjoyed a meal and a bottle of wine together and by the end of the evening had found themselves formulating a plan to go to South Africa!  Taking advantage of a British Airways sale, they booked their flights immediately and didn’t meet again in person until four months later when they took their flight from Heathrow to Cape Town.
 
Gill and Chris quickly discovered that as well as food and wine, they both loved exploring, shopping and driving and whilst they didn’t agree on everything, they enjoyed the lively discussions their conflicting views and different backgrounds inspired. After a few days in Cape Town the pair hired a car and shared the driving along the Garden Route to Port Elizabeth, visiting wineries, an elephant sanctuary and even enjoying a day’s safari on the way.  

Lynne Visits Florida Member & Embarks On USA Trucking Adventure
Lynne, from Manchester, had been chatting to Karen through Thelma and Louise for over a year when Karen invited Lynne to visit her in Florida. They agreed that Lynne would visit for a 10-day holiday but three weeks before she was due to fly, Karen mentioned that right after Lynne’s visit she was planning to fly to California, hire a 26ft truck and drive some furniture to Mexico. She joked that Lynne ought to go with her in a true ‘Thelma and Louise’ adventure, driving across America and after looking into the cost of changing her flight, Lynne agreed!  Her family though she was crazy but the trip turned out to be a fantastic adventure for the women.  

Lynne and Karen spent a bit of time sightseeing in Florida and California before they picked up the big yellow truck and hit the road.  They crossed Arizona and New Mexico before reaching Texas and then on to Louisiana, stopping to sip cocktails in New Orleans.  Then it was on to Mississippi and Alabama before arriving back in Florida.  The 2,882 mile drive took five days and Karen and Lynne got on like a house on fire!

Sandra & Diana Follow the Silk Road
Sandra and Diana met through Thelma and Louise when Diana contacted Sandra asking if she would like to travel the Silk Road with her. Sandra agreed and six months later they embarked on a life-changing, three-and-a-half-month journey from Turkey to Pakistan.

The two women travelled through Syria, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, China and finally down the Hunza Valley to Islamabad in Pakistan. Their trip involved a mammoth 36-hour journey from Istanbul to Antakya, lots of hummus and kebabs, meeting new friends, a spot of shopping and plenty of G&Ts!

“A year before I took the trip I never would have thought any of this possible and now, 10 years after being diagnosed with cancer and being told my chances of recovery were slim, I find I am approaching my 67th birthday with two whole new worlds opening out before me," says Sandra of the experience.

For more information on Thelma & Louise and to become a member, please go to www.thelmandlouise.com.