Jupiters Travels: Four Years Around the World on a Triumph Paperback – March 22, 2005

I don't care if you get it out of the library, borrow it, or whatever, you should read this book. This book should be on everyone's "bucket list."I just finished rereading it for the nth time and I was just as moved, amazed, and thrilled by the journey (and the good writing) as the first time I read it. I know how the story ends; but I just want to keep on reading and reading and reading.I rode a bicycle around the world for over two years. Ted Simon captures the feelings of long-distance, long-time traveling like no one else I've ever read (although there are some other great books out there, see below). The thrill of departure, the shock of the new, the wariness of the unsupported traveler in a strange place, the difficulties of language and even alphabet, the fear, the exhaustion, the new-place fatigue, the need to just lie down sometimes, the misery of illness (though he was very lucky there), the numinous joy of the great places and views of the world (sometimes even the most ordinary places), the pleasure in seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting new things, the joy of finding your fellow humans all around the world to be very much like you and enjoyable to meet and know, the incredible education that travel gives you, the powerfully ambivalent feelings of the end of the journey and the return to home-place, never again able to see the world as you once had. The difficult re-birth into the old routines and requirements of your life. His story, especially his description of the end of the journey gives me goosebumps and re-awakens powerful memories of my own journey. As the cliche goes (it's a cliche because it's true) you can never step into the same river twice. The closest you can come is to take someone else to the river and watch them swim.This book has lost nothing and it never will. It touches the universals of human experience found in travel. We evolved as wandering apes on the plain. It's basic to our bodily fiber.Very little navel gazing in this book and what little there is is actually worth reading, unlike nearly all travel books I read that were written since Jupiter's Travels.A true classic. And not the kind you feel obligated to read; but the kind you can't put down. One of the truest books I've ever read. Enjoy.Some other excellent books about long-distance travel that I highly recommend:Seven Years in TibetFull Tilt: Ireland to India with a BicycleOne Man Caravan ("Incredible Journeys" Books)News from TartaryCanoeing with the CreeSailing Alone Around the WorldTwo Years Before the Mast (Signet Classics)Arabian Sands (Penguin Classics)The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons (Penguin Classics)

This was a captivating book to read. There wasn't a dull moment within Mr. Simon's adventures around the world. My only heartbreak was that towards the very end of the book, the pages started coming apart. Binding aside, I do recommend this book.

I'm about 25% through it. I'm thoroughly enjoying the book. I ride a BMW GS myself in backcountry and less-traveled roads, although I've not and may never do anything close to what the author did. This book a great story and provides wonderful insight into a fantastic journey. It's not just a recount of a journey. It's also about what he thought, what he enjoyed, what he feared, what he learned. The photos aren't great, as just black and white and not great quality. But they still add a lot to the story, showing you important events along the way. Just to say it's not a coffee table photo book about the journey.The book I think will also open your eyes to just how much there is to learn by getting out into the world and seeing and experiencing how others live, and how that might affect you personally.The information in the book is dated in as far as the world has changed since his journey. But if you're considering any similar journey, I think this book is a definite read for you as it gives insight into just how many surprises you will probably face. What you will face today is different, but the character of his journey is still I think entirely relevant.If you enjoy this, you will also enjoy the Long Way Round DVDs highlighting the trip that Ewan McGregor took (get the long version if you can find it). Both are not to be missed.This is a great book to read sitting by the fire on a cold winter night when you can't ride and want to get away in your mind to some fantastic and far-away places.

This book was a bucket list item for me (reading the book not doing the trip) I must say I am a bit disappointed. The book starts strong with an eloquent and stimulating writing style, i couldn't help myself quoting his lines, but, after 20000 miles or so, it falls apart, like an old Triumph. I'm not going to give specifics, but toward the end I felt like I was reading a tame but equally fragmented version of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I must say however, that making a similar journey is now on my list, if only to give a different perspective.The information is good enough, but of-course dated. If your looking for a "how too" on adventure riding, skip this one and buy something more modern and level headed. If you are looking for a travel log of the road to insanity, maybe you should pick this one up.Please don't get me wrong, it is a good book, and I see why he is considered the Father of adventure riding, however it seems that he lost the trail somewhere after California, and rode a flat tire (or maybe a broken heart?) the rest of the way.Riding the world with a sense of humility, and awe is honorable, Riding the world with a sense of guilt and shame and letting it drive you mad, is delusional.Just my .02, You may love it and you won't know until you ride it through to the end.