I have been practicing massage for a couple of years and I am trained in Swedish and sports & remedial massage. I have worked with many different types of people from all sorts of background. For me massage has been a powerful way to engage with others. It can sooth a person when they are stressed, energize a person when they need a boost or be used for its therapeutic abilities to deal with condi
tions such as loss. My trip is about finding other ways that massage effects peoples lives and how touch has influenced societies throughout history. I hope to opening up this powerful resource, to uncover its mysteries. My background is in theatre and dance and I will be tapping into many of these skills on my journey to create an engaging documentary. Travelling by a convertible bicycle-cum-massage-table across the globe, following the history of massage, The Touch Trail will begin in September 2014. As a trained massage therapist, I will use this trip as an opportunity to better understand the evolution of massage. The trip will begin in London and end in Hawaii, travelling through France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Iraq, India, Thailand, Cambodia, China, South Korea and Japan, charting key moments in the history of massage. Instead of paying for my travel and accommodation in the traditional way, I will use my training as a massage therapist to trade for food, accommodation and travel (where my bike can’t take me): massage will be my currency. Through sponsorship, this trip will raise money for two charities, Water Aid and Seeing Hands. To cap it off, this whole thing is going to be recorded as a video documentary so that we will have a record of how this experiment will work. It is my hope that in crossing the planet using massage as my only currency, I will be able to uncover the prevalence of ancient medicine in modern day society and increase awareness of the social benefits that it can yield.
