A Septuagenarian OdysseySimon Gandolfi has never been one to grow old gracefully and following two heart attacks he decides not to rest up, as many might, but to ride the length of Hispanic America on a 125cc motorbike. And why not?His wife may have plenty of reasons why not, but used to the intrepid septuagenarian's determination to complete any plan he comes up with, she shrugs her shoulders and waves him goodbye.At 73 years old, Simon Gandolfi sets off from Verac...

In the early 1960s, travel-writer Simon Gandolfi drove a VW from England to Goa where he rented a bungalow on the beach at Calangute. And it was on Calangute beach that Gandolfi met and loved Vanessa and explored with her much of the subcontinent. The 2008 terrorist attack on the Taj Hotel in Mumbai prompted Gandolfi to re-explore the subcontinent on a small motorcycle. Collecting a Honda 125 from the factory outside Delhi, he rode for six months and 12,000 kilometres. He rediscovers the r...

This epic exploration of thirteen countries takes Gandolfi across desert and over mountains, through the Amazon forest and the length of the Appalachians. Guide books may warn of thieves, bandits, corrupt police and border officials; Gandolfi writes of the remarkable kindness and generosity he encounters. Courtesy, patience and good humour are his passports while hurry is his anathema. Whether in village or city, his joy is in leisurely conversation. Gauchos, oil workers, peasant farmers, ...

Outrageously irresponsible and undeniably liberating, Simon Gandolfi's OLD MAN ON A BIKE will fire the imaginations of every traveller, young or old.At 73 years old, Simon Gandolfi sets off from Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico to embark on a five and a half month journey culminating at 'the end of the world', Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego. For Simon this is a journey of discovery. Leaving behind the safety and sanctuary of friends and family, he is truly alone but along the way he mee...

One minute you're relaxing by the pool in a luxury Thai resort and the next you're a gringo with a donkey on an isolated island off Brazil!When Tony and his wife Sue were caught in the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami that devastated hundreds of thousands of lives, they wanted more than to return to the rat race of suburban life, they wanted to 'live the dream'. After careful consideration, or possibly in a moment of insanity, they decided that the dream was to run a guest house on a remote...

Fat, 59, fortified daily by red wine and challenged by my husband, I start a mildly epic adventure. This book is part autobiography, part travel guide, an honest but tongue in cheek record of my Camino. It lists distances, places to stay and to avoid, what to take, degree of difficulty and ultimately proves anybody can do it.I want to inspire you to take the first step on your own adventure.

Remember when you were a kid and you got your first bicycle? After a few weeks of mastering the dynamics of balancing, steering, and pedaling, all at the same time hopefully, your father released his protective, steadying grip on the seat and you went wobbling off on your own. It was probably your very first taste of independence and freedom and you knew you liked that feeling very much. Few things in life have ever compared to that first solo ride.Almost 40 years after my first so...

‘At 16,500 miles it was the world’s longest road: a road on which travellers faced being kidnapped and murdered by Colombian drug barons, buried under Peruvian avalanches, drowned by the Guatemalan rainy season, fleeced by eight-year-old Ecuadorean border touts, driven mad by blackflies in the Yukon, eaten by Alaskan grizzlies and, worst of all, limited to a glass of Chardonnay a day in California. The Pan-American Highway.It sounded brilliant.The next day, I went out to bu...

Ted Simon is the author of the classic travel book JUPITER'S TRAVELS. It documents his four-year journey round the world by motorbike, travelling through Europe, Africa, South and North America, and Asia. A number one bestseller in the late 1970s, it is still regarded as one of the greatest motorcycle books - indeed, one of the greatest travel books - ever written.In 2001, at the age of 69, Ted Simon decided to retrace his journey, and DREAMING OF JUPITER is the result. It took him ...

Michael Palin's terrific account of his journey through 18 countries bordering the Pacific Ocean, published by Phoenix for the first time.For almost a year, Michael Palin travelled through 18 countries on the perimeter of the world's largest ocean, in a spectacular journey of contrasts, drama and beauty.From head-hunters in Borneo to a meal of maggots in Mexico, his route takes him to some of the most politically volatile and physically demanding places on ...

Michael Palin, the No.1 bestselling author, explores an exotic country that is now a global superpower.Brazil is one of the four new global super powers with its vast natural resources and burgeoning industries. Half a continent in size and a potent mix of races, religions and cultures, of unexplored wildernesses and bustling modern cities, it is also one of the few countries Michael Palin has never fully travelled. His timely book and series take a closer look at ...

Guy Thatcher walked the Camino de Santiago, an ancient pilgrimage route, hoping to discover the reason for the compulsion that drove him there. What he found instead was the timeless land of northern Spain, beauty, silence, mountains and plains, rain and relentless sun, snow in May, heartbreaking climbs, fatigue and injury; friendly and welcoming people, new friendships, despair, transcendental joy, birth and death, and churros con chocolate. He came away with the renewal of his belief in ...