1st February is a special date for me. It marks 2 years of travel. On that date in 2014 I started this journey which in many ways has only just begun. My journey is about the spirit of adventure and exploring the most amazing places on the planet. My main mode of transport is my bicycle and my feet.
Let’s have a little recap of the last two years of my life. In total I’ve cycled over 19400km, hiked 5086km and canoed 715km. Click here to look at my statistics page.
In February 2014, I started hiking and cycling in Tasmania, Australia. I cycled over 1600km and hiked around 350km in my 10 weeks there. Click here for a link to my Tasmanian adventures.
In May 2014 I flew to Alaska to commence a cycling and hiking journey from the most northern roads of Alaska and Canada to the Mexico border. I cycled to the most northern roads in Alaska (Dalton Hwy) and the most northern road in Canada (Dempster Hwy). I don’t know of any other cyclist that has done such a thing in the same summer season, I’m sure they exist but a search of the internet hasn’t found any. I had some amazing experiences in Alaska, such as sleeping in a bearproof storage box in Denali National Park when a cold winter storm hit and I enjoyed some the best cycling ever on the Denali Highway.
I jumped in a canoe and paddled more than 700km of the Yukon River from WhiteHorse to Dawson City. I took my bicycle with me in the canoe! That was a highlight of my time in the north. Click here to read more about my Yukon Trip.
As I headed south I took the chance to hike some amazing trails in USA and Canada. Some of my favourites were The West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island, Yosemite, The Chilkoot Trail , Mt Rainier and a 100 mile hike I did in Grand Canyon. I cycled the Oregon and California coast to San Francisco before heading inland. I also spent some time in the cold deserts of Utah visiting such amazing places as Bryce Canyon, Zion NP. I was standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona shortly after visiting a big hole in the ground from a meteor.
In Arizona and California I cycled across the Sonoran desert to Campo and San Diego by bicycle thus completing my Alaska to Mexico journey. I spent Christmas 2014 alone in San Diego and saw in the year 2015 bar hopping in Los Angeles.
In January 2015 I returned home to Australia, my one year sabbatical from my job was over, but I had a thirst for adventure. I spent 10 weeks at home in Australia. During that time I resigned from my job as a Police Officer, sold everything I owned and hit the road permanently. No fixed address. No responsibilities. Minimal possessions. Freedom.
In April 2015 I returned to USA to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. An ambitious hike of 2660 miles from the Mexico Border to the Canadian Border. This extraordinary hike confirmed my new found love of long distance hiking which worked perfectly with my love for nature and long distance cycling.
Upon completing the PCT I had a one week break then flew to San Francisco to continue cycling south to Mexico and beyond. Mexico has been another highlight of my journey, constantly surprising me with it’s friendliness and beauty. I experienced the stunning beauty of Baja Peninsula, unexpected meetings with the drug cartels in Copper Canyon, the nicest city I’ve visited in the Americas Zacatecas and the raw power of nature in the form of volcanoes such as Colima and cycling at 4200m on the frozen landscape of Nevada de Toluca.
Tasmania, Alaska, Canada, USA and Mexico has provided me with all and much more than I expected.
Have I changed?
As a person I have changed, but not much. I’m still that same ordinary person. I just choose to do extraordinary things, to not let my dreams be only dreams. My lack of material possessions has caused my life to be stress free and I live more in the moment rather than waiting for retirement or winning the lottery to do the things I really want to do.
Everything I need in life I carry with me on my bicycle, including all my lightweight hiking gear. I am happy. I am free. I love my life.
How do I fund my lifestyle?
I worked hard my whole life. I always spent less money than I earned. Read that again. I SPEND LESS MONEY THAN I EARN. I LIVE WITHIN MY MEANS. The extra money was invested wisely in property or on the stock market.
I own some property that pays me a small monthly rental income. It’s not enough to fund my travels but it partly funds some of it. I’m looking at sponsorship and writing to make up a surplus.
Donations are also welcome from any kind readers, there is a donation page on my website now. Thank you to all those that have already donated.
It will be a busy year for me. Life is short, get out there and live it.
Do you want to read my journey from the very start? Click here
Enjoy my short photographic summary of the last 2 years of my life.
Next : Exploring colorful Guanajuato
Bicycle Touring and Bikepacking Pages might like:
Bicycle Touring Gear List
Bicycle Touring Spares and Tool Kit
Cycling from Alaska to Argentina
Where to buy all the best gear for Bicycle Touring and Bikepacking:
| Competitive Cyclist |Amazon | REI |
| Campfire Cycling | | Snowys.com.au | MEC Canada |
Brad, first of all, congratulations on your 2 years of freedom and good luck on your upcoming hike! I see a lot of parallels between us and was hoping to ask a few questions. I was a tour guide for two years and then did law enforcement for six years; though now I work in an office. I have always dreamed I hiking the PCT and a few years ago, I set my sights on riding a bike around the world. I see that you fund some of your travels through a rental property. I have been up in the air about that concept for myself. I currently own a home but haven’t decided if I should sell it when I take the plunge to start the trip, or if I should just rent it out. My biggest concerns are being an absentee landlord 10,000 miles from the house and out of communication if something were to happen to the property. What are your thoughts on it; have you had any issues with your property while overseas and how did/would you be able to deal with it? Also, what if no one wants to rent your property, would you have to cut your travels short, or would you be able to sell the property while in a different country? Thanks again for all the great posts and pictures, they keep my motivated to keep saving for my trip!
-Sean
Firstly good luck on your future plans. Get out and live life. I am not the person to ask for financial advice or how to manage properties etc. But I will say that I don’t let the fact that I’m a long way from my properties bother me. If I were to be concerned then I would have sold them. I have appointed a property manager to look after things. They make all the decisions on my behalf. They are experts and I trust them. I teceive regular information on things that I need to know. Otherwise they don’t bother me with trivial crap.
I have no need to either be concerned or sell the place of things happen. If a tenant moves out they will advertise and screen prospective tenants. That’s already happened whole I’ve been on the road. No dramas, no stress.
Hope that helped. Just get out and do it.
Thanks for sharing your experience as a landlord. It gives me more confidence to keep my property once I get out there. I’ve been planning the trip now for a little over 2 years. Originally, I had planned on it taking about 20 years to save up for it, but I started cutting my expenses dramatically and I’m now more in line with hitting my goal at year 5ish, so about 3 more to go. I’m hoping to do this for the rest of my life and not just a for a few years, so I want to make sure I have a bit of any emergency fund build up in case something bad would happen to the house or if the stock market hits several bad years in a row. Thanks again for the information and good luck on the CDT, I’ll be following your travels for sure!
Of possible interest for you, my family has a cabin on the southern border of Glacier National Park in Montana just a few miles from the CDT. We are still working out a potential plan to head out there this summer at some point, so depending on when you would be out there, and if it coincides with when I would be out there, I’d gladly put you up, give you a shuttle for food, and share a beer. Obviously it’s too early now to pin down exactly when you’d get there now, but just thought I would give you something to consider.
I’ll be around the glacier area in September. If I’m smashing out the miles I’ll be there early September, if not, I’ll be there late September. Keep your eyes on the blog. Would be good to catch up.
Amazing pictures! You are living my dream…
I’m hiking the PCT this year and your blog has been a huge source of knowledge for me!
Thanks Charlie. Good luck with the PCT. If I can help in anyway, let me know. You’ll love the hike, it’s amazing.
I am planning on riding from states to rio for the olympics…are you heading that direction would be great to meetup :)
Hi John, keep in contact and let me know where you will be. I’ve got some crazy plans for 2016.
Great! You´re my hero!
I am humbled.
What a blessing to be able to live such an adventurous life! Congratulations on the 2-year anniversary. Out of all the hiking/adventure blogs I read, yours has become my favorite. I always look forward to your beautiful photographs and descriptions of your travels. Now I need to find the time to go back and read your blog from the beginning! Safe travels ~
Thanks Heather I shall try and stay safe. I think it might take a while if you started at the beginning.
I found your website when your first started your trek on the PCT and have followed every post of your amazing adventures..Of all the sites on the internet your adventures are the ones I look most forward to read…I am a retired police officer from Southern Calif and I would like to thank you for the police service you did in your country..I pray you are always safe in your travels….
Thanks Roy. From one ex-cop to another
Congratulations on the anniversary! Good luck on your journey – you sure are providing inspiration to me and I’m sure to countless others too!!!1one
Thank you I’m glad to inspire
What an amazing journey thus far, and many more amazing moments to come I’m sure! Thanks for taking the time to share with us!
Thanks Anna. Glad to share them, many more to come.
Unreal. I have enjoyed every post and every picture that I’ve seen in the time I’ve been following you. You are, to me, a hero. I am totally living vicariously through you right now. Wow, do I wish I could be with you.
Enjoy your travels, be safe, and God bless you, mate.
Mike M, Riverside, CA
Thanks Ian I am humbled by your comments. I shall try to stay safe and keep on keeping on.
and I was thinking that I was having a good time riding “Walk the Yorke” trail in South Australia then off to Victoria riding with some kayaking in between. You are having too much fun but keep it up anyway. Ian…PaddlingSouth
Any adventure is a great adventure. I would love to improve my kayaking skills in the future. Good luck.
I’ve been enjoying reading about your adventures since the PCT. Congrats on 2 years! I read your blog through an RSS reader, so I can see each new post immediately. Can you change the wordpress setting to show entire post in RSS, instead of just an excerpt? Thanks!
Thanks. I was asked this question a long time ago and found it was not possible on my WordPress.com site and only possible on WordPress.org. I’ll look into it again and see if things have changed.
Inspirational! Retiring early was one of my better decisions. It just seemed the right thing to do once I realized that I had “enough” to carry on. Have never looked back. Sharing your travels is very supportive. Thanks. Dave
Thanks Dave. Maybe the rest of the world will retire early and get outside and explore. What a much better life.
Stay strong out there!!
Thanks John, I will
You are certainly living the dream in my book! You are a wonderful inspiration, and your adventures seriously tempt me to follow a similar path!
Thanks Alison. You never know if you never try. You have the best job in the world to take a year off.
What a fine way to live. Thanks for the encouragement by sharing your journey and more.
Thank you Margaret, I’m very happy with my life.
I have enjoyed your blog since your started the PCT. Love your attitude toward the people you meet, nature, and your own life. Inspiring. Not to mention – great photos. Thank you so much for sharing.
Thank you for your kind words Donna.