We are Kerry and Craig, UK couple travelling full time in our self built ex-army truck overlander. We left the UK in September 2022, quitting our jobs and selling our house to clear our debts.
We sailed from Hull to Rotterdam, and our journey through most of Europe would be pretty swift as due to Brexit we are restricted to 90 days, so we hopped through Germany, Austria and Italy and caught the ferry to Greece where we spent a good month travelling the coast line all the way around to Turkey.
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Penelope the Truck
We had originally planned to get a 1-year temporary residency for Turkey (the Ikamet) as it’s such a big country and there is so much to do and see. Sadly, this fell through and our application was rejected owing to where and when we applied, so our plans went back to the drawing board and we headed to Cyprus for a few months to allow Turkey to warm.
30 bags collected in one haul!
Cyprus has been a great place to come to and rest for a while, we’ve been here almost two months and traversed most of the island.
Our motto is to leave a place better than you found it and since Greece, it’s not been difficult to do, the trash problem is, at times, overwhelming.
Some of it is ship waste washing in from the ocean, some of it local people not taking away their litter but either way – it is worrying.
Turtle pelvis wrapped in fishing wire – on a turtle nesting beach within a National Park
Since coming to Cyprus, we have been most concerned with the state of so called turtle nesting beaches and national parks, where the wildlife is so obviously threatened by this plastic. Never mind the issue of harm to human health.
So, what do we do with the bags we collect?
Usually, if it’s a small haul we take it to nearby bins or recycling facilities. With the larger ones like this one, 30 bags plus the stuff in the concrete barriers, we reach out to local municipalities, charities and communities with photos, locations and coordinates.
Glass bottles are more often locals enjoying the space
Where it seems to fall on deaf ears it seems. There is a pile of old bags full of trash at the top of the hill that has been there some time, despite daily landrover tours up there, no one takes it away.
We will keep trying of course, because the alternative is death, destruction, at the least health implications for us now and for future generations as plastic waste is found in animals and even in human tissue.
We are all part of the problem of course, but we can also be part of the solution.
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