Imagine travelling, largely without stepping on a plane. Just boats, trains and thumbing a ride. There's no WIFI, mobile phones or Instagram for bragging rights to friends and family stuck back home.
Steve Lowndes has written a memoir called Travelling Light about the journeys he took with his former wife, Lisa Potts, through the 1970s.
It was a time when travel was truly intrepid - through a world polarised by the Cold War - but free of the madding crowds mass tourism would bring in later decades.
As well as South America, they did the "hippie trail" of Iran, Afghanistan and Nepal, as well as a trip behind the Iron Curtain to parts of the Soviet Union - including Russia itself.
Writing is just one facet of Steve's life - he's had a number of roles in local government and retired in 2019 as the chair of the Canterbury Regional Council.
He's also passionate about the arts - he's an avid painter and Chair of the Arts on Tour board.
Photo: Supplied
