I knew a man who, after graduating from college (1968),took off on his bike and went all over America and then all over the world. He spent decades traveling by bike. He told me what you said about the poorer the people, the more they were willing to share what they had. I think there is a lesson to be learned there. I asked him why he did it and he told me that when he figured out that he could live on about 1.00 USD per day he just kept going.
Al those people, in material poorness but so rich in joy, it amazes me, truly! They al smile, THEY ALL SMILE!!!!! so take a look in our rich streets.... THEY ALL LOOK SAD!!!! This film made me cry and realize thru wealth! Thank you very much for this amazing desire....
2:13 "Trusting my heart to be the compass." THAT is freedom, it is a very overwelming and satisfying feeling. I wish everybody could have a chance to feel that way. The world can be beautiful...
returned home penniless.....but got a wealth of experiences and memories that will last a lifetime...well done....dont regret a second of what you did.
This is one of my go-to pick-me-up things when I get a bit down, especially in these days with so little prospect. Thank you for sharing your incredible adventure.
Its true. I've noticed when a "rich" friend stays at my house, after they leave somethings usually missing from my home, my poor friends would never do such a thing, people expect the poor to steal its usually the opposite. If you think about it, its the same with our world, people who steal are usually rich (IRS, bankers, politicians, corporations etc) “The poorest is the one who needs a lot to live.” - Jose Mujica
Thank you Chris. Inspirational video. Even though I am 60 now, I planned doing or trying at least what you did. Your video glitters with care. Love it!
thanks Jude! and for for it! you won't regret it. I cycled with a 70 year old American through the high plateau of Tibet, he was inspirational! - the sooner the better!
Wow!!! That's amazing what you did & it has inspired me to do the same, I have been thinking about it for many years now & watching your film has got me thinking I need to just do it.
I love and admire what you did....and your speech was great it touch me, yes we need to walk all over the world to see so many culturtes, to learn that poor people is the people who help you the most! thanks man great video
Aw man! You are an absolute soul! Hope you had a blast in India. It's an incredible culturally and geographically diverse nation. Keep up the awesome work and thanks for sharing your journey.
Hi Chris, thanks for this amazing video. I am also a bike traveller but only on short periods of time, due to work and family. But journeys such as yours inspire me and make me dreaming. Maybe one day... Take care
I started out with a Vango Tornado, which was a superb little tent in the cold but not so great in warmer weather so I switched to an Exped Venus II, which wasn't as sturdy and far too expensive but allowed for different conditions and pitching just the inner - which is a must in warmer climates. Hope that helps.
It's on the road from Lhasa to Kathmandu. There is a turnoff to Mt Everest base camp. I'm pretty sure it's there. That part of the world offers some incredible cycle touring, about a dozen passes around or over 5000 meters!
This is truly wonderful and so well put together. Ill have to see what else you have put up. You rode places i just wouldn't. But you are the richer for it. Yes poor countries people are happier, more giving pay their bills more reliably, it seems. Except for the crime and scams and lower value for life. But I think when you are living the poor life on a bike, you become less a target of what people can get from you, but that you are in need of help yourself. I think people seem to be inspired by those who ride dangerous harsh conditions and empathetically want to help and be part of it. I think it's educated middle-class who do such trips, not because they can afford to, but because they have found lack of satisfaction with their middle-class existence. And had expectations unfulfilled in that respect. Perhaps those without such background have fewer expectations and struggle on. Whatever, it is the life lived that too few seek to follow, who struggle fir life for a house in the city or good job having never lived. You said you enjoyed coming home to family? Surely you dont have a wife and kids? Its also a selfish pursuit. But we need to be selfish sometime to focus on personal needs and dreams, not those of others. Only 4 years but more Iife lived than most over a lifetime...
Great video 👍, I’m looking in to doing this after I finish my A levels. Not many people I know are interested in travelling and I just don’t understand why :)
Amazing video. Thank you for sharing your experiences. I want to do the same, I am 22 years old now and I am struggeling with finding a meaning in life. I already went backpacking and I loved it. The picture in the boat @2:49, is it taken in Norway or Sweden? I wonder how you are doing now. Did you return to your old life or what meaningful work did you find to do? Best regards from Norway
Very sad to know that you could not enter in Pakistan. Had you been there I as a member of warmshowers would have been there as your host. Any way my best wishes are with you.
There is a reason some people are rich. Greed and selfishness. They are poor in their hearts. What has Chris done since? Settled down, got a good job, family, house, car?
Yep, the B17 classic. There used to be a special version with copper rivets but i found that after time the leather stretched and exposed the sharp edges which would tear my knicks. Stick to the rounded rivets.
It was a cannon hf11 with external mic. But to be honest you can get better shots on most SLR cameras these days. Saves lugging around all the video gear.
I couldn't go back to my old life that's for sure. I spent a year to reflect, helped a friend for a while, then decided to study yoga. Now I live in a yoga community outside of Sydney managing an organic farm, living yoga, helping people and growing the most amazing sustainable vege's I can. It's wonderfully simple and delightfully inspiring.
Chris Roach i see... well, that's quite a change! :P i really don't know what would happen to me if i did it. i mean, after going back. i'd be with no money and no job, just a place where to stay, at my parents'. however, besides that, i'd have nothing... and i'm saying this because i'm considering of doing the same if things here don't get better soon. what do you think?!
It's fear. And its perfectly natural... There is this lovely quote by Anais Nin, "... And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom". It's not what I think that's important. You go. You don't go. It's all good. Because you won't do anything until your ready. Until then, you might as well sit at home. I can promise you one thing, you won't be the same person when you return.
Australia is the hardest for cycling... Too many cowboy vehicle drivers... Stay out of the west would be my advice... Great video btw, thanks for sharing...
+שי עודני Most of the time yes. But company is also good. It depends what sort of person you are. I think that there is probably more value when you go it alone - in terms of testing what your made of and discovering who you are.
Dad used to say he saw working class kids from Manchester and Liverpool literally begging in India in the late sixties. No "promising career" to give up just the need to escape. Not to diminish in any way this guys achievement but why is it most touring folks are middle class. Is it really so difficult when you are already well educated and sell all your resources. Just a bit cynical of city workers in London or young professionals giving up very well laid jobs to live the dream.
+Simeon Banner. Yes I got that experience when i traveled around Australia. Virtually everyone was middle class and above. Exceptions were people who made money working long periods. I myself spent 15 months working as an unqualified IT trainer in Birmingham, UK on £7.83 an hour. Gr8 experience. When finally i got home after five months I had credit card debts which took me years to pay off. My previous employer had mysteriously disappeared after the company had mysteriously burned down? He was last seen in Malaysia.
+Roy Loach Interesting your comments. Again I would say anybody on a cycle tour is brave. I have done limited Camping, backpacking but in the past without much money. I would say cycle touring is now those who professionalise it, blogs advice etc, sponsored and those who just go. End of the day though I think it's fine to try to make some money to fund trips. At a certain level it gets professional if you are committed. I guess what annoys me is "living the dream" and giving the impression of abandoning the world when it's not the case. Education and family can be used to plug back into the system as soon as you return home.
+Simeon Banner Funny isn't it, if you're middle class and don't know what you want to do with your life you get to go and pretend you're a poor villager in some distant country, if you're working class and don't know what you want to do you end up working in a dead end job and being poor for real.
I'd counter your observation with this. Surely the more you have to give up and/or lose the braver the decision it is to do what this dude has done. As for your observation on the type of class that normally do this I'd also counter with this. I cycled 7,000 km across Europe last year and met plenty of impoverished cyclists doing the same thing. Regardless of class we were all bought to the same level by a common passion. Long distance cycling is non judgemental and non class discriminatory because once you're on the road you're all singing from the same song sheet.
Hi Chris, what you have done is very beautiful... I wish to do this some day in future, i just have a few questions for you, if you would be kind enough to answer them. 1. Did you do this journey alone? 2. Did you do any fishing or foraging for food? 3. What happened when the gun was pulled on you in India? thanks, Bless you :-) ....Also if there is anyone out there from LONDON that would like to join me on a journey across the world, then let me know, i'd love to get to know you. :-)
+Kamaljit Dhaliwal Hi, yep, I went alonefor most of it, but foundthat i met people alongtheway andwe would cycle together. So in the end it was 50:50 cycling with others and being on my own. Yep, I fished and foragged where I could absolutley, cherries on the side of the road, in corn fields, wild blueberries :). It's a long story about the gun, but it was a silly dispute over about $3! Ha ha... I didn't get shot so i was happy about that. Enjoy your adventure!
hey Chris I too have this longing in my heart to do this. I have no way of knowing how to go about it though. was wondering if you could give me some insight and maybe answer some questions of mine when you get a chance.
+jackson shepard Sure, without sounding too dismissive, just go for it. You buy a bike, get some camping gear and take off. It's not that hard. The hard part is answering the question: What's stopping you? ... happy to answer some questions but most of them will sort them selves out once you begin ;)
I knew a man who, after graduating from college (1968),took off on his bike and went all over America and then all over the world. He spent decades traveling by bike. He told me what you said about the poorer the people, the more they were willing to share what they had. I think there is a lesson to be learned there. I asked him why he did it and he told me that when he figured out that he could live on about 1.00 USD per day he just kept going.
Even after 8 years your journey looks great. Bravo from Greece...
Al those people, in material poorness but so rich in joy, it amazes me, truly! They al smile, THEY ALL SMILE!!!!! so take a look in our rich streets.... THEY ALL LOOK SAD!!!! This film made me cry and realize thru wealth! Thank you very much for this amazing desire....
Your welcome. In glad you enjoyed it! :)
2:13 "Trusting my heart to be the compass." THAT is freedom, it is a very overwelming and satisfying feeling. I wish everybody could have a chance to feel that way. The world can be beautiful...
returned home penniless.....but got a wealth of experiences and memories that will last a lifetime...well done....dont regret a second of what you did.
This is one of my go-to pick-me-up things when I get a bit down, especially in these days with so little prospect. Thank you for sharing your incredible adventure.
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for all the feedback! It inspires me! :)
I didn't know you were on the road again, where?
Hutch
Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu!
+Chris Roach thank you for inspiering us
Dude, you inspire me! Thanks for taking the time to share your journey with the rest of us.
Its true. I've noticed when a "rich" friend stays at my house, after they leave somethings usually missing from my home, my poor friends would never do such a thing, people expect the poor to steal its usually the opposite. If you think about it, its the same with our world, people who steal are usually rich (IRS, bankers, politicians, corporations etc) “The poorest is the one who needs a lot to live.” - Jose Mujica
Thank you for sharing your immense vision, strength and hope with us. I admire you what you have achieved. Thank you from Oslo.
He said that that poorest people always have the most to give!!! Profound.
Thanks Chris. This is absolutely beautiful and inspiring!
I watched again your video - and still loving it. Love your courage. BE FREE!
Thank you Chris. Inspirational video. Even though I am 60 now, I planned doing or trying at least what you did. Your video glitters with care. Love it!
+Jd Law Let me correct that. I plan (future tense) in 5 years time or earlier.
thanks Jude! and for for it! you won't regret it. I cycled with a 70 year old American through the high plateau of Tibet, he was inspirational! - the sooner the better!
Are you still planning or on the road now? :)
The most inspiring video I've ever seen. Good for you!
Beautiful! The way you tell your story touch my hart.
you have all my respect, congrats for what you've done !
Wow!!! That's amazing what you did & it has inspired me to do the same, I have been thinking about it for many years now & watching your film has got me thinking I need to just do it.
Hi Chris, we are happy for- you being able to do this! Big Love!
+Choco Del Sol Oh, you guys, just found this comment. Lots of love to you both! Big kiss for Peggy. X!
This video just made my morning. Will be going to work with a smile today😀
I’m live in Adelaide & am planning something like this 👍
I love and admire what you did....and your speech was great it touch me, yes we need to walk all over the world to see so many culturtes, to learn that poor people is the people who help you the most! thanks man great video
Love what you did , very inspiring !
Thank you for the great video and wonderful wordsmith skills.
That's some epic way to find out, "How to be" in the world. But you got there in the end, that's what matters. Well done mate.
Absolutely beautiful! Take care, all the best!
My dream is to cycle round the world and this video reminds me of what I have to look forward to. Very inspiring.
Aw man! You are an absolute soul! Hope you had a blast in India. It's an incredible culturally and geographically diverse nation. Keep up the awesome work and thanks for sharing your journey.
love your video and your attitude.
take care paul
big respect for your trip..thanks for sharing
Massive inspiration ... wish you had more vids we could all watch.
I want to nomadic life but not sure its possible right now !
Hi Chris, thanks for this amazing video. I am also a bike traveller but only on short periods of time, due to work and family. But journeys such as yours inspire me and make me dreaming. Maybe one day... Take care
Chapeau bas Chris. Well done...
One cannot enjoy with expectations .. Incredible , amazing ....
I hiked the Appalachian Trail in North America with Aussies. Those bastards are tough as nails and never give up.
Awesome Chris. Well done!
An amazing adventure. Inspirational.
great video! Very inspiring~congratulation and all the best for your next trips!
I started out with a Vango Tornado, which was a superb little tent in the cold but not so great in warmer weather so I switched to an Exped Venus II, which wasn't as sturdy and far too expensive but allowed for different conditions and pitching just the inner - which is a must in warmer climates. Hope that helps.
its so tempting to start a journey of my own.. Well done Sree Cyclestrongman.. :)
Thank you so much!
I love it! Hoping I get to do something like this one day..
Well done Chris,well done.
Eye opening. Thanks
without dubt you recive my "like".
Thanks for show this great project
:-)
3:17 OH! I recognize Shangri-la. Lucky you to be able to travel around China! It has so many things to see, so many things to experience.
一路平安 !
It's on the road from Lhasa to Kathmandu. There is a turnoff to Mt Everest base camp. I'm pretty sure it's there. That part of the world offers some incredible cycle touring, about a dozen passes around or over 5000 meters!
Lovely
best video ever thx
chris its inspiring me,traveling around the world by bike..
Amazing, what an experience
This is truly wonderful and so well put together. Ill have to see what else you have put up. You rode places i just wouldn't. But you are the richer for it.
Yes poor countries people are happier, more giving pay their bills more reliably, it seems. Except for the crime and scams and lower value for life. But I think when you are living the poor life on a bike, you become less a target of what people can get from you, but that you are in need of help yourself. I think people seem to be inspired by those who ride dangerous harsh conditions and empathetically want to help and be part of it.
I think it's educated middle-class who do such trips, not because they can afford to, but because they have found lack of satisfaction with their middle-class existence. And had expectations unfulfilled in that respect. Perhaps those without such background have fewer expectations and struggle on.
Whatever, it is the life lived that too few seek to follow, who struggle fir life for a house in the city or good job having never lived.
You said you enjoyed coming home to family? Surely you dont have a wife and kids?
Its also a selfish pursuit. But we need to be selfish sometime to focus on personal needs and dreams, not those of others. Only 4 years but more Iife lived than most over a lifetime...
Well shared. Thank you. I didn't have a wife or a kid at the time. I do now. A different kind of adventure!
FELICITACIONES!!!
really awesome!! Geez!! i want to go some where! :)
a wonderful video
Great video 👍, I’m looking in to doing this after I finish my A levels. Not many people I know are interested in travelling and I just don’t understand why :)
what tent did you bring man? awesome!
pretty simple bike!!! with ROLHOFF gearhub. I wish to have that simple bike!
What’s new? I’m planning a similar trip. Do you have a route map of the route you took?
Amazing video. Thank you for sharing your experiences. I want to do the same, I am 22 years old now and I am struggeling with finding a meaning in life. I already went backpacking and I loved it. The picture in the boat @2:49, is it taken in Norway or Sweden? I wonder how you are doing now. Did you return to your old life or what meaningful work did you find to do? Best regards from Norway
Excellent 👌👍👍👍👌
wow dude your inspirational
I love cycling
Cool vid Chris.
What are you doing now? Are you still living and traveling on your bike? Very inspirational.
Super, i want to do this some day
How did you manage to cross the border?
Where is 0:48? I did Europe last year. I'm sooooo itching to do another tour in Europe. (Toronto)
Brilliant
great journey...
Wonderful film, is thee a book? youre a great narrator.
7:44 with Álvaro Neil, the Biciclown! 👍
Awesome! #WeROne #OneLove
Very sad to know that you could not enter in Pakistan. Had you been there I as a member of warmshowers would have been there as your host. Any way my best wishes are with you.
There is a reason some people are rich. Greed and selfishness. They are poor in their hearts. What has Chris done since? Settled down, got a good job, family, house, car?
Hero!!!!
Did you use a Brooks saddle?
Yep, the B17 classic. There used to be a special version with copper rivets but i found that after time the leather stretched and exposed the sharp edges which would tear my knicks. Stick to the rounded rivets.
excellent
Inspirational….may I ask what recording equipment you used? Your portrait photography is awesome
It was a cannon hf11 with external mic. But to be honest you can get better shots on most SLR cameras these days. Saves lugging around all the video gear.
Ride on Bro.
You met Alvaro Neil! The biciclown :))
So cool
wow!! Vedio 👍
what happened when you got back? how did you start over again? do you have a job? what job did you find? who gave you a place where to stay? etc
I couldn't go back to my old life that's for sure. I spent a year to reflect, helped a friend for a while, then decided to study yoga. Now I live in a yoga community outside of Sydney managing an organic farm, living yoga, helping people and growing the most amazing sustainable vege's I can. It's wonderfully simple and delightfully inspiring.
Chris Roach i see... well, that's quite a change! :P i really don't know what would happen to me if i did it. i mean, after going back. i'd be with no money and no job, just a place where to stay, at my parents'. however, besides that, i'd have nothing... and i'm saying this because i'm considering of doing the same if things here don't get better soon. what do you think?!
It's fear. And its perfectly natural... There is this lovely quote by Anais Nin, "... And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom". It's not what I think that's important. You go. You don't go. It's all good. Because you won't do anything until your ready. Until then, you might as well sit at home. I can promise you one thing, you won't be the same person when you return.
Australia is the hardest for cycling...
Too many cowboy vehicle drivers...
Stay out of the west would be my advice...
Great video btw, thanks for sharing...
A bit about your bike and gear please?
the amazing story i do like taravel and my dream is one day travel around the globe .
i have a Q for you do you travel alone most of the time ?
+שי עודני Most of the time yes. But company is also good. It depends what sort of person you are. I think that there is probably more value when you go it alone - in terms of testing what your made of and discovering who you are.
You ARE the reasons.
Dad used to say he saw working class kids from Manchester and Liverpool literally begging in India in the late sixties. No "promising career" to give up just the need to escape. Not to diminish in any way this guys achievement but why is it most touring folks are middle class. Is it really so difficult when you are already well educated and sell all your resources. Just a bit cynical of city workers in London or young professionals giving up very well laid jobs to live the dream.
+Simeon Banner. Yes I got that experience when i traveled around Australia. Virtually everyone was middle class and above. Exceptions were people who made money working long periods. I myself spent 15 months working as an unqualified IT trainer in Birmingham, UK on £7.83 an hour. Gr8 experience. When finally i got home after five months I had credit card debts which took me years to pay off. My previous employer had mysteriously disappeared after the company had mysteriously burned down? He was last seen in Malaysia.
+Roy Loach Interesting your comments. Again I would say anybody on a cycle tour is brave. I have done limited Camping, backpacking but in the past without much money. I would say cycle touring is now those who professionalise it, blogs advice etc, sponsored and those who just go. End of the day though I think it's fine to try to make some money to fund trips. At a certain level it gets professional if you are committed.
I guess what annoys me is "living the dream" and giving the impression of abandoning the world when it's not the case. Education and family can be used to plug back into the system as soon as you return home.
+Simeon Banner Funny isn't it, if you're middle class and don't know what you want to do with your life you get to go and pretend you're a poor villager in some distant country, if you're working class and don't know what you want to do you end up working in a dead end job and being poor for real.
I'd counter your observation with this. Surely the more you have to give up and/or lose the braver the decision it is to do what this dude has done. As for your observation on the type of class that normally do this I'd also counter with this. I cycled 7,000 km across Europe last year and met plenty of impoverished cyclists doing the same thing. Regardless of class we were all bought to the same level by a common passion. Long distance cycling is non judgemental and non class discriminatory because once you're on the road you're all singing from the same song sheet.
Wonder, what are you up to now ?
nice vid.!!
nice
What is your gear ratio?
Standard Rohloff setup. Over time i went to a slightly smaller cog on the front when it came up for replacement.
Hi Chris, what you have done is very beautiful... I wish to do this some day in future, i just have a few questions for you, if you would be kind enough to answer them.
1. Did you do this journey alone?
2. Did you do any fishing or foraging for food?
3. What happened when the gun was pulled on you in India?
thanks,
Bless you :-)
....Also if there is anyone out there from LONDON that would like to join me on a journey across the world, then let me know, i'd love to get to know you. :-)
+Kamaljit Dhaliwal
Hi, yep, I went alonefor most of it, but foundthat i met people alongtheway andwe would cycle together. So in the end it was 50:50 cycling with others and being on my own. Yep, I fished and foragged where I could absolutley, cherries on the side of the road, in corn fields, wild blueberries :). It's a long story about the gun, but it was a silly dispute over about $3! Ha ha... I didn't get shot so i was happy about that. Enjoy your adventure!
Kamaljit did you do it?
@@Joiedevivredesilives yes its been three years did you go?
congratulations . . . i have traveled the world within 8 mins free
hey Chris I too have this longing in my heart to do this. I have no way of knowing how to go about it though. was wondering if you could give me some insight and maybe answer some questions of mine when you get a chance.
+jackson shepard Sure, without sounding too dismissive, just go for it. You buy a bike, get some camping gear and take off. It's not that hard. The hard part is answering the question: What's stopping you? ... happy to answer some questions but most of them will sort them selves out once you begin ;)
congratulations I like it
You live your dreams, not dream your life
Good song (Xavier Rudd) at the end the end of the video
You must be knackered!!!
Cycling the Silk Road: China
how do you prepared your body before travelling....
+panji suryo Nope, I just took off. I started slowly and built my body up as I went. I was always surprised at how adaptive our bodies are.
Nothing earthly can fill the gap which belongs to your creator.
-From london ( also an engineer lol )