Dreaming of road trips

So Rocky is currently having an engine transplant down in Devon (expect a blog post about that very soon), and meanwhile i’m fuelling my dreams of summer roadtrips by reading Dreaming of Jupiter, by Ted Simon. This, book about a round the world motorcycle trip is actually a follow-up to Jupiters Travels about his original round the world trip in 1973 at the age of 42. This time he does it again at the age of 70!

Both books are addictive if you enjoy reading about travel, and I also like how it helps me keep things in perspective – the most challenging thing that’s happened to me on my various campervan travels is breaking down at roundabouts, garage forecourts and peoples’ driveways. In the chapter of Dreaming of Jupiter, Ted describes falling off and breaking his leg on a remote road in Africa. After a bit of panic, he simply accepts his fate and lies in the mud at the side of the road, waiting for either help to arrive, or to die (spoiler: help arrived. Of course you already knew that, or he wouldn’t have been able to complete the book!).

If you are interested, definitely read the first book first – it’s not essential, but the second book refers back to the first as he revisits certain people and places.