The jet-setting Jesus lover
An avid traveller, Silvano Griffith-Francis has visited 83 countries. She shares some of the most memorable, exciting and challenging experiences from her many journeys.
Just before my eighth birthday, I moved from Greater Manchester to Barbados, where I lived for the next eight years. One of the first things that struck me was the weather. It was December, and I had just left knee-deep snow.
Suddenly, I was in a land where the sun felt hotter than the hottest summer I’d ever known.
The other thing that stood out was the language. They spoke English, but it sounded completely different from what I was used to.
The food was different; the way people dressed was different; even the houses and landscape felt unfamiliar. It was like stepping into another world, not just another country.
Then, at the age of 11, my dad took me to New York as a reward for doing well in my exams. It was my first visit to America, and once again I was struck by the differences – language, food and culture all distinct from both the UK and Barbados.
My young mind started to wonder: is every country in the world completely different from the next? In that moment, I made a decision: when I grow up, I’ll go to every country and find out!
story continues …
