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Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE I'm a female solo traveller who's been to more than 60 countries - here's how I stayed safe in Iraq
An American woman who grew up next to the Twin Towers in New York, and was just five when 9/11 happened, says she was forced to 'face her own biases' head on during an unexpected trip to Iraq – and details the extraordinary measures she took to protect her personal safety. Producer Molly McDonald, 29, was covering an 'England to Everest' charity trek for Blue Door Productions alongside ex-Royal Marine and explorer Mitch Hutchcraft when the group had to be diverted through Iraq – instead of Iran – over security fears. As 'a Western woman with a US accent' in the Middle Eastern country, Molly, who grew up in Battery Park in Manhattan, says she was anxious about her safety ahead of crossing the border into Iraqi Kurdistan. As the only woman in her group and with the UK Foreign Office strongly advising against travel there, Molly's family tried to persuade her to abandon the trip. However, the journalist, who's visited more than 60 countries, says she was determined to proceed and began putting in place a series of security measures designed to keep her safe as her group went from north to south on Iraq's eastern flank. Speaking to MailOnline, Molly says she forged a marriage certificate and wore a wedding ring despite not being married as she arrived in Erbil, which is the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. Perceptions of lone women travelling with men in the Middle Eastern country is that they are sex workers, she explains, saying she planned for the 'worst case scenarios' and put things in place to prevent them. Molly also created a cover story for herself, asking an older woman named Jacqui, who had lived in Iraq but fled to Britain when the ISIS conflict broke out in 2014, to accompany her, with the pair pretending they were related. She says: 'I was definitely apprehensive ahead of the trip, particularly when it came to more rural areas [of Iraq] where more minority extremist groups exist. 'As a woman when you do these missions abroad, there's always another layer that you think about - certainly when you're reaching countries that have different customs and belief systems about a woman's role in society'. The trip also proved a huge moment for Jacqui, who was returning after fleeing nine years ago. Jacqui had lived and worked in the country as a social responsibility consultant for five years, and had run aid programmes for those who'd been displaced from their homes between Erbil and the city of Dohuk in 2014. Molly says: 'She also had a lot of fear and trepidation, prepping me for what might happen including the customs of a younger woman travelling alone in a group of men and how that's perceived, which isn't always positively.' An Irish American, Molly also entered the country with her Irish passport so she wouldn't be identified as a US citizen. She tells MailOnline that, as a child who'd witnessed the aftermath of the September 11th terror attacks, she entered Iraq with her own prejudices. 'I grew up a couple of blocks from the site of 9/11, so I too had a lot of biases', saying even with her broad-horizons career making documentaries, it still wasn't entirely possible to put to one side the feelings about Iraq that she'd grown up with. However, there was one moment that changed everything - actually getting on Iraqi Kurdistani soil. One woman travelling with a group of men in Iraq are often perceived to be sex workers - during the trip Molly asked a fixer known as Jacqui to pretend to be an older female relative The group met a general major in the Peshmerga army, who told them they don't want to fight, only to protect their land and the environment The region's army has enlisted female soldiers since the 70s, with one telling Molly: 'We are all Peshmerga, we love our country, we love our land so we selected this way of life.' 'When we walked through the doors on landing, everything disappeared. My fears went away.' During the days that followed, she says she was able to have 'honest, open conversations with people from all walks of life' including a sheik, an activist veterinarian and Yazidi people, who were once the target of genocide by ISIS. In her ensuing YouTube video entitled 'The reality of Iraq changed me' which documents some of their journey, Molly and her colleagues meet a general major from the region's Peshmerga army, which protects the environment when not in military action has enlisted female soldiers since the 1970s. The Peshmerga fought against IS and managed to protect their region of Northern Iraq being overthrown. In the video, female soldiers tell Molly when she asks if it's difficult to recruit women: 'We are all Peshmerga, we love our country, we love our land so we selected this way of life.' Molly says: 'In my conversation with them, they talked about how fighting is not their first choice, they fight to protect and when it is absolutely necessary but they are not a fighting people'. Molly says growing up in New York, close to where the Twin Towers came down, meant she was very aware that she was arriving in Iraq with preconceived notions (Molly pictured on New York's Hudson River as a child) The initial fears over safety proved unfounded, with Molly feeling safe throughout - and now hoping for a return visit with family and friends Sights: a view of Shanidar cave, one of the stops on Molly's journey through Iraqi Kurdistan So impressed was Molly by her time in Iraqi Kurdistan, she says she now can't wait to take her partner and family members to the country to explore it more. 'Just a few weeks ago, I was back home at my grandparents' house in Ireland - they're in their 90s. To be able to show them our YouTube video, it was really moving for them. 'To have perceptions changed, to have more open mindedness on what the realities of that part of the world are – for them to say "I wish I had the chance to go there myself"'. She says the whole trip, in spite of her initial fears were eventually defined by 'warmth and hospitality', saying that the friendliness even surpassed 'that of Ireland'. Food and tea proved the leveller for Molly and her peers, she says, with it offered to them 'in abundance' during their travels. And while Molly dressed modestly, she discovered that in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, she didn't have to wear a headscarf – and the 'precautions that we had and were prepared for weren't needed'. Having open conversations about her own heritage saw her greeted with exclamations of 'We love New York, we can't wait to go there!'. The sunsets and sunrises, particularly in rural areas such as the Rawanduz Canyon were spectacular, says Molly The landscapes of the country were also thrilling, says Molly, describing beautiful sunrises and amazing ancient ruins – without the crowds that you might ordinarily get. Molly says her favourite place she visited was the striking Holy Yazidi site of Lalish Temple, which is located in the country's Nineveh Plains and dates back 4,000 years. Other highlights included the Erbil citadel, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the colourful Qaysari Bazaar and the Jalil Khayat Mosque. As their adventure continued, the group also took time to stop and visit some of Iraqi Kurdistan's other tourist attractions, including Rawanduz Canyon, Bekhal Waterfall and Shanidar Cave. She adds: 'There were striking valleys and hillscapes where you see these oil plants centred in the middle. It was a fascinating sight to see the chimneys bursting with flames in whatever would otherwise be an untouched rural landscape.' Iraq remains off the mainstream tourism map but Molly says she'll be back as soon as she can - and that the trip upturned any preconceived ideas she had about the country, reminding her that that's the beauty of travel.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Former Royal Marine completes world's longest triathlon with Everest climb
A former Royal Marine has climbed to the summit of Mount Everest to complete the world's longest triathlon. Eight months after setting off from Dover, Mitch Hutchcraft's mammoth expedition saw him swim the English Channel, cycle through Europe and Asia and trek across the 31-year-old then turned his attention to the highest mountain on Earth, after arriving at its base camp. He reached the Everest summit on Sunday at 7.30am Nepalese time. Speaking afterwards, he said: 'It was more magical than I could have ever dreamed it would be. 'Although I lost my dad 11 years ago, he was with me every step of the way. 'It's been tough. Really tough. The most difficult thing I've ever done. But I couldn't be happier and more proud of finishing this epic adventure.' He paid tribute to his father, father-in-law and other friends and family by unfurling a flag with the message reading: 'We miss you' and pictures of those who had inspired him. 'It's been a dream of mine since I was eight years old to climb Everest, ever since I saw it in a book,' he added. 'Never in a million years did I think this would be how I'd get here. 'Years of preparation, eight long months of physical endurance, swimming across the Channel, cycling across 19 countries, running 900km (560 miles), and following in the footsteps of the first ever climb of Everest to reach base camp. It's been one hell of a journey.' Mr Hutchcraft and his climbing team are healthy and expected back at base camp some time on Monday. Molly McDonald, the founder and producer of Blue Door Productions, which has been following and documenting the adventure, said: 'It's been a long road since Mitch first pitched his dream to us. 'As a small team, without funding or a social following to support the expedition, we knew it was a big risk, but we saw a real magic in who Mitch is and the message he wanted to share.'Thanks to the incredible support of amazing partners – and a massive online community – that distant dream has become a reality. I'm incredibly proud of this adventure, though for Blue Door, the finish line is not the summit, but when we get our team back home safely.' In what was called Project Limitless, Mr Hutchcraft swam 21 miles across the Channel, cycled nearly 7,500 miles through Europe and Asia to Digha in India and ran 560 miles to Kathmandu, Nepal. He was forced to take a detour through Iran after being denied a visa and was further delayed by a military lockdown in Iraq. At just 20, Mr Hutchcraft faced the sudden loss of his father, a tragedy said to have become the driving force behind his decision to follow a long-held dream of joining the Royal Marines. He had previously been told a full knee reconstruction would make it impossible to even join the military, let alone complete a challenge of this magnitude. But he served for six years before leaving in 2021 to pursue new challenges driven by an overwhelming desire for adventures. While this has been described as the biggest challenge of his life, it was not his first adventure. Mr Hutchcraft spent the last few years rowing 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean, cycling across North America and climbing some of the most challenging mountains in the world before the dream for Project Limitless was born. He said the swim across the Channel was the 'hardest day of my life'. The former Marine has also been raising money for SAVSIM – a non-profit organisation supporting wildlife conservation. 'This has been the most painful, but fulfilling, adventure,' he added. 'I just want it to inspire others to believe that whatever they're dreaming, however small, they just need to get out there and smash it.'His challenge will officially end when he gets back to base camp. Everest was first conquered by New Zealander Edmund Hillary in 1953. Since then, thousands have tried to scale the mountain and several other Himalayan peaks. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
