The Trip
You are more than you appear to be
- Life is greater than you have ever known it
- The best is yet to come. Ernest Holmes
The Trip
Our journey started in 2003 as a planned 16-month trip. It's crazy to realize we've now been we've now been riding for over a decade! Our journey began as a wonderfully ambitious but naive personal and private challenge, which over the course of 16-years on the road simply became our life and defined who we are today.
Before Facebook, Instagram, twitter and action cameras, we would sit and excitedly scribble lists of legendary locations we'd visit, deserts we wanted to ride, mountains we wanted to summit and cultures we wanted to immerse ourselves in. Finally the broad outlines were firmed up; Today these goals remain unchanged.
- Ride through 122 countries
- Ride on all seven continents
- Ride from the most northerly to the most southerly point on each continent
- Live to full and without regret
Comments
Getting Started and looking Back
On a wet and windy UK summer morning the two of us made a decision that would change our lives. After years of compromise in the corporate world, of spread-sheets, pointless meetings and life sucking commutes, we craved a change and a chance to write our own life story. As a couple, we wanted to step out of our comforts zones, face our fears and loosen our grip on the 'control' we'd always thought we'd needed, to be successful. There is restlessness and a curiosity in us both, that's always driven us to explore around the next bend and peak over the horizon. It was time to let loose!
Our overland adventure has surpassed every crazy, scary, exhilarating, beautiful and overwhelming expectation we ever had. Riding side-by-side we've ridden from the most northerly parts of Scandanavia to the the southerly fringes of Patagonia and criss-crossed 6 continents. Along the way, we've put our lives in each others hands and lived more than either of us ever dared to image. We have proven that together that there is no challenge we cannot rise to, learn from and overcome. After 500,000 miles we have redefined in our own minds, the definition of success, and crucially even happiness.
Comments "I watched you and Simon Thomas give your talk in May 2008 in Eugene, it changed my life. I had picked up my new GS that morning.Your photo of you two hangs in my home. I hope are paths cross again this year. I hope someday both of you understand the depth of how you have changed the modern motorcycle community along with Ted Simon to show people it could be done”. Randy Perkins, via Facebook
Through the lens we've captured and shared our life for 14-years, sharing our triumphs and defeats and paving the way for others to follow in our tracks. Our lives are often challenging and frequently uncomfortable but thay are also vibrant and exhilarating. We've discovered a world of wonder, culture, camaraderie, value, strange beliefs, ancient traditions and trust, and our lives have been touched by incredible people on six continents, hopefully we've touched the lives of others, in turn. Together we've crossed mountain ranges and explored dusty trails and have thrived, struggled, lived and learnt and today we are craving more.
Staying On The Road
Like us, our journey as evolved and today our travels have connected with millions around the globe in a way we could never have imagined. In some small but meaningful way, we know that through sharing our experiences, our images and our writing, that we can inspire other to do the same. To travel is one of the greatest privileges and being able to share and motivate others is rewarding beyond measure.
Funny thing is...we set out to discover the world, and ended up discovering ourselves, and our tiny place on it.
It’s your life story, make sure you’re the one writing it." Simon Thomas
If you really want to get your head around journey, then check out our route video below. Visually it conveys a scale I'll struggle to convey. Don't forget to leave your comments at the bottom of the page.
A Story of Numbers
It’ can be tough for us to wrap our heads around the length, size and stats of our journey. Sometimes numbers explain it’s scope better than a thousand words. We’ll update this page when we can and provide you a way to better understand our journey, it’s cost and what’s it’s meant to us. In the mean time scan over the figures below and let us know what you think we a commentor two. See you down the road.
Journey Stat’s: Updated 26th April 2020
- Distance Ridden: 500,007 miles
- Countries Ridden: 80
- Continents Ridden: 6
- Deserts Crossed: 36
- Highest Altitude Ridden: 17,230 feet (5,251 metres)
- Hottest temperature Ridden: 161 Fahrenheit (72 Celsius)
- World Records Broken: 4
- Major Accidents: 3
- Inoculation Jabs received: 36 (per person)
- Cases of Malaria suffered: 4
- Cases of Dengue fever suffered: 4
- Major Surgeries: 2
- Broken Necks: 1
Gear Stat’s: Updated 8th March 2017
- Motorcycles Used: 2002-2016 BMW Motorrad R1150GSA – BMW Motorrad F650GS - 2016-2020 BMW Motorrad R1200GSA - BMW Motorrad R1200GSA
- 2017-to date BMW
- Helmets used: 5
- Tents Used: 4
- Tyre Punctures Repaired: 27
- Tanks of Fuel used: 783
Countries Visited In Order
- United Kingdom (England - Wales - N Ireland - Scotland - Shetland Isle)
- Ireland
- Norway
- Finland
- Russia
- Estonia
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Poland
- Czech Republic
- Slovakia
- Hungary
- Austria
- Slovenia
- Italy
- Monaco
- France
- Spain
- Portugal
- Morocco
- Mauritania
- Senegal
- The Gambia
- Mali
- Burkina Faso
- Ghana
- San Tome & Principe
- Namibia
- South Africa
- Botswana
- Zambia
- Tanzania
- Kenya
- Uganda
- Malawi
- Mozambique
- Lesotho
- Swaziland
- Argentina
- Uruguay
- Brazil
- Paraguay
- Chile
- Bolivia
- Peru
- Ecuador
- Colombia
- Venezuela
- Panama
- Costa Rica
- Nicaragua
- Honduras
- El Salvador
- Guatemala
- Belize
- Mexico
- United States of America
- Canada
- Japan
- Mongolia
- Kazakhstan
- Kyrgyzstan
- Tajikistan
- Afghanistan
- Uzbekistan
- Turkmenistan
- Iran
- Pakistan
- India
- Nepal
- Thailand
- Cambodia
- Laos
- Malaysia
- Indonesia
- East Timor
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Cuba
- Jamaica
