Around the world on £1

At a time when money matters and problems seem to be dominating much of the news, the story of Keiichi Iwasaki is inspiring. Eight years ago he left his home town, and his father’s air-conditioning business, and has not been back since. Starting out cycling round Japan, he was bitten by the travelling bug, caught a ferry to South Korea, and has now covered 37 countries on his Raleigh Hopper bicycle. In case the story itself wasn’t good enough he has done all this having left home with the equivalent of just £1 in his pocket. Cycling the world on a whim, funding the trip by street performing? Tell me that isn’t a good story.

The sheer brilliance of Keiichi’s story lies in the fact that not only is it inspiring, but it’s achievable. It’s all very well being inspired by the story of a soldier returning to the front line following horrific injury, but most of us will not be in that position. However we can all take a moment to try what Keiichi Iwasaki has done. The world is becoming more and more accessible these days, and more and more people are setting out to see it. However it’s not hard to imagine that many people are put off travelling the world by the cost of it. A round the world plane ticket will set you back around £1800 and that’s before you’ve even got money to live off. This is where Keiichi’s story becomes even better; if he can do it, so can you! Sure it’s hard work, he performs on streets to fund his trip, and has done the whole thing by bike, but why do what everyone else does? There are hostels aplenty round the world where work can be found to fund a trip, and there is a real joy to making it up as you go along.

In many ways there has never been a better time to travel. My girlfriend was recently advised by her bank to temp to make some money, go travelling, and come back when the recession has died and there are jobs again. And who are we to ignore the advice of bankers?!

The world needs more people like Keiichi Iwasaki. As he said himself “dreams can come true if you have a strong will.” The realism with which he has gone about his trip is equally brilliant. Clearly living out his dream, Keiichi is honest about the hardships he has faced on his trip. He is currently on his fifth bicycle, having had two stolen and two break. Along the way through the 37 countries he has visited he has been robbed by pirates, attacked by a rabid dog in Nepal, and been arrested in India. However he has also become the first Japanese man to climb Everest, swum in the Ganges, narrowly escaped marriage in Nepal, and is currently trying to climb Mont Blanc. How many other people can say that?

Any of you who have travelled, or taken the opportunity of a lifetime, know that it is the complete experience which makes it. You feel enriched by the whole experience, both good and bad. This is what makes this story so inspiring for us. Keiichi Iwasaki has gone all out to fulfil his dream of travelling. He travels by bike because he wants to “see and feel everything with [his] own skin.” In the tradition of the storybook hero who goes to find himself, he left home with the proverbial napkin and stick on his back, and has enjoyed experiences most of us just imagine. But as his story proves, the only reason we are just imagining them is that we haven’t bothered to go out and live them. If one man can leave home with £1 and a bike and see the world, then there’s no reason why everyone else can’t too.

But if you do decide that travelling the world is not for you, then keep an eye out for the book Mr. Iwasaki wants to publish when he gets home. It will probably be an Odyssey for our time. Only slightly fewer mythological creatures, and a story the readers can actually live themselves!