Long way up

[Tex]

this is the bloke who inspired them to start these motorbike trips. i'm sure they met him on one of their jollies.

Jupiter's Travels by Ted Simon | Waterstones

Buy Jupiter's Travels by Ted Simon from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.

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probably my most read book.

i remember seeing a documentary ages ago about this. I think it was him going round to see people who had read his book and how it affected him. I was drifting through life at them time not sure where I was headed. They interviewed a Welsh woman who had never been out of her valley but seemed more at peace than ‘Jupiter’ who had roamed the Earth wondering where would be the best place for him to fit in.
TLWR was a decent read but in contrast to Jupiter who had had some tribesman in Botswana melt down a bunch of horseshoes to make a new cylinder head (or whatever) McGregor was whining about missing his daughter on day two and kept euphemistically referring to mysterious ‘fixers’ who went ahead and paved their way through diplomatic red tape and border crossings etc which Juliet never had. Also they managed to scare up a new bike in the middle of nowhere when Claudio’s chassis broke.
A bit like kids these days going inter railing and booking air bnbs ahead and posting daily selfies. When aa were a lad you had to find a place to kill and I disappeared for a month till I ran out of money and reappeared at my Mam’s house!

 

[bobster999]

I really enjoyed it. the last one definitely felt rushed and there was hardly any footage of mexico at all. there must be a reason though as they'd have hundreds of hours of footage.

I cant remember where it was but i think it was episode 10 where a couple of the producers said they have to go ahead and see the officials and I cant remember what they said exactly but the way they worded it was basically bribing them

 

[Deleted member 2014]

Same as the long way down and the long way round, except they’re doing it with electric vehicles. Up from the tip of South America, up to LA

halfway through the first one. Any watched it yet?

I’d give my left nut to do a motorbike tour like that.

Think I saw @Lambchops started it last night

I've read the books and watched the series of LWD & LWR.
A very enjoyable watch & read (the lucky bastards)

 

[Select coaches]

this is the bloke who inspired them to start these motorbike trips. i'm sure they met him on one of their jollies.

Jupiter's Travels by Ted Simon | Waterstones

Buy Jupiter's Travels by Ted Simon from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.

www.waterstones.com

probably my most read book.

Thunder and Sunshine: Amazon.co.uk: Alastair Humphreys, Dan Hiscocks: 9781903070543: Books

Buy Thunder and Sunshine First Edition by Alastair Humphreys, Dan Hiscocks (ISBN: 9781903070543) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

www.amazon.co.uk

Much better by pedal power

 

[Chugger]

i remember seeing a documentary ages ago about this. I think it was him going round to see people who had read his book and how it affected him. I was drifting through life at them time not sure where I was headed. They interviewed a Welsh woman who had never been out of her valley but seemed more at peace than ‘Jupiter’ who had roamed the Earth wondering where would be the best place for him to fit in.
TLWR was a decent read but in contrast to Jupiter who had had some tribesman in Botswana melt down a bunch of horseshoes to make a new cylinder head (or whatever) McGregor was whining about missing his daughter on day two and kept euphemistically referring to mysterious ‘fixers’ who went ahead and paved their way through diplomatic red tape and border crossings etc which Juliet never had. Also they managed to scare up a new bike in the middle of nowhere when Claudio’s chassis broke.
A bit like kids these days going inter railing and booking air bnbs ahead and posting daily selfies. When aa were a lad you had to find a place to kill and I disappeared for a month till I ran out of money and reappeared at my Mam’s house!

I recently finished a book by Elspeth Beard called Lone Rider. In the mid 70's she went around the world on a motorcycle on her own (she was in her early - mid twenties) No interent, no satnav, no fixers, limited planning. Very good read- especially about the issues she had with visas- she could get into countries but then struggled to be allowed out (the bureaucracy in counties such as India was amazing- needed a form for this, a different form for that etc)

 

[Deleted member 2014]

I could never understand why they had to have their wives and family turn up, when they reached their final destination, as if the lads were all conquering, battle scarred heroes, who'd just done a hellish tour of duty, in a warzone.
It kind of spoiled the series for me.
Surely the wives and families could've waited at home, until the lads had completed their journey, and returned home.

 

[humbug]

i remember seeing a documentary ages ago about this. I think it was him going round to see people who had read his book and how it affected him. I was drifting through life at them time not sure where I was headed. They interviewed a Welsh woman who had never been out of her valley but seemed more at peace than ‘Jupiter’ who had roamed the Earth wondering where would be the best place for him to fit in.
TLWR was a decent read but in contrast to Jupiter who had had some tribesman in Botswana melt down a bunch of horseshoes to make a new cylinder head (or whatever) McGregor was whining about missing his daughter on day two and kept euphemistically referring to mysterious ‘fixers’ who went ahead and paved their way through diplomatic red tape and border crossings etc which Juliet never had. Also they managed to scare up a new bike in the middle of nowhere when Claudio’s chassis broke.
A bit like kids these days going inter railing and booking air bnbs ahead and posting daily selfies. When aa were a lad you had to find a place to kill and I disappeared for a month till I ran out of money and reappeared at my Mam’s house!

one of the best things about jupiters travels is the stories of genuine kindness of absolute strangers throughout the world, some of the kindest people are those living with absolutely bugger all.

as an aside the father in law used to have bikes, he's 92 now and back in the 50's him and his mate jumped on theirs and went to rome. imo that's quite an acheivement and even though i've heard the stories loads of times i love listening to them again.
i enjoy riding the bike all over europe but i've always got a get out of jail plastic card in case of breakdowns etc. back then they had nothing and had to fettle things by the road if they broke down. tbh the last few years i've enjoyed riding my older bikes, it takes me back to the days of never knowing if you'd get there or not and the fun is being able to fix them without plugging it in to a bloody computer.

I recently finished a book by Elspeth Beard called Lone Rider. In the mid 70's she went around the world on a motorcycle on her own (she was in her early - mid twenties) No interent, no satnav, no fixers, limited planning. Very good read- especially about the issues she had with visas- she could get into countries but then struggled to be allowed out (the bureaucracy in counties such as India was amazing- needed a form for this, a different form for that etc)

that's another great book, read it last year on the kindle whilst on holiday.

 

[Deleted member 2014]

I recently finished a book by Elspeth Beard called Lone Rider. In the mid 70's she went around the world on a motorcycle on her own (she was in her early - mid twenties) No interent, no satnav, no fixers, limited planning. Very good read- especially about the issues she had with visas- she could get into countries but then struggled to be allowed out (the bureaucracy in counties such as India was amazing- needed a form for this, a different form for that etc)

I read that.

I also read about the adventures of a group of lads, who'd toured the world in a converted hearse.