Moods of Future Joys – A Book About Going Round The World By Bike
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK on 12. 3.06
Even the most dedicated all-weather cyclists amongst you would probably be hard pushed to volunteer to cycle around the world. But for those of you who think they might be tempted you should read Alastair Humphreys' book before you start out. The young British adventurer Alastair Humphreys took the decision when he left university not to get a job, but instead to spend the next four years of his life travelling around the world by bike, this of course was the infinitely harder option. He travelled through 60 countries, over 5 continents, and a total of 46,000 miles. Alastair communicated his journey through a blog and podcasts whilst on the road; now back at home he has just finished his book which tells the story of the first half of his journey. The book is entitled ‘Moods of Future Joys’ after a Ben Okri poem which says “All that you are experiencing now will become moods of future joys, so bless it all.” Alastair says this is in reference to the most difficult and loneliest parts of the journey which he found hard to endure. Sir Ranulph Fiennes, who is described by the Guinness Book of Records as "the world's greatest living explorer”, has described Alastair's expedition as “probably the first great adventure of the new Millennium. Alastair’s journey was an old-fashioned expedition: long, lonely, low-budget and spontaneous. It was a life on the road rather than a whirlwind break from home."
While Alastair says the choice of his mode of transport was primarily due to a limited budget, we are particularly impressed by the example he sets for how far one can get on a bicycle. And he didn’t hop on any planes to cross the big oceans, being fully dedicated to slow travel, he took a boat. Throughout his adventure Alastair raised money for Hope and Homes for Children, who work with orphaned and abandoned children in 14 countries around the world. He is currently writing the second half of his adventure ‘Blue Mountains’, in the meantime Moods of Future Joys is available to buy from his website. You can also listen to Alastair being interviewed on BBC Radio 4 this week. ::Alastair Humphreys
