Goat Bus Trail: An Autobiography

The Goat Bus was a white 1971 Morris Minor ex-Post Office van. It was bought with the vague intention of making an overland trip from England to Nepal-the purpose of which was not at all clear, except perhaps to follow the 'hippy trail' that my older sister and her husband had attempted some years earlier. I had very little money and no idea of what was involved.

I made it as far as Holland, where I attempted to get some work to raise funds. When the Dutch police 'defected' the van, I had to do some repairs, and while it was off the road, I took to it with some cans of paint. It had a goat's head on the bonnet. On the rear side panels were the words 'GOAT BUS'. This unlikely vehicle and its intended adventures summed up my attitudes and aspirations-I was a hopelessly impractical, unprepared, slightly desperate dreamer, but I still hoped that my life really did hold some great surprise, something worth giving myself to-one more step down the Goat Bus Trail.