This is a roundup of some of the most common questions that people ask me – no particular order, and many of them have probably been answered elsewhere in my blog. I’ll put in what I can think of now, and add to it later.
- Why? It was a good way to see the world, to travel at my own pace, at a relatively low cost. It was a great way to experience people and places, seeing more than just the Lonely Planet-approved tourist sites.
- Are you mad? I don’t think so. But then perhaps I’m not the best judge of that.
- But wasn’t it hard? The body is an amazing thing, and it can adapt. At first it was tough, riding 100km was a very long day, and I’d sleep for 10 hours minimum, and eat a huge amount. But later on, 100km was just a normal sort of day, and I didn’t feel tired after doing it. I could ride for 100km, then just eat and sleep more or less normally.
- Or had your perception of normality shifted? Highly likely.
- Surely it was hard sometimes though? Yes, at times it was tough, struggling into a headwind, through thick traffic on rough roads, in 40°+, with water supplies looking a very long way away. But that’s only one part of it. The good times outweighed the bad by a long way.
- Is it easy to get back into normal life? Ask yourself. It takes a while to get back into the swing of things. Life on the bike is so simple, the “real world” is more complicated.
- Where did you sleep? Anywhere and everywhere. Hotels, backpackers, camping, sometimes in a tent, sometimes just under the stars. Under bridges, in ditches, abandoned buildings, forests, all sorts. Sometimes I’d go to a restaurant, eat dinner, then sleep on the table afterwards.
- How did you cross the water? For some reason this is one that many, many people want to know. I got a ferry from Dover to Calais, a ferry across the Bosphorus in Istanbul, and then it was overland all the way to Singapore. I then caught a plane to Darwin, and another plane from Melbourne to Auckland.
- How did you pay for it/How much did it cost? I haven’t worked out exactly how much it cost, but it wasn’t that much – probably a fair bit less than you spent on your last car (South Africans excluded). I worked as a contractor in the UK for a little while before leaving, and that was fairly lucrative. But it is a cheap way to live, especially in Asia.
- Wasn’t it dangerous/where were the most dangerous places? Central Asia was probably the roughest area, and it wasn’t just me – many others I met had problems there. But overall, no, I never really felt it was dangerous. Perhaps just a slightly elevated risk compared to living a domestic life and dying of boredom I suppose
- How far would you go in a day? It varied between 20km and 269km. But I would use 100km as my planning target, and it roughly worked out at that. Roughly 100km/day, 500km/week. It would depend on what was around – some days you might do 80km and find a nice place, other days you might need to do 140km to find a nice place.
- Are you going to write a book?/You should write a book. Hmmm. I’ll think about it. But probably not.
- How did you handle all that time on your own? Wasn’t it hard being by yourself for so long? Well, at times that can be difficult to deal with. You miss your family, friends, ex-girlfriends…but I am lucky in that I am comfortable with my own company. I had thought maybe I was a loner, but someone else pointed out that I enjoy being with other people, I just don’t feel I always have to be with them.