“Well, now I’m committed,” he thought to himself after telling a national TV game show audience that he wanted to ride a motorcycle to Mongolia with his winnings. He felt the fear that commitment always induced in him; he was hoping they might have edited that bit out. Commitments are something he tried to get as far away from as possible, the only other constants in his life being twenty-five years of financial prudence, travel and motorcycle obsession.

So there he was, committed to going very, very far on a motorcycle with his meagre prize money. Consequently he spent a winter on eBay and a spring in the garage preparing his $1000 KLR 650 for an uncertain life on the road. Armed with a cynical humour, a strong sense of direction, a vague sense of balance, and no sense of proportion, he embarked on a 15,000 mile solo motorcycle ride to see what would break first; bike, body, or budget. Leaving an indifferent existence in England behind he headed east, looking for purpose, a new life, and a new location to live it. He was in search of greener grass.