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?