Mountain/desert/jungle/ocean which are you?
Desert
First travel experience?
1986, age 13, a week long cycling holiday in Cornwall with three school friends - and no grown-ups!
Favourite journey?
Across the Sahara through Algeria and Niger
Top 5 places worldwide?
Luanda, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Baja Mexico and Bristol (in varying order, depending on mood!)
Special place to stay?
You can't beat sleeping out under the stars in a desert.
3 items you always pack?
A good book, another good book, and one more, just in case. I live in fear of running out of reading material...
Passport stamp you're proudest of?
Democratic Republic of Congo
Passport stamp most like to have?
Iran
Guilty travel pleasure?
Make-up kit (minimalist)
Window or aisle?
Aisle! I hate disturbing people to go to the loo.
Who is your ideal travelling companion?
Austin Vince (my husband, and motorcycle traveller extraordinaire)
Best meal on the road?
Fried plantain, beans and sour cream in Honduras after a particularly unpleasant border crossing experience.
Worst?
A half-frozen, half-microwaved tuna sandwich in a petrol station in Washington State, USA.
Most surprising place?
Angola
Most disappointing?
Honduras (despite the lovely meal)
Where do You NOT want to go?
Russia
Who/what inspired you to travel?
A boring office job
Any travel heroes?
Theresa Wallach, Chris Scott
What do you listen to on the road? Any song take you back to a particular time or place?
I miss my record collection terribly while on the road and once found myself in a supermarket in Panama City, transfixed under a speaker, listening to the Stray Cats on the local radio! Hearing 'Homeward Bound' by Simon and Garfunkel on the radio while travelling has brought a tear to my eye on occasion.
What do you read?
Whatever I can find, buy, swap... I love the random nature of the reading material you end up with on the road.
Is there a person you met while travelling who reaffirmed your faith in humanity?
So many, but one particular truck driver in Angola springs to mind. He became my guardian angel.
Anyone who made you lose it?
I get a bit depressed when I see travellers haggling over the equivalent of a few pence.
What's the most impressive / useful phrase you know in a foreign language?
Because I rode a 225cc motorcycle the length of the Americas I got very adept at saying 'Two-hundred-and-twenty-five' in Spanish, when the local boys would gather round asking me questions about my bike.
What is your worst habit as a traveller?
Worrying about where the next meal's coming from. It always turns up in the end but I still practice the bad habit of preventative eating!
Snowbound in a tent in Anarctica, how would you entertain your companions?
A pop quiz
When and where in your travels have you been happiest?
So many times... I had a great motorcycling honeymoon around Western and Eastern Europe, crossing the bridge of Americas in Panama was an exciting moment, entering Mexico for the first time was a thrill and riding the trails of the Hoggar Mountains in Algeria was the most exhilarating experience.
What smell most says 'travel' to you?
The oily bilge of a cross-channel ferry - you know you're on your way then.
Given a choice, which era would you travel in?
The 1930s - a golden age of travel.
If you could combine three cities to make your perfect metropolis, what would they be?
Buenos Aires, London and San Francisco
Lois Pryce turned her back on a boring office job to ride motorcycles in every corner of the globe. Her latest book, Red Tape and White Knuckles: One Woman's Motorcycle Adventure through Africa, is available now on Amazon.
More like this
For more unique, amusing and though-provoking insights into the world of travel check out our World According To blog.
Austin Vince | The World According To... More
Jason Reid | The World According To... More
Tim Mackintosh-Smith | The World According To... More
