Publisher's Synopsis
"The gladdest moment in human life is a departure into unknown lands."
-- Sir Richard Burton said.
The call to adventure caused the author that was twenty-two years old to leave home for a journey. Fleeing the boredom that comes with comfort, he set off on a secondhand bicycle. The aim was simple: to pedal to the furthest point in each part of Europe, Asia, and Africa. He didn't train or plan. He just packed a tent and set off.
Living wild and sleeping rough in myriad countries, he came to appreciate life's simple pleasures and glory in the beauty that abounds in both nature and humanity. The journey was an escape from an unremarkable existence, a pursuit of hardship, and a chance to shed the numbing complacency of middle England. From the brutality of winter on the Tibetan plateau to the claustrophobia of the Southeast Asian jungle, the quest provided the author with ample opportunity to test his mettle, often with near-fatal consequences. Ultimately, though, the toughest challenge was entirely unforeseen. It is also the personal story of becoming a man through a self-imposed trial of hunger, loneliness, and exhaustion with moments of unparalleled joy and sublime revelation. The only way to overcome fear is to embrace it.
This book is a searingly honest and eloquently penned coming of age tale that sweeps the reader along on a wild ride across some of the world's most beautiful and least understood lands.
