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 s...

By Mary Fogarty