Jupiter's Travels

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When I asked him to explain what it’s all about he pointedly replied, “It’s a way of saving journalism from journalists. I wish there were photos and I wish I remembered the mid 1970's better but, in the end, specific time references aren't the point here. Siccome l'hanno fatto in pochissimi, dedurrete da soli, carissimi pards, cosa c'� sull'altro piatto della bilancia.

He started by telling us that he is at an exciting time in his life, but then carried on to say something that perhaps shouldn’t be a surprise. It struck a chord with me that someone had the guts to travel all around the world through countries I had never heard off or that I knew were in the midst of horrendous civil wars on a triumph motorcycle that was going to break down every 10 minutes. Dust Jackets are not guaranteed and when still present, they will have various degrees of tear and damage. The writing in the book is as bumpy as the roads the author traveled on, frequently crashing into a jumbled heap.

There was an island somewhere in the South Seas where people were supposed to be terribly poor but the pictures showed the most beautiful beaches, with tropical trees and fruit and stuff like that. The first 2/3rds of the book were great, descriptions of people and places, tales of his travel and how the bike was doing or not as the case may be, and then at probably only a third of the way around the world we leave all of those descriptions behind, whole countries are not mentioned or receive only a paragraph, we get hardly anything of Northern India and Nepal. The writing style is inconsistent and varies in detail and quality throughout the story, only at the beginning, through Africa does the description seem to match well with the pace of the journey. As many of you will know, that tale was documented in Jupiter’s Travels, a book that is widely credited with bringing adventure motorcycling into the mainstream.

If we as a world are going to survive, we must all get out of our home environments with our eyes, ears and minds wide open and with a social conscience.Listen to our other motorcycle podcasts: ARR RAW - Monthly roundtable talks about motorcycle travel. The idea that I might be making it for others, as well as myself… It seems that when you raise yourself up to achieve something beyond what is needed just to live day by day, the energy you generate has an effect on those around you. There were plenty of times when I didn’t feel particularly adventurous or daring, when I really would have liked to have just stopped.

This man took Ted’s hand and told the traveller he had a determined soul and mind, before telling him “You are Jupiter”. Over the years, motorcycle travel has become something of a trademark of mine, and I’ve written several books about my two-wheeled journeys. Raised in London by a German mother and a Romanian father, Ted Simon found himself impelled by an insatiable desire to explore the world. Although I do not share many of the author's views, I liked most of the book, learned historical facts, and gained food for thought. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful.

I tucked my gloves into my helmet and stood by the bike looking up and down the country road and across the field of green wheat wondering who was going to help me this time, and what it would lead to". But we never see or hear from most of them again and this, I suppose, is the essence of the journey. And although I’d learned a huge amount about life, and about the world, and about everything, it wasn’t much help in solving my own personal problems.