Elspeth Beard - in 1982 at age 22 Elspeth set off on a solo motorbike trip around the world! Taking 2.5 years, covering a distance of 48,000 miles!

In 1982 at age 22 Elspeth set off on a solo motorbike trip around the world. The journey took her 2.5 years and she covered a distance of 48,000 miles taking in the sites of North America, Australasia, Asia & Europe. 

 

This was all done in the age before mobile phones and internet. During her travels Elspeth rode through post-revolutionary Iran during the war with Iraq. She survived life threatening illnesses and numerous accidents. She witnessed civil uprisings that delayed her journey and forced her to fake documents to cross brokers.

 

This is one hell of a story not to be missed!

 

Show notes

 

• How would Elspeth introduce herself
• Understanding more about her childhood
• Being encouraged to explore and push the boundaries
• Going to boarding school at a young age and being expelled at 16
• How she found her love of motorcycles
• Buying her first bike and understanding the travel potential of having a motorbike
• Doing what she wanted to do
• Going on a 10 week trip with her brother, riding across America
• What she feels when she rides her bike and why she loves it
• Finding out in 2006 that she was the first woman to ride around the world
• Having a painful breakup, feeling lost and needing a distraction
• Working in a pub to save £2,500 for her round the world trip
• Feeling nervous and not having a clue what she was doing
• The challenge of the unknown and why she liked it
• What her friends were saying when she told people about her trip
• The fears she had to deal with before she left
• Highlights from America and why she loved New Orleans
• Flying to Hawaii and then on to New Zealand hitchhiking around the North & South Island
• Arriving in Sydney with $50 in her pocket
• Having nothing to fall back on and having to rely on herself
• Her trip around Australia and heading over to Asia
• Feeling separate from other travellers and never feeling like she belonged
• Going for weeks without speaking English
• Being followed and started at while travelling around India
• Crossing the borders into Iran and Pakistan
• Getting Hepatitis 
• Coping with the stress of daily travel and the, not knowing what was going to happen next
• Being ready to head home and the reality of getting back to London
• What happened with Robert after they came back to the UK
• Why you should just go on that trip and do that challenge

 

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