Travel has long been part of how Charlotte understands the world. It has shaped her perspective, deepened her curiosity, and given texture to a life lived across countries, cultures, and seasons.
Adventure, culture, and a life widened by experience.
Charlotte has spent years living in different parts of the world, including a decade in various Middle Eastern countries, and continues to divide her time between New Zealand and the UK. She along with Andrew has driven the Peking to Paris Rally twice in her 1941 Chevrolet, Eleanor, and continues to seek out journeys that bring together adventure, culture, and connection.
The Peking to Paris motor challenge is a map cap journey from Beijing along an adventurous route and ending up in Paris.
The original Peking to Paris rally was in 1907 when Prince Scipione Borghese with his co-driver, Ettore Guizzardi and 4 other cars left the French Embassy in Peking on the 10th of June to drive the 15,000 kilometres (9317 miles) to Paris. They arrived two months later on the 10th of August, 20 days before the next car. The route followed the telegraph lines so they could report their journey along the way, each car carried it’s own journalist – modern Instagram perhaps? They wound their way through China, Mongolia, Russia, then in to Europe via St Petersburg.
What is the Peking to Paris rally?
As you step toward writing and Egypt in 2027, what legacy of joy are you choosing to leave?
Travel is important to me. I love meeting new people and exploring other cultures, a chance to understand others is my great joy. This trip is about celebrating my 60th birthday with my boys, their partners and Andrew, with a chance to reconnect with a country I lived in, and where my elder son was born. To go back not just as a tourist, but with the experience of years and learn more about this ancient place and it’s people of today.
– Charlotte Lockhart