by Fraser | Jul 17, 2016 | Cycling around the world, Evolving, Learning
I had been in Ho Chi Minh City for five months when riding my motorbike home along the river that evening, with a smile from ear-to-ear, I felt for the first time like an integrated part of the city. I had become part of the hustle, the smells, the culture, the beat,...
by Fraser | May 20, 2015 | Doing, Learning
Arriving in a foreign city in search of work in a profession in which I had no previous experience was beginning to feel as stupid as it sounded. Everything seemed so absolutely certain while drifting along the dusty tracks of Cambodia, high on endorphins. Fast...
by Fraser | Jan 29, 2015 | Cycling around the world
I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City with Stewart, a friend of Nicola who is a friend of Jenny, the sister of my friend, Ali. A tenuous connection at best. I must also mention that Ali’s daughter, Kate, recently raised a very impressive 61 pounds for Room to Read selling...
by Fraser | Dec 29, 2014 | Cycling around the world
The time to reflect on the year gone by and plan for the next is upon us once more. Each year I like to consciously recognise what went well, what didn’t, and to identify the differences that made THE difference between the two. You can see the full process I...
by Fraser | Dec 5, 2014 | Evolving, Learning
Looking back over the last sixteen months on the road, one aspect of using a bicycle to travel 12,600 miles through twenty-one countries stands out above all others: struggle. In a world where we are constantly marketed products and services to make our lives easier,...
by Fraser | Nov 22, 2014 | Cycling around the world, Doing, Learning
Cries of ‘SABAIDEEEEEEEE!!!!’ (Hello in Laotian) pelted me from nooks and crannies of every roadside village from Vientiane Cambodia. If I happened to pass a school at break-time entire schools would fire off shouts of ‘SABAIDEEEEEEEE!!!!’...
by Fraser | Nov 3, 2014 | Cycling around the world, Doing, Learning
Exiting Myanmar proved to be more difficult than entering. The border into Thailand at Myawaddy was deserted and inaccessible amidst gun fights between the Myanmar government and a Buddhist organisation. ‘Gun fighting Buddhists?’ I said to the Australia...
by Fraser | Oct 17, 2014 | Cycling around the world, Evolving, Learning
The sweat was falling from every pore like Niagara falls. My head was pounding as if trapped in a vice with Dave Grohl playing the drums on the tightening screw. But I was freezing cold, and hurting. A lot. The seconds ticked past forlornly. Every. Single. One. Maybe...
by Fraser | Oct 6, 2014 | Cycling around the world, Doing, Evolving, Learning
It struck me that it’s not only when cycling that, metaphorically speaking, sometimes our wheels stop rolling. Things we normally do without a great deal of conscious effort suddenly consume our every waking moment. A problem at work escalates from an...
by Fraser | Sep 30, 2014 | Cycling around the world, Evolving, Learning
Cycling through north east India was a very different experience to that of central India. The region was connected to the mainland by a slither of land between Nepal and Bangladesh just fourteen miles wide. Separated into nine different states, each one with...