Five Life-Changing Lessons from Cycling Around the World for 500 Days
What 18 Months on Two Wheels Taught Me About Living
Five years on from riding my bike for 500 days around the world, I still use and apply lessons from that time in my daily life. It's hard to overstate what a profoundly transformative effect that journey has had on my life.
I started the journey on my 30th birthday. Up to that point, I'd spent the previous decade in the military, training and eventually deploying to Afghanistan, living in Cyprus, Germany, Egypt, and the UK. My identity and sense of who I was as a person came through the lens of everything I had done. The rank, the role, the status I'd derived from being part of a group that was highly trained and highly regarded.
Leaving that to wander the roads randomly on a bicycle was liberating. The shackles and self-imposed limitations that existed only in my mind slowly disintegrated. Not fully, but by the end of the bike trip, I was certainly transformed.
Much of the transformative work that came from the bike trip has actually happened in the proceeding years since finishing the ride. Working out some of the logistical but still important next steps for my life: where I would live, what I'd do to earn money, what hobbies I'd take up, and where I'd spend much of my time.
When I look back now, I see the bike trip as just one of what I hope will be many impactful events that I experience in my life. We are only as successful as the lessons we derive from our own experiences. In this post, I want to share five lessons that still have the biggest impact on the life I want to live today.
1. That Scary Thing You're Thinking of Doing Isn't All That Scary Once You Take the First Step.
We impose invisible walls around our own lives. Walls built from our upbringing, the thoughts of parents, teachers, neighbors, and friends. All of us are capable of achieving incredible things. To do so, though, usually means climbing over this wall and having a peek on the other side. For some people, this happens early. For me, it's been a gradual series of walls climbed and new walls placed. I still have self-limiting beliefs that I'm working to overcome. Many of these self-limiting beliefs might seem obvious or trivial, but they're not. They often need to be said out loud as a first step to overcome them. I met an American man in China who was in his late 50s. He told me that he would love to go on a bike tour but was now too old to do so. I told him about the people I'd met older than him who were traveling the world. He then went on to tell me he couldn't afford to do it. I told him that I had £10k and was able to travel for 18 months. He didn't seem interested in what I had to say. He had a wall in place, and that was more impactful than any new information I could give him.
Even last week, I met a woman who told me that I was only able to ride my bike around the world because I was a man. I told her about the many incredible and inspiring women I've met who have traveled the world on a bike, but even this didn't seem to make any difference. This woman has a self-limiting belief that only she can overcome by going out and doing things that prove her wrong. This is why small adventures can have so much impact. You can experience a wholly different version of life for a few days or even just a weekend by going outside, camping on the side of a hill, going on a long multi-day walk, or riding your bike as far as you can, camping, and returning home the next day. Cooking outside, talking to strangers, feeling physically exhausted and continuing, being in nature, all of these things can help change your perspective.
This has knock-on effects in "normal" life: taking that new job, leaving an unhappy relationship, moving to a new area, starting a business, making a YouTube video and hitting publish. All these things seem small once you've pushed yourself on an adventure.
2. We Don't Need More Stuff
For 18 months, my worldly possessions fit into two small bags. This wasn't a struggle, it had the opposite effect. I felt liberated by only having so much space. Anything extra that I chose to carry would be extra weight.
This translates perfectly to my life today.
I now own three bikes. This is not necessary. I should sell at least one of these bikes, I'd feel freer. The same goes with everything you own. In classic Marie Kondo style: "Discard anything that doesn't spark joy."
3. Community Equals Belonging
I was fortunate to be welcomed into countless communities on my world bike tour. The hardest part was always saying goodbye, likely to never see these people ever again. Those 18 months of meeting people, connecting hard, and then moving on made me want to build my own community, one that I could rely on, would be there for me, and I could be there for them. I write this as I'm just about to head to Stonehenge to see the sunrise on the longest day. I'm going with five other friends, all of whom I didn't know until three years ago. Now I feel closer to them than many people I've known for decades. Community takes being still, turning up consistently, and listening.
4. We Are Made to Move Daily
We are slowly killing ourselves with the sedentary, desk-bound lifestyle that many of us live. The way we live our lives massively impacts how we move. Pedaling every day gave me energy. I felt fitter, more capable, and overall more enthusiastic than at any other point in my life. Today, I make it a habit to move daily at a minimum, taking myself for a 30-minute walk. I usually run or go to the gym. Just move more.
5. Burnout Doesn't Usually Come from Doing Too Much. It Comes from Having No Purpose
Before I started the bike trip, I felt burnout primarily came from being overworked. Now, I'm not saying this isn't possible, but in my experience, most people I come across who are "burnt out" are more burned out from having no identified purpose.
Purpose is a funny thing. It doesn't just turn up and assign itself to you. You have to go out there, try loads of stuff, and find something that clicks. Maybe it will never happen for you. Maybe your purpose will become finding your purpose. Maybe it will be raising a family, giving to others, or being good at your job. Whatever it is doesn't really matter, but having one does. Being in the military, my purpose was super clear: to be the best officer possible to help serve my soldiers. As a bike traveler, my purpose was blended between making daily distance, filming the experience and documenting the stories, while attempting to be present in the cycling as much as possible. Now my purpose has shifted: to be a role model to my son, to help build this newsletter and YouTube channel so I can help men feel more connected through brotherhood, adventure, physical training, and mental clarity. My day job is the engine that fuels the rest of my life. It's not the overwhelming purpose of my life. I find deep joy and meaning from the work I do, but no longer see my job as the main driver of my purpose to be alive.
Beyond These Five: A Few More Insights Worth Pondering
I could probably rewrite this same piece 20 times and come out with different lessons from each exercise. Here are a few more that deserve exploration:
On Human Nature:
How we should be more curious, less judgmental
How a nation's politics does not represent the people who live there. I was treated kindly by people in China, the US, and many other places. I may not agree politically with what is going on in these places, but people have only a couple of main driving wants: to be safe, for their children to be safe, and to enjoy spending time with others
Most people are wrongly scared of their neighboring countries. When in Malaysia, I was told countless times not to go to Thailand as it would be too dangerous. Once in Thailand, I was told the same about Laos. Once in Laos, I was told the same about China. And so on
On Experience and Perspective:
We have never "done" a country once we have visited. You have only glimpsed a sliver of what there is to see in that land
Whatever you are doing, there is always somebody else doing something tougher, harder, more adventurous than you
The line between homeless and adventurer is thinner than I first realised. This often comes down to the perspective of the judger
Most people are not impressed or all that bothered about the big adventure you've been on
Most people are in their own heads, thinking about themselves
On Culture and Connection:
Music and food are the world's universal languages. We all need to eat. Sharing a meal with somebody connects us in a way very little else does. Dancing with somebody does the same
Learn 10 words of any language of a country you are visiting, even if it's just for a week. The best words to learn are "delicious" and "thank you"
The drop in organised religion in the west correlates strongly with the fall in the sense of community. Even though I'm not religious, I do think religion serves as a great way for people to get together locally
On What Really Matters:
The American dream is to have a big house, a home cinema, pool in the yard, and ginormous kitchen. Many of these people with this are miserable and lonely, depressed and heavily medicated. The happiest people I met were in Laos. They ate as a community, bathed in the Mekong, huddled around small TVs in corner restaurants, and ate sticky rice with papaya salad. Children explored their areas freely. We can learn a lot from this way of living
Practical Notes:
How we should give random food a try, even if it's just once
Deserts are cold at night. Bring more warm layers
Carry more tubes.
The quiet dogs are the ones to look out for, not the snarling yappy ones.
