Description

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"Well, now I'm committed," he thought to himself after telling a national TV game show audience that he wanted to ride a motorcycle to Mongolia with his winnings. He felt the fear that commitment always induced in him; he was hoping they might have edited that bit out. Commitments are something he tried to get as far away from as possible, the only other constants in his life being twenty-five years of financial prudence, travel and motorcycle obsession. So there he was, committed to going very, very far on a motorcycle with his meagre prize money. Consequently he spent a winter on eBay and a spring in the garage preparing his $1000 KLR 650 for an uncertain life on the road. Armed with a cynical humour, a strong sense of direction, a vague sense of balance, and no sense of proportion, he embarked on a 15,000 mile solo motorcycle ride to see what would break first; bike, body, or budget. Leaving an indifferent existence in England behind he headed east, looking for purpose, a new life, and a new location to live it. He was in search of greener grass.

About the Author

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Author and travel writer Graham Field was "born at a very early age, and independent travel begun shortly after he learned to crawl." During obligatory but inadequate schooling he spent the majority of his time looking out of the window and escaping into his favourite daydream--the freedom of the road. Making restless dreams become a reality has been his single-minded talent. Graham's life of travel really started with his first motorbike, obtained way before he was old enough to have a licence. By the age of eighteen he was living in the US, working in construction, in strip clubs, and riding a 1960 Harley-Davidson. In 1990, he set off around the world with a backpack, and this was followed by challenging solo cycling trips in India and China. For over a quarter of a century, Graham has had three constants in his life: motorcycles, travel, and diary keeping. He appeared on a national TV game show, where he announced he would use his modest winnings to ride to Mongolia. This was when all three of his obsessions came together. On a thousand-dollar KLR 650, he rode 15,000 miles east from his home in the UK--105 days on a $7,500 budget. This journey, the people met, the challenges, and the startling contrasts of both the cultures and landscapes became the subject of his hugely popular and inspirational diary-format book, In Search of Greener Grass. A few years later, his KLR, with the same budget, distance, and time-frame, took him to Iraq and Azerbaijan. A "eureka moment" occurred during this journey, and that epiphany became the topic of his enthralling second book, Ureka. His third book, Different Natures, takes the reader on earlier motorcycle trips from the Alaskan Arctic Circle to southern Mexico. Delving into diaries packed with tales of naivety, and at times eyebrow-raising debauchery, the reader soon discovers that Graham's mantra is "You never lie to your diary." Graham writes regularly for Overland Magazine. His articles and columns are published in British national papers and motorcycle publications in both Europe and North America. His presentations are widely regarded as some of the funniest in the genre, and in radio interviews he is well known for his passion for travel and his off-the-cuff comments, which both challenge and amuse. He makes regular contributions to Adventure Bike TV, where he was nominated as "most inspirational adventurer." Graham has a residency on Adventure Rider Radio, alongside travel writers Brian and Shirley Hardy-Rix, Grant Johnson of Horizons Unlimited, and myself. He currently lives in Bulgaria, with a variety of iconic motorcycles, a cluster of KLRs, and some gold-digging cats. --Sam Manicom Sam is the author of a four-book series (Into Africa, Under Asian Skies, Distant Suns, and Tortillas to Totems) about his eight-year journey around the world by motorcycle.