I aim to ride from South East Queensland in Australia to London/Europe on a highly modified Honda XR650L motorbike. This will be the reverse of something like the famous Hippie Trail https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippie_trail
My Dad undertook a similar journey in the 60's from the UK through Central Asia.
I decided to start this blog as a record of my plans, a motivational tool for myself and an update for my close friends/family.
The idea this last few years has resided in the subconscious, something that that has grown from just a seed into real possibility. By way of the inspiration gleaned from a hard core of some lifelong friends, and the examples of some of these people and other inspiring global travelers, I've decided to give myself the opportunity to personally grow in the best way possible...through daily experience whilst travelling on a motorbike. What could be better? If you ride motorbikes you'll know what I mean.
My friends on their RTW/Asia trip, which provided me with much needed inspiration- http://whatwouldulike2do.blogspot.com.au
On the tiny human scale, life is really one long journey from start to finish...and the journey is the important part, literally and figuratively. The motorcycle is a wonderful means to cover ground, although it could be argued that it's not so much a way to cover it but truly 'experience' it. The sights, sounds, smells and colours are all the more real when they aren't framed by a car windscreen. Heat, cold, wind and rain all become interesting and at times testing realities...nature and the environment come into focus. Life can be appreciated from the true 'first person', and this is what motorcycle travel is all about. Komodo dragons, Burmese monks, Street hawkers, Sadhu's, Sikhs...all pointing the way toward the truth....truth found only through first hand experience and not the words or explanations of others. Leaving vicarious living in the city suburb and finding the answer in a waterfall, a mountain vista or a forest wilderness.
A wonderful book that aims to show that the journey is more important than the destination is "Siddhartha' by Hermann Hesse.
A great inspiration for me has always been my father(Peter Brown 1924-2007). He was a sailor in the Royal Navy and served the last 3 years of WW2 in the battle of the Atlantic.
Dad never glorified war, but the tough experiences and hardships he went through in sub zero temperatures at sea loading a 4 inch heavy gun(under constant threat of being torpedoed by U-boats), gave him the perspective that helped foster his love of life, people and the value of experience over material possessions.
After the war he learnt German and was a postman in the German Post office in Hamburg, worked for aid organisations patching up old forts in North Africa after the French had left, tended carp ponds in the Kibbutz in Israel, built roads in Yugoslavia, made his way through Afghanistan, India and Asia, was a lighthouse keeper in New Zealand and finally ended up in Australia working as a fettler building railway tracks in 40 plus degree heat. He took on all manner of roles and occupations, many of them lowly paid but rich in the life experience they provided. Many times he had no more than a small rucksack and a few notes in his pocket, crossing deserts with nothing more than some water and an orange, yet the series of trips he undertook globally turned him into the role model for life on earth that I've always aspired to emulate.
He wasn't perfect..just a man, gardener, husband, father and friend, but some of the wisdom he tried to pass on that I can remember includes..
"Always give people the benefit of the doubt...until they prove you wrong."
"We are all basically the same, regardless of race or colour."
"Never a borrower nor a lender be."
"All men have feet of clay."
"Appreciate life's simple pleasures...fresh air, food, clean water, sleep."
"Be thankful for the life you have as there are many less fortunate than yourself."
"Do unto others as they would have done unto you."
"Man's inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn."
He also held the messages behind the poem 'If' by Rudyard Kipling in the highest regard possible-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If—
And finally..
"We are the result of exploding stars, thus we are stardust".
Wherever you are in the great beyond Dad, thanks for the inspiration and the love.
My Dad undertook a similar journey in the 60's from the UK through Central Asia.
I decided to start this blog as a record of my plans, a motivational tool for myself and an update for my close friends/family.
The idea this last few years has resided in the subconscious, something that that has grown from just a seed into real possibility. By way of the inspiration gleaned from a hard core of some lifelong friends, and the examples of some of these people and other inspiring global travelers, I've decided to give myself the opportunity to personally grow in the best way possible...through daily experience whilst travelling on a motorbike. What could be better? If you ride motorbikes you'll know what I mean.
My friends on their RTW/Asia trip, which provided me with much needed inspiration- http://whatwouldulike2do.blogspot.com.au
On the tiny human scale, life is really one long journey from start to finish...and the journey is the important part, literally and figuratively. The motorcycle is a wonderful means to cover ground, although it could be argued that it's not so much a way to cover it but truly 'experience' it. The sights, sounds, smells and colours are all the more real when they aren't framed by a car windscreen. Heat, cold, wind and rain all become interesting and at times testing realities...nature and the environment come into focus. Life can be appreciated from the true 'first person', and this is what motorcycle travel is all about. Komodo dragons, Burmese monks, Street hawkers, Sadhu's, Sikhs...all pointing the way toward the truth....truth found only through first hand experience and not the words or explanations of others. Leaving vicarious living in the city suburb and finding the answer in a waterfall, a mountain vista or a forest wilderness.
A wonderful book that aims to show that the journey is more important than the destination is "Siddhartha' by Hermann Hesse.
A great inspiration for me has always been my father(Peter Brown 1924-2007). He was a sailor in the Royal Navy and served the last 3 years of WW2 in the battle of the Atlantic.
Dad never glorified war, but the tough experiences and hardships he went through in sub zero temperatures at sea loading a 4 inch heavy gun(under constant threat of being torpedoed by U-boats), gave him the perspective that helped foster his love of life, people and the value of experience over material possessions.
After the war he learnt German and was a postman in the German Post office in Hamburg, worked for aid organisations patching up old forts in North Africa after the French had left, tended carp ponds in the Kibbutz in Israel, built roads in Yugoslavia, made his way through Afghanistan, India and Asia, was a lighthouse keeper in New Zealand and finally ended up in Australia working as a fettler building railway tracks in 40 plus degree heat. He took on all manner of roles and occupations, many of them lowly paid but rich in the life experience they provided. Many times he had no more than a small rucksack and a few notes in his pocket, crossing deserts with nothing more than some water and an orange, yet the series of trips he undertook globally turned him into the role model for life on earth that I've always aspired to emulate.
He wasn't perfect..just a man, gardener, husband, father and friend, but some of the wisdom he tried to pass on that I can remember includes..
"Always give people the benefit of the doubt...until they prove you wrong."
"We are all basically the same, regardless of race or colour."
"Never a borrower nor a lender be."
"All men have feet of clay."
"Appreciate life's simple pleasures...fresh air, food, clean water, sleep."
"Be thankful for the life you have as there are many less fortunate than yourself."
"Do unto others as they would have done unto you."
"Man's inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn."
He also held the messages behind the poem 'If' by Rudyard Kipling in the highest regard possible-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If—
And finally..
"We are the result of exploding stars, thus we are stardust".
Wherever you are in the great beyond Dad, thanks for the inspiration and the love.
