FAQs

Are you crazy?
No, not really!

Why are you doing this then?
A few years ago while touring in northern Spain a young woman asked me, ‘How do you do it, pull yourself out of your tent each morning and ride all day?’ A curious question to which I replied, ‘How do you do it, pull yourself out of bed each morning and go and work a nine-to-five job?’ Of course, she may have been perfectly content in her vocation, but for my part, struggling to accept the mediocrity of the rat race and the tyranny of boredom is reason enough to jump on bicycle and head off into the unknown.

Fortunately, there are other motivating factors that serve less as an antidote to the shortcomings of life in the daily grind. These include: the call of the wild; cultural intrigue; a quest for knowledge and wisdom; engaging with and making sense of a polarized world; preferring not to wait until I have a terminal illness to test my fortitude; utilizing my youth to the best of my imagination for that finite period that it’s in my possession; and, to have a good old fashioned adventure, of course.

Why bicycle?
The frugal existence and modest pace of bicycle touring enables me to maintain an attuned and tangible experience with the world, which is necessary in achieving several of the motivations stated above. Being open to the world invites the world to be open to you and as a result traveling by bicycle is a powerful means of engaging with foreign cultures. I’m yet to find a better way to learn about the world in which we live than on the saddle of a bike.

For practical purposes, cycling allows me to access remote corners of the globe self-sufficiently, under my own steam, and with virtually no impact to the environment and its inhabitants.

How do you define a world circumnavigation?
A basic definition of a global circumnavigation would be a route which covers at least a great circle (40,075.16 kilometers at the equator), and in particular one which passes through at least one pair of points antipodal to each other. In practice, different definitions of world circumnavigation are used, in order to accommodate practical constraints depending on the method of travel. – Wikipedia

As I am bound to neither land nor ocean exclusively I will complete the circumnavigation by its truest meaning. Taking into account certain variables, my approximate route will cross three oceans (22,000 nautical miles), pass through six continents (about 70,000kms), intersect all meridians in the same direction, and will start and finish at the same point (Melbourne, Australia).

How are you going to cross the oceans?
I consider it as important to experience the oceans, as it is to experience the land in terms of understanding the magnitude of the planet and its ecosystems. In circumnavigating the world by the forces of nature, I am relying on crossing the oceans by sail power. To do this I aim to crew on yachts as I go which will add a good degree of chance and spontaneity to the journey.

How long will it take?
I don’t know. Probably many years.

Are you going alone?
Yes.

Isn’t it dangerous, scary, etc?
So far so good, though I take each country as it comes. People can be a bit scary from time to time, but I have generally been treated well, so I don’t tend to get worked up. Vehicles, parasites and snarling canines aren’t much fun. What ever the case the alternative of not being true to oneself, not following dreams, or just accepting that what I have is good enough, would be far more scary.

How much weight do you carry?
My kit is pretty scant. A disadvantage of touring solo, however, is that you carry more weight, as there’s no possibility to share gear (tent, stove, etc).

Last I weighed I was carrying 22kgs of gear. In sub-zero environments weight in clothing and sleeping gear increases a few kilos. In remote environments and the developing world weight in added gear and parts, adds a few kilos more. The bike is 16kgs with 2.25″ expedition tires. Add to that 4.5-28kgs of consumables depending on the environment (2-20L of water, 0-2L of fuel and 2-8kg of food). I estimate that at any one time I will be carrying between 45-72kgs total (including the bike). The most weight will be carried traveling through hot, arid environments.