Ep 44: Many rides of a lifetime, with Simon Callender

Most people don’t find, or indeed create, the time from busy life to fulfil big travel dreams. But Simon Callender is not your average guy. He is an adventurer by heart. After 15 years he returned to the Silk Road and beyond, this time to go the ‘other way’ as he joined the 3 month motorcycling expedition from Bangkok to the UK.

The expedition, called Globebusters headed up by Guinness World Record Holders for global motorcycle travel, Kevin and Julia Sanders, finished this July at the fitting National Motor Museum in Beaulieu.

This isn’t just a tale of cities, countries and dirt roads. It’s a conversation about cultures, change and what we learn about ourselves when we step off the well-beaten track. Simon crosses borders between ‘stans’, that you have to get a map out for, battling treacherous roads of the Gobi Desert to Turkey’s infamous Stone Road.

To get these new experiences and I think the risk is that you see it as a tick list and I’ve been consciously conscious not to do that. It’s been more what have I learnt from this? What have I learnt from other people? And a long time travelling across India and Asia gives you all these perspectives and other places as well.

With ‘Chatty Luggage’, aka his wife Martina, at times on the back of the bike, Simon, shares the stories of solo and partner riding, and the dynamics of being together with a group of guys for 3 months.

It’s not always easy to find the space and time to travel, and he’s lucky that his work, Initials CX, also sees the advantages of an open mind and new experiences. The man who returns is very different to the one that left. What inspires travel through developing and developed countries isn’t always clear. Perhaps for him, it’s partly the fear of feeling trapped that inspires this occasional life on the road. Perhaps it’s an opportunity to reflect on life.

This isn’t just a conversation for motorbike fanatics, it’s beautiful and articulate tales from a life full of ‘Love and Adventure’.

Thanks for listening in, and please do share to inspire others to open their minds through travel and the stories that accompany them. And if you’re enjoying our work, and would like to support us, please do consider our Soulhubbers Club Membership and signing up as a paid subscriber.

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