Hi, I'm Jon
I'm 22, I finished studying geography at university in June 2007, and now I'm working in London. I've always liked traveling and exploring, and my favourite activity used to be going to my local bookshop in my hometown of Carlisle, getting a drink in the cafe and reading travel biographies cover to cover before putting them back on the shelf (sorry). To me they are the perfect stories, of real places and real people doing real things in the real world, and more importantly, an adventure I could immerse myself in. I was fortunate one day to pick up Anne Mustoe's book "A Bike Ride". I read it straight through over many mugs of hot chocolate, and was so enthralled I then made a rare purchase. From that moment on, probably sometime in 2004ish, I've dreamed of cycling around the world, but always had some commitment I had to fulfill, or not enough money, or both.
Then in July 2007, I realised that all my long term commitments were ending in exactly a year with nothing following, and at the same time I was starting to get tired of living in London and the UK in general. The time seemed perfect to make the trip. As I've said, it was either now, or my mid-life crisis in 20-odd years, or when I retire in 40-odd years, and I'm impatient! So I set a date in July 2008, added a time to make it seem more official, and started planning.
