Bike adventurer travels the world with just £1 in his pocket

[noodle]

An adventurer who set off on a bike with just £1 in his pocket has spent eight years on the road and visited 37 countries.
Keiichi Iwasaki embarked on a tour of his native Japan on a Raleigh shopper bike and loved it so much he caught a ferry to South Korea.
Since then, the intrepid traveller has cycled 28,000 miles and gone through four bikes - two were stolen and two broken.


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I've always wanted to travel the world, and it seems many people are doing it in many different ways, but this is the first time I've seen someone do it by bicycle. I don't know what to think about it, is he brave, or crazy? Is it enjoyable, or just hard work? All I know is that I admire this guy for setting out on so little and accomplishing so much.

Thoughts? Would you ever do something like this? What kind of person does it take to achieve something like this?

[Aniki]

I wonder where did he spent that £1

PS: Don't you need to have at least a transit visa when crossing China? How was he able to enter China (and other countries) without being stoped in the border?

[noodle]

Originally Posted by Aniki

I wonder where did he spent that £1

PS: Don't you need to have at least a transit visa when crossing China? How was he able to enter China (and other countries) without being stoped in the border?

He started off with £1. He performed on the streets to get a money!

[Aniki]

I was just thinking loudly and you don't need to shout!

[Columbine]

Brilliant!

If my cousin has her way, in two years time we're cycling from Lille Nord, France, to Rome over the summer. Not sure how well it will go, but even if we don't make it, I'm sure it'll be something to remember!

[noodle]

Originally Posted by Aniki

I was just thinking loudly and you don't need to shout!

...................... okay

Columbine, do you have any idea what route you'd be taking yet?

[Sangetsu]

I hiked across America with about $25 in my pocket. I'm not much of a street performer, so I did odd jobs (moving furniture, helping paint houses, misc, construction work) to earn meals and expense money with.

It's not something I recommend people try, I met a few crazies along the way who offered money for certain kinds of "jobs". But I was not a person to be messed with, a few years in the Army had made me strong, and I kept a gun in my bag where I could get to it quickly if I needed it.

The police stopped me occasionally (hitch hiking is not legal in some places), but they never bothered me. I kept myself clean and shaved, and it was obvious enough to them that I was not a hobo or fugitive. A couple ended up giving me rides, and another paid me $100 to put a clutch in his old Datsun car.

I hiked from Atlanta Georgia to Jacksonville, Florida, and then from Jacksonville to El Paso, Texas. From there I hiked to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and then westward to Los Angeles.

I've always wanted to ride a bicycle across America, but America is a big country, and such a ride takes a month or more. I may ride across France next year, but I haven't gone over the details yet.

[Columbine]

Originally Posted by noodle

...................... okay

Columbine, do you have any idea what route you'd be taking yet?

We're not sure yet. The 2009 cycle maps of France and Italy have only just been released but I haven't had the chance to go buy them yet, but we're fairly sure there are legs of the tour de france that should take us to the Swiss border. It's still very much in the early planning stages.

I think to cycle across the US. Sangetsu, will definitely take you more than a month. Our trip is sketched out at 22 days cycling at very best, but will probably be more like thirty. Then again, we're amateurs and we've guessed our times quite generously.

[Sangetsu]

Originally Posted by Columbine

We're not sure yet. The 2009 cycle maps of France and Italy have only just been released but I haven't had the chance to go buy them yet, but we're fairly sure there are legs of the tour de france that should take us to the Swiss border. It's still very much in the early planning stages.

I think to cycle across the US. Sangetsu, will definitely take you more than a month. Our trip is sketched out at 22 days cycling at very best, but will probably be more like thirty. Then again, we're amateurs and we've guessed our times quite generously.

The shortest and flattest route is from San Diego, California to Jacksonville, Florida. The record for riding a bicycle from coast-to-coast in America is 8 days. Needless to say, few people can make such a ride.

I used to be more of a serious cyclist, I would ride almost 500 kilometers a week. I used to live in Florida where the weather was usually hot and sunny, and where there was no winter.

I can't remember when the release date is for the 2010 Tour de France race map, but finding the old maps is easy enough. The race seems to run through Switzerland at least once every other year.

[Columbine]

Originally Posted by Sangetsu

The shortest and flattest route is from San Diego, California to Jacksonville, Florida. The record for riding a bicycle from coast-to-coast in America is 8 days. Needless to say, few people can make such a ride.

I used to be more of a serious cyclist, I would ride almost 500 kilometers a week. I used to live in Florida where the weather was usually hot and sunny, and where there was no winter.

I can't remember when the release date is for the 2010 Tour de France race map, but finding the old maps is easy enough. The race seems to run through Switzerland at least once every other year.

8 days? Wow! That's incredible!

Yeah we're hoping to pick it up through Switzerland, but really asides from having decided to actually do it, we have yet to sit down and plan it all out yet. Ten to one it's not going to be a straight route as we'll come across things along the way we want to go see. :3