PROFILE OF A NOMAD
Then there was Eziz, an Azerbaijani shepherd who led him to a stretch of land where he could sleep, safe from wolves.
It was in Georgia that Tom felt the most welcomed and the country became one of the favourites of his entire journey.“ You are always invited to stay in people’ s homes and are usually treated to a seven to eight course meal there,” he explains.“ Georgians are truly the best people.”
While charmed by the country’ s landscape and architecture, Tom found many contenders along the road. From the blue minarets of Uzbekistan’ s Samarkand to the ancient Buddhist Mogao Caves in China; and from the hot springs of California’ s Death Valley to the freezing mountain lakes along Tajikistan’ s Pamir Highway, he was truly spoilt for choice.
Back on British soil, it all seems very far away now for Tom. He did make it back in time for Christmas and is now at Sheffield University doing a PhD on the flaws of wind turbine bearings. Thinking about his trip last year he says:“ It doesn’ t feel like it was my life. It was a blip from normality.”
Tom is characteristically no-nonsense on whether it has changed him as a person:“ I guess I can’ t sit down and watch rubbish on TV anymore.” Pressed a little he admits:“ I’ ve learnt never to judge people based on stereotypes as I realised they’ re never true.”
Of future travels, Tom says he has no plans.“ But, I guess India and Mongolia would be pretty interesting.”
( Tom’ s book Every inch of the way; My bike ride around the world, was published in May 2013)
“ It doesn’ t feel like it was my life. It was a blip from normality” above: kazakhstan’ s formidable desert road below: in a shelter by the uzbekistan-tajikistan border tom bruce tom bruce
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