From the remote town of Augusta in Western Australia, Almitra Von Willcox commenced a 12 year odyssey - a circumnavigation of the world on foot and solo. This cross-cultural global photo project will take Almitra across many continents, countries, cities, towns and communities. The finish line will be in the year 2008 at the Broadway Pier in San Diego. While this seems like a very long walk to most of us, Almitra believes this is the only mode of travel that will allow her to really meet people and experience the different cultures she will come across.

In a trolley which she will be towing behind her, Almitra has packed more than just a couple of spare changes of clothes. As she travels, Almitra will be capturing on film and in writing her journey and experiences and publishing them on this website. So tucked in beside the socks, Almitra has also packed the latest technology - a computer, printer, photographic equipment, a solar panel, and a Global Positioning System tied in to 5 satellites to list just a few of the things. (See the Techno-Gagetry story to find out more about the trolley and technology Almitra is using).

Accompanying Almitra on her journey will be her desire to "keep alive and share the memories of each culture's uniqueness and illustrating similarities that bind us together as one tribe on this planet". By sharing her these experiences, Almitra hopes her journey will help build cross-cultural trust and understanding by "unveiling the unknown".

For the children she will meet, Almitra will have Geo Bear, a stuffed teddy bear, that will carry the same message of tolerance and sharing to these younger generations. Geo Bear and Almitra will be giving elementary school classes the opportunity to correspond with fellow school children from different countries so that friendships can be made and hopes and dreams shared.

Almitra's other travelling companion will be you, the reader. This site will be continuously updated with Almitra's progress, travel details, diary entries and photos. You will also be able to chat with Almitra on a regular basis, send her emails and for her non-english speaking followers, the site will soon also become available in other languages. So put on your virtual walking shoes and join Almitra on this remarkable journey….

I was born in Chicago Illinois in 1947, and migrated to San Diego California at the age of four. I was always a fiercely independent and inquisitive child. Pushing fifty, my resume reads like an interesting appetizer menu, a taste of this, a taste of that.

I was a child prodigy on the piano; a talented dress designer and I had an uncanny aptitude in fashion merchandising. Now much to the chagrin of my parents, I've also turned my back on the healing arts, of which I also exhibited a gift. Now 'bag-lady,' is the closest label that can describe my life style.

Three weeks before my twentieth birthday, I was left the single parent of two infant boys, eleven months apart in age, and expecting my daughter; without benefit of emotional or financial support. I survived teenagers, a twelve year battle with cancer, and a fifty-three foot fall in Nepal.

In the spring of l985 my daughter married on a Saturday, and my son left for the Air Force on the following Tuesday; leaving me alone in my three thousand square foot home. Within three weeks I'd sold the house, the car, and all the plants -leaving all that was safe and familiar.

In the wee hours of one of these mornings in this empty house, just before the sun had touched yesterday's darkness, I had sat straight up in bed. I knew then without a shadow of a doubt what I could do to contribute, to leave behind a legacy.

I've narrowly escaped death at least twice: I feel a responsibility to make a contribution to humanity somehow: to pay my dues for my life-extension. As the 'Photo Gypsy' I will circumnavigate the globe, on foot solo.....

Most of my life I've been comfortable in high heels and silk stockings; the outdoors was something to endure when the garage door didn't work. Now I prefer hiking boots and sleeping under the stars. I've been to the base camp of Mt. Everest 17,700 feet, hiked Mt Kilimanjaro, co-guided canoe trips in the Boundary waters between the US and Canada for Outward Bound groups, taken disabled people on the Yukon River for 25 days, and slept with lions just feet away in the Great Serengeti Plains of Africa. I have visited over fifty countries, and only one Sheraton Hotel.

I don't want to be just a voyeur in life. I have a need to know and to experience how the 'other half' lives.

Why am I setting out on foot? This mode of transportation will leave me the most open and accessible to meet people. I can't be involved with life through the windows of a moving vehicle. I have to breath it, taste it, adjust to its subtle rhythms. I seek to convey what I believe in my heart is true; that the majority of humankind is generous, trusting and helpful. I'll rely on this kindness from a stranger among them for my shelter and companionship.

When did the roots of my peripatetic life style begin? Have I really made a radical change; or perhaps it was always a part of me, just lying dormant, waiting for the right stimulus? Was it Mitchner's 'Caravans,' which I read at eleven? I'd become obsessed with thoughts of camel caravans, Gypsies and Afghanistan. Was it during the hours I read National Geographic to my small children, instead of Cinderella? Michael Jackson's song 'Man in The Mirror' also made an impression.

I'm particularly drawn to photographing People. I believe my images now reflect the transition between self-consciously hiding behind the camera and becoming involved in my subjects. My photos became more sensitive as my focus shifted from what was behind the lens to what was in front of it. People became more responsive. Perhaps a photographer is the Alchemist of the twentieth century. Aspiring to capture the heart and soul of a subject on film is illusionary. The soul is something elusive, something intangible but when the chemistry is right, there is the illusion the very essence of the subject has been recorded in the physical plane.

My small body of work has earned numerous awards, published in magazines, newspapers, and postcards. One image of three young school girls captured in Cuba was nominated Grand Prize Image in Islands Magazine's photographic contest. The Travel Section of The Los Angeles Times accepted my first newspaper submission. My images have graced such places as The United Nations General Assembly Lobby, which resulted in a world travelling exhibit starting in Geneva.