When choosing where to go on my adventure I had a choice of two destinations:
- Globebusters – London to Bangkok
- On my own – Canada, Alaska
Globebusters was my first thought. The are several very compelling reasons why I might have chosen to do this trip with Globebusters. Firstly, the route they are doing is one that I would love to ride. Secondly, knowing that someone else is doing the hard work of organising the fine details would remove a lot of stress from me. Finally, I fear not being able to communicate with people whilst travelling and travelling in a group would provide a comfort blanket.
However, these reasons for Globebusters being so enticing are also the reasons that I decided not to go with them. They would be covering a 13,000 in 84 days with a group of riders of unknown ability – they don’t know me and I don’t know them, would I be struggling to keep up or getting bored waiting for them? Then there’s the organisation work – I need to prove to myself that I can do it myself, rather than relying on others to do it for me. Lastly, the language barrier. Well, that’s where I decided to leave it for another trip and so I’m heading to (mostly) English-speaking countries. I’ll leave foreign languages for another day. There was also another big factor that swayed me away from Globebusters, well 20 thousand big factors. That’s right, the London to Bangkok trip with Globebusters is £20,000. By all accounts you should be able to do a round the world trip for £20,000!
So I needed a destination that offered big spaces, is relatively easy to get my own bike there and preferably english speaking. This is why I’ve decided to head to Canada and the USA. The route I’ll be taking has been through many iterations but the current plan is to fly the bike into Halifax, Nova Scotia, then get the ferry up to Newfoundland and the start of the Trans-Canadian Adventure Trail (TCAT). The route across Canada will be along the 15,000km of the TCAT, ending the west side of Vancouver Island.
I’m expecting to take about 2 months to cross Canada, with a couple of stops to visit friends.
After completing the TCAT I’ll be heading south across the border to the USA and will meander my way back to the Atlantic coast when I’ll head back to Halifax to ship my bike home again. The exact route across the USA is still a work in progress but is going to be taking the likes of Crater Lake, Yosemite, Death Valley, Grand Canyon, Meteor Crater, Pikes Peak, GUERNSEY!, Badlands, Mt Rushmore & Crazy Horse Memorial, Jack Daniels Brewery, Great Smokey Mountains, Finger Lakes, Boston. The current estimate is about 15,000km to get back to Halifax and I’ve given myself 2 months to get back.
So that’s it: 2 countries, 4 months, 30,000km.