Kiwi author Alexandra Lattey’s life reads like a novel set around the globe, with plenty of twists and turns.
From selling books door to door in Sardinia and wrangling cattle in Canada, to painting portraits in Alaska and even dancing in a nightclub in Rome, Alexandra has tried it all.
“There’s a saying I love. It goes, ‘When your life flashes in front of your eyes, make sure you have plenty to watch.’ That’s definitely a saying I like to live by,” enthuses Alexandra, 51, known as Alix.
“I’d always had a driving urge to go and see the world, explore it and meet people. So by the time I got to 22, I literally had a plane ticket and 100 pounds in my pocket . With that, I left for London.”
That evolved into further adventures in Europe, the US, Canada and beyond.
“I’ve travelled mostly by myself and it’s been life-changing because I’d always been quite introverted as a kid. Travelling taught me the importance of interacting with people.”
One unforgettable adventure was a two-month overland trip with seven others during winter in a canvas-topped truck in the Middle East.
“We’d sleep inside the truck and in some parts of Turkey, we were in the snow,” tells Alix. “There were no facilities. I remember washing my hair in the cold water of a trough in Syria on the side of the road!
“I’m glad I saw that part of the world when I did. I have mixed emotions because it was interesting, but slightly dangerous, especially for us women. One night, there was a bang on the truck door and two armed soldiers with AK-47s demanded to see our passports!”
In Italy, she saw a job advertised in the newspaper saying dancers were wanted in clubs. Having learned ballet, Latin American, ballroom and flamenco, it seemed a great opportunity.
“The person on the phone told me the job basically involved sitting down and talking to people, as well as dancing if you wanted. The girls I was working alongside were from what was then the Eastern Bloc.”
But the job turned out to be much different than Alix expected. So, she and the other girls decided to leave quickly, fleeing Rome in the middle of the night. Despite a few dicey experiences, she wouldn’t change a thing.
“Travelling leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller,” she muses.
Now settled back in New Zealand, she works full-time as a building quality control manager and lives on a 4.8-hectare lifestyle property in Taupō with her animals, including German shepherd dogs, Maine Coon cats and horses.
But not ready to give up on her exploits, she’s also a dedicated Coastguard and land search and rescue volunteer.
Alix will never forget one night when she was called out to help with two young boys whose dinghy had flipped in the lake.
“It was dark and the boys had started swimming for shore,” she recalls. “Fortunately, one of them had his phone with him. He couldn’t make a call, but the helicopter flying over saw the light on it. The rescue boat got to them just in time as one of them was close to not making it.”
Alix is proud to have played a part in their return safely to their families. But sadly, she adds, the outcome isn’t always so happy at times.
“We’ve probably brought more bodies out of the Waikato River than we have out of the lake because the river is very dangerous.”
She’s now considering taking her experience further afield.
“I’ve been a search and rescue volunteer for over 20 years now, and want to do it on a bigger scale, so I’ve been looking at international opportunities, potentially with Médecins Sans Frontières,” says Alix, referencing the charity which provides medical aid in countries affected by conflict, epidemics and natural disasters.
In preparation, Alix has been teaching herself Russian and Arabic.
Inspired by her travels and having been a bookworm her whole life, two years ago, Alix also decided to start writing her action, fantasy and romance trilogy, with the first book, Lupa, out now.
“It turns out I don’t need as much sleep as I thought,” she laughs, admitting there’s some resemblance between herself and shape-shifting heroine Natalya. “I also do archery, ride horses and like being out in the forest. If only I could turn into a wolf!”
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