Why you're wrong about Iran – and 14 other things I learned cycling around the world for seven years
This weekend Leigh Timmis will return to his home in Derby having been on a very long bike ride. A seven-year bike ride, in fact. The adventurous Briton left the Midlands in the summer of 2010 with the aim of cycling round the world in aid of the Derbyshire Children's Holiday Centre. And after a meandering journey that has taken in 50 countries, and seen him face deadly animals and temperatures of minus 40C, he has learned a few vital lessons:
1. The exchange of effort for experience beats time in an office for money
The beauty of travel by bike is how slow it is, and how it offers intimate view of the lives of strangers. I cycled between 60 and 80 miles a day, occasionally much more, sometimes much less due to weather, altitude or people I would meet on the way. It's been hard, but the experiences it has given me sure beats working in an office. My freedom and lack of deadlines or destinations led to aimless wandering, mainly guided by the avoidance of bad weather systems and fitting around the seasons. All I really knew was that I wanted to circumnavigate the world and that I was doing that in an easterly direction.
2. The vulnerability of a man on a bike opens the doors and hearts of strangers
Whenever I struggled to motivate myself to continue, it was the strangers I met on the road that helped me carry on. I've lost count of the favours I've been granted and the times I've been offered assistance. Wherever I went, human goodness shone through.
3. Don’t believe what people tell you about Iran
Iran was undoubtedly the most surprising country for positive experiences. After months of being told that I would be killed there, and the media reporting that it’s a country full of terrorists, I was humbled to enter a country of incredibly intelligent, thoughtful and kind people. I shared many nights in the houses of strangers and wouldn’t be allowed to leave in the morning without having my bags filled with food and gifts. They have many problems of their own in Iran, and are also aware of how the Western media portrays then, yet they still took it upon themselves to help me as best they could.
4. Tiny decisions can be the difference between life and death
After exploring New Zealand I decided to cycle around the South Pacific, rather than fly across it. I was staying on a moored yacht with a new group of friends, helping with maintanance work, going on adventures in kayaks, and on drinking missions in nautical bars. When the repairs were done, they asked me to join them for a boat trip. I nearly accepted, but had already made plans to meet someone, so decided to stay behind, wait for their return, and sail to Fiji with them two weeks later. The day of their return came and went, rumours began to circulate, and it turned out that they were hit by a huge storm. A search and rescue mission was launched but nothing was ever recovered, my seven friends lost at sea. It was one of the biggest international news stories at the time and I was nearly on that boat with them. Every decision, no matter how small, can change our lives forever.
Around the world in seven years | Some of the countries Leigh visited
5. The sea is not to be trifled with
A couple of weeks after the sailing disaster, I sailed on another boat to Fiji. It was a difficult decision but we were well prepared with an experienced crew in a 54-foot yacht. But after a few days we ran into a storm that lasted two days. It was terrifying and exhausting; monstrous waves, three storeys high, crashed over the boat and wind howled through the rigging; my thoughts were of what had happened to my friends. But we survived, and to arrive on dry land after nine days battling storms at sea is an incomparable feeling.
6. Crossing the Outback offers a lesson in what really matters
We take for granted the basic necessities of life. In the Australian Outback, I cycled and pushed my bike through the sand tracks of endless deserts, carrying everything I needed for the distances between roadhouses or water holes. The 18 litres of water I could carry would usually last four days in the sweltering, arid climate. That’s the equivalent of flushing the toilet twice.
One day in the middle of the desert, as the sun began to set, I got off the bike to search for an area to camp, but saw that my 10-litre water bladder had fallen off unnoticed. It could have happened at any time that afternoon and my heart sank; I was alone in the desert with only the dregs in my bottles. Without hesitation, I retraced my route, scouring the road and scrub with my head torch. At that moment nothing else mattered; my camera, my computer, my bike, my passport, all insignificant compared with a few litres of water. Luckily I found the bladder just a few kilometres down the track and with it found perspective on the fragility of life.
7. There are lions outside of Africa
I’d been warned about the wildlife in Alaska and Canada, with bears and moose the main threats when camping in the wilderness. On the first day in in Yukon Territory it rained and I set up camp in a dry riverbed. In a rush to stay dry, I hung my food in a tree only five metres from my tent, rather than the recommended 100 metres. As I rested that night in the tent, I heard a rustling, and cautiously unzipped the door, fearing a bear. Instead I saw a strange animal skulking beneath my food, like a large dog but with a cat-like face and caramel colouring. “Nice animal,” I thought, “I wonder what it could be?” It was only after a conversation with a local in British Columbia, that I realised I'd been face-to-face with a rare and dangerous mountain lion. I thought lions only lived in Africa!
8. Travelling the Silk Road is the most beautiful journey on Earth
Central Asia was incredibly beautiful. I cycled through steppe, desert and mountain ranges empty of tourists, along a road of historic madrassa and markets selling the same spices and silks that they would have done 2,000 years before. At times I felt like Indiana Jones!
9. Cycling in the Himalayas is tough
The most physically difficult time was in Tibet: altitudes of 5,000 metres+, temperatures of minus 40C in winter, the world becomes a frigid inhospitable place for a cyclist. But it was in these conditions that I crossed Tibet, walking onto frozen rivers and smashing holes in the ice to collect water, cycling into furious wind and sand storms, and struggling to breathe due to the lack of oxygen. I had actually wandered into a prohibited area during my trip and the hardship lasted three weeks before I was caught and escorted to Nepal by Chinese police.
10. So too is South America
Expectations can be dangerous and I thought Peru would be all about spiritual experiences. But what I found rain in the Andes and sandstorms in the desert.
The long straight flat roads are the killers. I spent almost two weeks crossing the north of Argentina, through Paraguay and into Brazil, on straight roads in intense heat and humidity. I’d encourage myself by cycling towards a tree on the horizon, a tree that would take forever to reach, then I’d look down at my watch and see that only five minutes had passed.
11. The poorest people are usually the most welcoming
In general, the more welcoming people are the poor who live in the countryside. I have stayed in a stranger’s house in each country I have visited, just invited randomly in the street. I have been treated differently in each country but the differences are welcome, from an incredibly poor Fijian family insisting that I eat their crab while they ate only potatoes and noodles, to the drivers in the US who pulled over to give me $20 to continue living my (and their) dream.
12. France is the greatest country in the world for cycling
What more would a cyclist want than baguettes, cheeses, fantastic cakes and cheap wine?! On the roads of France I have been passed bottles of beer from random cars, and the network of cycle paths along its peaceful canals are incredible. I was amazed to find so many perfectly surfaced roads through the countryside, too - these just don’t exist elsewhere.
13. Riding a bike is like meditation
Solitude on the bike can be the most wonderful time for contemplation. But loneliness can be incredibly destructive. Struggling with heartbreak through south-east Asia, in countries where I couldn’t communicate with locals and in the peak of monsoon season, nearly drove me to insanity.
14. It’s possible to travel the world on £5 a day
I spent roughly £5 per day. Transport, accommodation and water are free, all I ever really need to buy was food, which I shopped for in local markets. I saved for years before starting, and after buying my bike and equipment I was left with about £7,000, which I thought was enough, but it only got me to Singapore. I saved another £3,000 working in Australia and then another £5,000 working in Taiwan, I will also finish this journey at the bottom of my overdraft and with a big credit card bill.
15. This is something anyone can do
In Nepal I met a man named Pushkar Shah. He left Nepal in the Eighties with only a dollar in his pocket and he travelled around the world by bike for 10 years, purely on the kindness of others. I have no doubt in my mind that if there is something you really want to do, you will find a way to do it regardless of the obstacles in your way.
Leigh cycled the world in aid of the Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre, which helps children around the county having troubles in their home lives by providing them with a five-day holiday at its specialist centre in Skegness. To support the charity please visit Just Giving.
