Imagine that the you had just graduated from the University of Vienna and were at a celebratory dinner with lots of guests. Your home is in New York and the question comes up, “How are you getting home?”
Fly? That's pretty easy and convenient. Ship? Leisurely and relaxing after all the years of study. Maybe see a little of Europe before heading back to The States?
Robert Edison Fulton Jr's (REF) answer in 1932 was, “I am going to ride around the world on a motorcycle!”
When people think of motorcycle adventure books they most often focus on Jupiter's Travels by Ted Simon. It's a wonderful book that makes a mockery of any phony reality show. Ted was was the real Been There, Done That rider who went with what had when it was time to go. I met him once and he signed my copy. A fantastic and humble guy who tells it like it was with no punches pulled. A hell of a book!
REF's book is no less fascinating. He heads out from London and tours through the middle east and Asia on his way home. Some of the photos he took are straight out of Lawrence of Arabia.
Names like Kabul and Kandahar fill the pages of the book, familiar to us now in the daily news, but foreign and exotic back then. Bombay, Malaysia, and China are points along the way. All on a two cylinder Douglas motorcycle that was overloaded to the max.
The book is One Man Caravan and I highly recommend it while we are cooped up and locked down. It's out of print and either unavailable at the usual second hand book sellers or outrageously priced. However, there is a Kindle edition for $11 that is more affordable. I should obviously take better care of my edition.
Note – Although REF has passed away his son still has the motorcycle and it resides in Colorado. My friend Linda knows him and he has promised to show me the bike and talk about his dad. I'll share all that when I visit him this summer.
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