Years back I read a number of books by people who walked or biked around the world. Thoughts (these are from memory long ago):
Dave Kunst [1] [2]: Possibly the first person to walk around the world in the early '70s. His book was a slog and he came across as a bitter and dark person. I didn't like being in his head at all. Examples: he enjoyed when people tried to walk with him and they found it difficult to keep up. He was married I think at the start of the walk, and just told his wife/partner: I'm leaving to walk around the world, deal with it. He walked for UNICEF, but in the book it was phrased as something like: I knew I'd never be able to afford the trip, so getting a sponsor was the best way forward.
Barbara Savage [3]: Biked around the world with her husband in the '70s. They saved to buy a house, but decided to bike the world instead. They were pretty competent but had their fair share of incidents. An enjoyable trip with fun people.
Lloyd Sumner [4]: The king of crazy experiences. He rode a bike around the world in the early '70s. He started off from the American south on a Schwinn with a couple hundred dollars in his pocket and a vague plan. He stopped to lecture on generating computer art with school mainframes when he ran out of money, got chased by an ostrich, almost married by accident, stranded on an island after a shipwreck, and more. An absolute delight.
There are two others that I can't remember/find now: a group of young men bicycled long distance in the '80s but didn't think to have fat tires or a light load: one of them packed a portable typewriter, another a full camera kit with many lenses. They carried over 100 pounds of gear on skinny tires and got something like 20 flats per day at times.
And a guy walked around the world in the '80s, all I remember is that he didn't pack well for the journey from France into Spain and almost froze in the Pyrenees.
Dave Kunst [1] [2]: Possibly the first person to walk around the world in the early '70s. His book was a slog and he came across as a bitter and dark person. I didn't like being in his head at all. Examples: he enjoyed when people tried to walk with him and they found it difficult to keep up. He was married I think at the start of the walk, and just told his wife/partner: I'm leaving to walk around the world, deal with it. He walked for UNICEF, but in the book it was phrased as something like: I knew I'd never be able to afford the trip, so getting a sponsor was the best way forward.
Barbara Savage [3]: Biked around the world with her husband in the '70s. They saved to buy a house, but decided to bike the world instead. They were pretty competent but had their fair share of incidents. An enjoyable trip with fun people.
Lloyd Sumner [4]: The king of crazy experiences. He rode a bike around the world in the early '70s. He started off from the American south on a Schwinn with a couple hundred dollars in his pocket and a vague plan. He stopped to lecture on generating computer art with school mainframes when he ran out of money, got chased by an ostrich, almost married by accident, stranded on an island after a shipwreck, and more. An absolute delight.
There are two others that I can't remember/find now: a group of young men bicycled long distance in the '80s but didn't think to have fat tires or a light load: one of them packed a portable typewriter, another a full camera kit with many lenses. They carried over 100 pounds of gear on skinny tires and got something like 20 flats per day at times.
And a guy walked around the world in the '80s, all I remember is that he didn't pack well for the journey from France into Spain and almost froze in the Pyrenees.
1. https://www.amazon.com/man-who-walked-around-world/dp/068803... 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Kunst 3. https://www.amazon.com/Miles-Nowhere-Round-Bicycle-Adventure... 4. https://www.amazon.com/long-ride-Lloyd-Sumner/dp/0811709523