I’ll leave it to you to work out for yourself if this trip of Charley and Ewan’s was a proper
round the world adventure, or a slice of movie world glitz. I remember being surprised at the
time about something. I’d really not expected the man to have so many thoughts that ran in
similar vein as my own. After all, his ride had been fast, filmed and funded very well; I
travelled on a tight budget.
My deep regret from the time of this interview was that I didn’t know how much help and
advice Austin Vince and the Mondo Enduro team had given Charley and Ewan. I didn’t ask
the question, so sadly never had an answer. Hindsight is so often such a wonderful thing.
But how has the world of overlanding changed since 2004? Quite dramatically and in many
ways. More people are out there travelling, and rides have become far higher tec. But it
seems to me that many of the aspects haven’t changed a jot and that in the end it’s down to
the individual to make their journey happen the way they want to, and can.
The fact of the matter is that everyone who is passionate, and driven enough to ride around
the world by motorcycle has only the RTW theme as the thread in common. Each will, as
demanded by individual circumstances, passions, awareness and ability, forge their own
unique way across the world’s continents. Simply it’s not a race or a boasting point. When
you have made it all the way round you are a different person and many of the life changing
lessons round the worlders learn will be exactly the same. Each will have had different
disasters, high points and moments of self discovery that will have collected together to
meet at the same point - the end of the trip and a sense of having achieved something
decidedly special. The interview with Charley surprised me at the time, and re reading it
now, I’m pleasantly surprised again.
Would I like to travel his way? No. Horses and courses. It’s said that one of the negative
results of their journey, films and books is that people have been influenced to think that
you can only ride around the world on a big bike. I rode a great bike; all 800ccs of her and I
wouldn’t have changed her for the world, but the truth is that you can ride around the world
on any bike you like. With the passing of time, there’s much more awareness of this. Any
bike will have its negatives. There is no perfect bike, just the bike the owner likes to ride and
is in good condition.
Three things I’m very conscious of, is that Charley and Ewan have inspired many to hit the
road, have brought a significant number of people back to motorcycling, and have sparked
the idea to learn to ride in others. I’ve also noticed a result of so many people who aren’t
motorcyclists having seen the film. There’s a recognisable level of increased understanding
of motorcyclists in the UK. Sadly, the barrier between those that don’t and those that do
remains the highest of any country I’ve ridden through. I think we need to have a word with
the UK authorities about that! And there are a few motorcycling yobs out there that do the
rest of us no good at all, but I’ve digressed!
And a quick bit of promo for my own books! I’ve been lucky enough to ride around the world.
8 years and 200,000 miles worth of fun and drama. My 4 books are available in paperback
format, as e-books on kindle and the first 2 ‘Into Africa’ and ‘Under Asian Skies’ are out now
as audio books. One final thing, if you are reading this from outside of the UK, all my books
are available with free worldwide delivery from The Book Depository. I hope you have fun
with them. www.sam-manicom.com Why have I written them? To share the fun of the road.
I’m fully aware of how fortunate I’ve been to be able to make such a journey.