Traveling to Remote Countries Together Brought Mother and Daughter Together: “We Became a Team”

Dane Mette Ehlers Mikkelsen (expandingourhorizon) has always had a passion for travel. She is now 50 years old and, in her lifetime, she has visited no less than 191 countries.

“I’m from a family of traveling women,” she says, and she says her grandmother sold her house after she was widowed so she could travel. and that her mother used to travel to various countries in Europe when he was young.

19 years ago, Mitty gave birth to a daughter named Laerke (@l.mikk), and the tradition continues.

When Laerke was a baby, her mother began taking her on long trips with other family members (they and her relatives spent six weeks in Brazil in 2007).

With their daughter growing up, the two generally began exploring less touristy countries in regions like Africa and Asia.

Together, the two have already visited in recent years, for example, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Burundi, Lebanon, Syria and Nigeria, always in their best backpacking style.

We usually only travel with a backpack on our backs, which can be taken on the plane as hand luggage.

Lark

“One of the reasons for this is that to reach more distant destinations we often find ourselves with very complex flights, with many connections. And having only one carry-on keeps our bags from getting lost between flights,” he explains.

Arriving in the country they want to visit, the duo appreciates cultural immersion experiences with a dose of adventure.

Usually, the two of them like to hire a local guide to drive them to off the beaten path parts of the country they are visiting, such as waterfalls in the wild, towns in the middle of nowhere, and archeological sites off the tourist trail.

Having a local guide made our journey through the country easier and safer. And they are natives who are capable of giving us the most authentic experiences of that place.”

Why the passion for the most unknown country in the world?

“We like countries that don’t have many tourists because people in these areas are generally more genuine and curious with foreigners. They are places where we have the opportunity to experience deeper cultural interactions,” Lark assesses.

Strong Relationship

During their travels, Mette and Lyric were able to live intense experiences that, according to them, greatly strengthened the mother-daughter bond.

With each trip, our association grows. We got to know each other a lot more by spending a lot of time together on the road. We are more aware of the strengths and weaknesses of each “Laerke”

“Travel always presents unexpected events. We become a true team to share responsibilities and quickly solve any problem. Also, many memories are created on these trips. Today, my mom and I have endless stories in our conversations”, Lark .

Together, for example, they have wandered the desert of Mauritania, learned about the rich Islamic and Christian traditions that survive among the ruins of the war in Syria, explored the remote African coasts and camped in the mountains of the island of Socotra (in Yemen). ).

And on these trips, some of the experiences have been particularly good.

“In 2021 we visit Chad, which is one of the least visited African countries in the world. One day our car broke down in the middle of the desert,” recalls Larke. “We took advantage of the waiting time to walk to the town we had seen in the area. It was a place full of mud huts, and suddenly several women came out, curious about our presence there. They were pretty, with braids. hair and colorful dresses. It seemed like they had never seen a white man before. “They were in love with us. And we were in love with them. The women got along very well with us. It was a very loving interaction.”

In Burundi, and also in Africa, a mother and her daughter went through a strange situation.

“We visit the pygmy community in the field,” says Mitty. “At the time, I was 49 years old, an age considered old in the village, since the local women were already grandmothers. Lerc, then 18, would have been married a long time if she had lived there. Some locals asked her if she You will choose a husband in the village and live there.

There is No Expected End

Even with so many experiences accumulated along the way, mother and daughter do not plan to stop traveling together any time soon.

The next trip the two want to take is Somaliland in Africa. And as always, the experience has everything to be a great cultural immersion.

“We want to travel the local roads and have tea and coffee with the indigenous people,” says Mitty. “And one day we also plan to go back to Iguazu Falls and the Pantanal in Brazil, which we visited in 2007. They are incredible places.”