Trusting My intuition: How a LandRover Changed My Life
Do you ever really know what you’re getting yourself into?
I don’t.
When I bought the Landrover - on a whim - I had never even sat in one, let alone driven it. But it woke something up in me. A dream. What if…?
At that moment, I was on a campsite in the Netherlands, while my future car was parked in Cape Town. And despite all the doubts and fears, I decided to follow that little voice inside me and go for it.
A Leap Into the Unknown
Four months later, I landed in South Africa as the proud owner of a 2003 Landrover Defender 110 TD5. No clue what I was really getting myself into, but a deep desire to take my daughter Fleur (6) on an adventure. A year on the road through Africa. Driving across South Africa and maybe even all the way back to Europe.
Exciting. And what a sense of freedom.
I knew that the further north we’d go, the worse the roads would get. I should probably prepare for that, right?
So, somewhat naively, I booked a one-day off-road training in Stellenbosch.
A Lesson in Trust
At that point, I had barely driven fifty kilometers in that Land Rover. And there I was, standing among all these brand-new, polished white 4x4s. My twenty-year-old, dusty Defender with rooftop tents and all? It was everything their cars weren’t.
And then something shifted.
I just drove. Through the wildest obstacles. As if I’d been off-roading for years. That day, I didn’t just learn what that Land Rover was capable of—I learned to trust myself as a driver.
Driving on Instinct
Say what you want about a Land Rover. But when you feel it dig into the sand, pull itself up over rocks - like a beast - you just know: this thing will get you where you need to go.
All I had to do? Hit the gas and steer. On instinct.
That one-day training? Nowhere near enough to prepare me for what was coming:
Endless roads,
River crossings,
Roads suddenly disappearing,
Unexpected obstacles.
But it gave me something far more important: the confidence that I can do this.
Maybe even more than that. The trust that I am exactly where I’m supposed to be.
I had no idea what I was getting myself into. But along the way, I discovered I was exactly where I needed to be.
Are you coming along for the ride?