A moment that changed me: I climbed a tower aged nine, alone – and discovered how I wanted to live

What happened

According to The Guardian’s source item, A moment that changed me: I climbed a tower aged nine, alone – and discovered how I wanted to live, Up there by myself, I decided life might be best on my own. That thought has shaped my travel and relationships ever since I grew up in Kenya and was nine when we went camping by the beach in Mombasa, with two other families. The constant games and laughter were new to me, as we were a quiet, rather insular family. I went bodyboarding, watched crabs emerge from holes in the sand, climbed all over rusty cannons in the old fort and bought colourful strips of kanga fabric in the market to make sarongs. One day, my father asked some fishers to take us to the reef in their canoes. It was a good mile offshore: I wanted to stay behind with Mum, but Dad fixed me with a look and said: “You’ve got no sense of adventure, have you?” Then I knew I had to go, clambering shakily into the wobbly wooden construction, clinging on to the sides for dear life. Continue reading…

Context

The development sits in VINI’s Global file for readers following international affairs, institutions, conflict, diplomacy, economics, and cross-border consequences. The original report is linked so readers can check the source account, follow later updates, and compare new coverage against the first published record. The source item is dated 2026-06-10T05:45:11+00:00.

What to watch

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Source

Primary source: A moment that changed me: I climbed a tower aged nine, alone – and discovered how I wanted to live via The Guardian. VINI cites and links the source; it does not reproduce the publisher’s full article text without rights clearance.