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SAM MANICOM - AUTHOR INTERVIEW 'UNDER ASIAN SKIES'
Following on from reviewing Sam Manicom’s books Into Africa and Under Asian Skies, Bikersweb reviewer Ezri has managed to pin down the author, just before he sets off for the NEC,to ask him some questions.
1)What made you decide to write about your travel adventures?
A real collection of things actually. The idea kicked off when I was stuck in Delhi, for what felt like a mini lifetime. I was trying to get a visa to ride through Iran, and being treated to the usual run around. Every day I went to the Embassy I was invited to come back tomorrow, or the following week. This meant that I had time on my hands, which in a way, when you’ve been on the road and moving for a long period, is a nice feeling. You do need that to balance out the frustration though.
It was also the issue that I’d become increasingly conscious of how lucky I was to be able to be out on the roads of the world. It was sheer fluke that I’d got to a time in life when I could get the money together to go traveling, and didn’t have any responsibilities. People often say to me that I’m lucky and they wish they could go too. In the early days, well a bit of ignorance and arrogance combined, I used to think – make the same sacrifices and anyone can do it. Of course that’s not true. People do have responsibilities and the vast majority of the time they do stop people from doing a big long trip.
With time on my hands I decided that this was the moment to have a go at writing articles for magazines, so I could share the fun with those who weren’t as lucky as I was. I’d no idea if I could write and in fact I only managed to get a Grade 4 CSE in English at school, so it was a bit of a gamble. But that in a way is what much of being an overlander is all about. You have an idea, you do your best to make it happen and you either fall off in some way, or you have a great time.
Happily, I really enjoyed writing and Motorcycle Sport and Leisure liked my articles. During the next years of travel I wrote on a freelance basis for quite a few magazines and newspapers in various places around the world. That in itself was an adventure, and a learning curve. BALUCHISTAN SPEED BREAK
My first book ‘Into Africa’ came about because readers were writing in to MSL and asking when I was going to write one.
To my delight, ‘Into Africa’ hasn’t had a bad review yet and people started to ask me when I was going to write another one. So I knuckled down and wrote ‘Under Asian Skies’. It’s been hard in a way, because how does one top a first effort that works?
2)Was the reality of travelling long distance on two wheels anything like you had imagined it might be?
No, not at all. It was vastly better. I back packed a bit when I was in my 20s and I have to say that putting your luggage on a bike is a much better deal than carrying a rucksack! But seriously, the freedom a bike gives you is a wonderful thing. One of the things that used to frustrate me about backpacking was being stuck on a bus and blatting past something that looked interesting. On a bike, no problem. I could be in control of my day and I could explore as much as I liked, virtually when I liked. In part that’s why I clocked up 200,000 miles and took 8 years to get round the world.
Another thing that’s absolutely brilliant is that a bike acts as a superb ‘ice-breaker’ between you and other people. I can’t count the number of times when the bike acted as a conversation starter and a new adventure would roll out as a result.
Overlanding by bike also gets you into places and involved in situations you never would have dreamt of – some really bad, but mostly fascinating and fun.
3)Before starting out for Africa you decided to use the trip to raise money for charities both in Africa and in the UK. How much money did you raise in the end?
£3,000. Not too bad an effort I thought, when bearing in mind that the whole idea from start to the Sahara took just 3 months. The key was the enthusiasm of the people that helped me to organize the fund-raising, and collected the money after I’d made it to Cape Town.
Not only them though, the people who stumped up their pennies were great. A lot of them were children you know. The kids were so alert and hungry to be involved; it was an absolute pleasure to meet them. I guess they enjoyed the fact that the way the sponsorship was run was on a country by country basis. Each country I managed to make it across meant a little more loot in the pot. One of the kids was certain that I was only going to make it through one country, so he put up all his pocket money! 14 countries later he must have been totally broke – but the charities, Children in Need and Mission Aviation Fellowship would have been pleased.
4)What surprised you the most along the way?
Got an hour for me to answer that? Loads of surprises, but the biggest were how open hearted and kind people in our world are, how welcoming they were to a stranger to their land and how hungry they were for information about what was happening outside of their own borders.
I’d never really understood what being a big land meant. I’ve stood in places where I could have shouted at the top of my voice for hours and no one would have heard a thing. The peace in those places is simply stunning and you feel quite insignificant in one way, but also though small, very much a part of where you are.
One of the major surprises came from discovering that I actually liked riding a bike – I really wasn’t sure when I set off and I hadn’t clicked on the things that all bikers know and appreciate. The being involved with the environment, because all your senses are firing on full power. Sight, sound, smell and touch are very much bike enhanced sets of pleasures aren’t they?
I guess that I’m also surprised that I’m still alive. In real terms I have no right to be.
 DINNER IN UGANDA
Some people never do settle down from a big trip I think, and I’m certain that I won’t. I’ve had a taste and there’s so much more out there to explore. There are so many more experiences to have. In the mean time, though my feet ‘itch’ I’m doing really well.
There are a few reasons for that. I’d changed a lot over the eight years, and coming back to the UK after all that time meant that I was seeing it with a new set of eyes. But the UK had changed a lot during the years and the two combined meant that I was simply adding another country onto the end of the trip – a sort of bonus. It also helped that my girlfriend Birgit had never lived in the UK, so I’ve been exploring all sorts of amazing places on our own doorstep. It’s funny, I think I know my way around Kenya better than I do England!
6)What are your best and worst experiences?
This is another one that’s really hard to answer, because there are so many ‘best’ experiences. Let’s start with the worst. Hitting a man in Tanzania, and amputating his leg in the accident was awful. Being in jail shortly after and only just escaping being raped, is a situation that will never leave my mind. The 17 bone fracture accident coming across the desert in Namibia is something I’d rather not think about too much, and damaging my back so badly in Australia that the doctors told me I’d never ride a bike again, is up there with the worst.
But the best? The raggedy old lady in Kenya who gave me her food on a very remote road, because she thought I needed ‘much strength’ to be able to ride a motorcycle there. Then there was Joseph, the retired Tanzanian army captain, who put his farm up as bail for me. You know, his pension from the army was just £20 a year! The village way out in the bush in Tanzania where the chief wanted to lend me his second wife for the night! But had a first wife who could speak some English and opened up a riotously funny situation. The prostitute I met in Thailand was the only person who realized how ill I was and stopped me from dieing and the Iranian family who invited me into their home. The list goes on, but there are always amazing people involved with the best experiences. I’d also not set out to find a girlfriend, but did. She’s not only my friend and partner, but my traveling buddy too. Oh and she also does my carbs for me – she’s much better at them!
7)Sometimes, to make money along the way, you painted t-shirts with similar line drawings as the artwork featured in your books. Are these t-shirts still available?
I did all sorts of things to make money along the way. In part just to make money, but more often than not because working in a place for a week or so gave me the chance to get underneath the skin of a country. The risk as a long distance traveler is that you can spend all of your time floating across the surface, and that means losing out on all sorts of adventures. The t-shirts were both work and fun. I sold them on the street in South Africa and in Australia. They were great people-meeting opportunities, but I haven’t done them for years I’m afraid – perhaps I should start again.
8)How did your road trip change you and your outlook on the world?
It made me appreciate people a lot more. It made me appreciate how much wealth I have in real terms – though I live in a flat that’s rather more like a big tent! I’m a lot more patient than I was, and I stick to my promises far more often than I ever did before. I take more risks, but in a more considered fashion. The trip has made a motorcyclist out of me too. I’ve met so many fascinating people as a result of that and there’s no way I can put a value on them or the fantastic riding times I’ve had. I don’t think that I can put my answer in a better way than something Maya Angelou said, “Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” FISH RIVER CANYON, NAMIBIA
9)If there were just one place you could return to on the African or Asian continents, where would it be?
Ez, that’s an impossible question to answer! There are so many amazing places. In Africa, the mountains in Ethiopia, the desert in Namibia, the east coast of South Africa, the terraced fields of southern Uganda…
In Asia, and we have to count Australia and New Zealand as part of Australasia for me to be able to answer this one - the Milford Sound in New Zealand, the Olgas near Ayres Rock, the Perhentian islands off the coast of Malaysia, the Rajasthan area of India – the people are amazingly colourful, the land is stunning desert and the area is steeped in history that stretches way back behind our own.
Sorry if I’m not being much help with this one. It’s really hard to answer. By narrowing it down even to this, I feel almost as if I am doing an injustice to all the marvelous places I’ve been able to get to. Our world is simply amazing, and good grief, it took getting me out on a motorcycle to really realize it!
10)And where would you refuse to go back to if your life depended on it?
Nowhere at all, but I’d rather ride where it’s warm. Northern Turkey is not the place to be in the middle of winter, on a bike.
11)What words of wisdom would you offer to someone thinking of following in your tyre tracks?
Go for it, make it happen – it’s fantastic out there. The hardest bit is probably going to be rolling your wheels for the first kilometres away from your home country. Don’t carry too much. Load your bike so the weight is low down and between your wheels. You don’t need a big bike – ride whatever you feel most comfortable with and adapt your journey accordingly. A cheaper bike will allow you to spend less on your carnet de passage. Make sure your bike is in tiptop condition before you set off. Have a good 3-4 season sleeping bag, a tent with a light coloured fly sheet and two entrances with mosquito netting on, so you can get a through draft. Have a good but small size sleeping mat and a petrol stove. Your key issues are your budget, the weather and the life of the visas you’ll need along the way. The most important thing to pack is plenty of time.
Have time enough to enjoy, to explore, to relax and to keep yourself from taking daft risks.My best thing, over and above all those is, treat everyone with real respect until they prove they don’t deserve it. It’s amazing what a handshake, a smile and a word or two in the local language will achieve for you.
One final thought. Whatever trip you plan, it will be unique. No one will ever have done your trip before. It’ll be an adventure that you alone will have, because you are you and because of where you will be at the time you are there.
12)Do you still have Libby your trusty BMW bike?
I do. She’s still my only means of transport – unless you count a bicycle for zipping into town that is. She’s got 240,000 miles on the clock now. A star bike.
13)The guardian angel, who seemed to join you for your adventure, was she already there unnoticed all your life or do you think she came with Libby?
I guess that she probably was there. But just not very active! It wasn’t long before she became an angel on overtime though.
14)Will there be another book or two in the pipeline so we can read about your four years of travel after Asia?
 SAM LOCKED UP IN PENANG
15)Will you have a map in your next book to give your readers a visual reference of where you have been?
Too right – bit of a blunder not having one in this time. I should have done a simplified one to give a rough idea of the route. I scooted around so much through Asia that a map showing the real route would have looked like a 3-year old had been let loose with a crayon and a school atlas!
Some Bikersweb readers have some questions for you:
Johnr want to know if there was one defining moment for you while you were travelling. And if so, was it what you expected it might be beforehand?
Hi John,
The day I realized that I enjoyed riding the bike was the day, at last, that I felt I was in control and riding automatically. The sense of freedom the realization gave me was a relief I didn’t know would be so great. For a long time I felt as if I was some sort of riding accessory on the back of the bike, rather than the person who was supposed to be in control. I think Libby enjoyed the fact that I wasn’t dumping her on the deck all the time too! That understanding gave me more time to enjoy what I was doing, and allowed me to increase the risk factor a bit, but be in control – well as much as possible that is.
I’d not gone out looking for any specific moments though. I’d just gone out to do something that seemed like a great idea.
Gollum asks: What was the single most important piece of kit you took with you in your weighty luggage?
Hi Gollum,
I had far too much ‘stuff’ to start with, but the most important piece of kit was almost certainly my Swiss Army knife. It was such a flexible tool and actually having it stopped my bike blowing up once, but that’s a story for the next book! I’ve replaced it now with a Leatherman, which I find is more practical for bike travel, but I do miss the corkscrew!
FTW wondered if there was ever a time you seriously feared for your life and did you consider the possibility of your family never knowing what might have happened in the worse case scenario?
Hi FTW,
There were quite a lot of times I should have died - some from my own stupidity, particularly to begin with. At other times I was just in the wrong place, at the wrong time, doing the wrong thing. That’s a potentially lethal combination, but fortunately this combination is pretty rare.  THOUGHT I WAS OVERLOADED!
And yes I did think long and hard about what might happen from my family’s point of view. I have a great family though. My mother had always banned me from riding a bike, which is part of the reason I didn’t learn until so late – probably a good job as I suspect I’d have been testing boundaries all the time. Anyway, telling her that I was heading off to do the trip was incredibly hard. But she took it really well and actually encouraged me to get on with it. I don’t think she had an inkling that my planned year the length of Africa would turn into 8 years around the world though.
What I’m leading up to is that my family and I discussed the worst case ‘what if’ scenario and they all realized that this was something I really wanted to do. They knew that if I snuffed it out on the road somewhere, it would have been whilst doing something special and that I’d have died being me. My sister told me, ‘Have fun, if you don’t do this you’ll always wish you had.’ I’m sure she was right. I’m very lucky to have such a great family. Oh and I always travel with a really clear will left behind, so my family don’t have to deal with so many ‘what ifs’.
So far you have visited 55 countries. Are you planning to visit the rest, or at least those who will let you in, in the future?
I’m keen to do more traveling. Thoughts in mind at the moment are the west side of Africa, or Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Korea, or Eastern Europe and the old southern Soviet countries. In the end, the next trip will be decided by what is happening politically in those regions. I guess I’d better not write anything more radical in my books or no one will let me in anywhere!
Finally. If you could choose one question to be asked, what would it be and how would you answer?
That would have to be, ‘Why travel?’ And the answer is quite simple. I like waking up to each new day. It’s fun, its adventure, it’s a voyage of discovery, and it’s a challenge. The road is a constant reminder of both how beautiful our world is, and how many grim places there are too. I really like the fact that traveling restores my faith in human nature. Traveling on a bike is brilliant. It gives me the opportunity to see and get involved with so many things.
Thanks Sam. It’s been a real pleasure talking to you.
Ezri.
And, if your going to the NEC Motorcycle show you can stop by to speak to Sam. Find him at the Traveldri-Plus stand from Thursday 22nd November until the end of Sunday 2nd December.
Sam's new book 'Under Asian Skies' is here!
Check it out at www.sam-manicom.com
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