Derek is writing about his adventures on his website NoHangingAround.com. So far, his journey has taken him north through South Africa, into Namibia and Botswana, and on to Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania. Soon he'll cross over into Kenya, where is route will then lead to Ethiopia, Sudan, and eventually Egypt. His blog posts are often funny, insightful, and truly engaging, giving readers a real sense of what he is experiencing has he travels.
Africa is certainly not a place for everyone, but for those who love it, it truly gets into your soul. It can be a tough place to visit, and at times it can be a difficult, harsh environment, but the people that live there are resilient, the landscapes are beautiful, and the wildlife is unmatched anywhere else on the planet. It seems that our intrepid cyclist has been experiencing similar things on his personal journey across the continent.
Derek's story is a good one for a lot of reasons, but it truly struck a chord with me when he wrote the following on his website:
"In late 2013, I made a decision. I wasn’t happy with work, my social life was average, I felt I wasn’t growing or doing what I really wanted to do. I genuinely thought if there was any real meaning to life, it had to be out there to experience but I needed to “go out there” first in order to find out."Many of us have been in a similar situation. Lost in our lives, looking for something to put a spark back into it. A truly great adventure – whatever that might mean to you – can certainly help to put you back on track. It was with that in mind that Derek hit the road, and he has been traveling ever since. That spirit shines through in the video that he posted to YouTube a few months back, and I've embedded below. It is a clip that will get you motivated to go out and pursue your own dreams, and to seek an adventure as well. There is certainly a good message in that.