The circumstances and events leading up to Luke embarking on this journey of his are incredibly rare and can’t help but leave you feeling angry at the unfairness of the world. But do I feel sorry for Luke himself? Absolutely not. I feel sorry for all the people out there sleepwalking through life without ever shooting for their dreams. Those who never push themselves to take a risk, or even take the time to ask themselves what their dreams are.

I feel sorry for the passive amongst us who believe that the course of their life is out of their hands and beyond their control. Because it never is, even in the most difficult of circumstances.

We do not have to drift through the river currents of life, and we have far more autonomy and control than I would like to admit to myself. I could live to 105 and never have the adventure, excitement, human connections, and impact that Luke has already made. For me, the trip has left me reflecting on how important it is to get out there and live your life now and in the moment. I don’t need to wait until I feel my time is running out to pursue the life and person I want to be. Whether it’s performing my first gig, walking the Camino de Santiago, quitting my job, learning Spanish, painting more artwork or being brave enough to cycle around Bangladesh with somebody else at the handlebars. They can say it all sounds crazy; they can say you’ve lost your mind, but a dream is all it takes.   

Want to write a book? Get up early and journal everyday.

Want to learn a language? Then practice everyday.

Want to cycle across the world? Then get on a bike and start cycling.

Even over just a few short days Luke has shown me that reaching for your goals requires determination, resilience, strength of character and hard work. In short, it doesn’t seem easy and I wouldn’t like to pretend that it is, even from just observing this very short chapter on the tandem. I’m left feeling that taking responsibility for the progress I have made towards my dreams means also taking a long hard look in the mirror at yourself and your habits and daily choices.

The word inspiring is often thrown around when it comes to Luke’s story. Do I personally feel inspired to get a tandem and cycle all the way across the world? Absolutely not. Do I feel inspired to focus on the things that are truly important and make me happy? Yes absolutely. I love to sing and feel inspired to pursue my passion in a disciplined way rather than just hoping it’ll happen– practice every day, hang out with people with the same enthusiasm and throw yourself up on stage and out of your comfort zone. Now that I’ve put it out here on the page for anybody reading to see please hold me to account on this one. Life brings people onto your path for a reason, and the privilege of hanging out with Luke and Chris for a few days has been a pretty special and unique one.  

There is inspiration all around you if you can just slow down long enough to see it, and even on this short trip the people we met were wonderful in so many glorious dimensions:

1.       Neda’s parents who were so determined to give their daughter a good education they built an entire school for her which they still run today in Sylhet and dedicate every spare hour to educating the next generation.

2.       Afrida who is so determined to get a better education she’s planning to move to Germany alone and pursue a masters despite having never left Bangladesh before

3.       Jewel who is so passionate about supporting young lives with Cancer that’s he’s dedicated his life to World Child Cancer Trust and their work.

The challenge of obtaining a Chinese visa in the current covid-19 climate is huge. Chinese citizens living out here in Bangladesh are struggling to be able to return home, let alone foreigners with strange bicycles. As an engineer, I’m used to working on mega £100m+ projects where everything that can go wrong does go wrong. However, in construction there’s a whole team around you and you’re never left picking yourself back up again alone. Luke’s challenge seems a far lonelier road, and one that I hugely respect but don’t envy all the hobnobbing[1] around and repeatedly refusing to take no for an answer.

However, I’m left with no doubt in my mind that Luke will make it to Beijing. I also have no doubt he’ll drive so many more people to be greater and more resilient versions of themselves along the way. Luke is living with an intensity that I’ve not come across before. We all have a purpose and dream in life. Luke has the clarity of vision to know what that is for him. If you’re reading this, I wish that same clarity of vision for you also.

Luke’s formula for living life to the full:

1.       Clarity of vision. Know what you want and define it.

2.       Identify what habits you need to get there

3.       Repeat every damn day

4.       Don’t take no for an answer

[1] aka working really hard without getting paid