Part 0: A world travelling motorbike rider

I'm sitting in my cosy one-bedroom on the 2nd floor of the building with views of a main road in Batumi, Georgia. I can hear the traffic and the street lights shine into our bedroom at night. My girlfriend (a Russian named Ksenia, who I met on the trip ;) is out with friends. I'm about to leave also.

I'm still blown away by how I'm back in this city, having passed through in 2019 while riding my motorbike from the UK to Australia (my home). It was a journey, chocked full of adventure. From seeing 100 balloons rise with the sun in Cappadocia, Turkey, to 'quitting' on a frozen mountain in Switzerland. Full of every up and down imaginable. As any journey like this should.

You need to understand. I'm not an adventurer. I'm not a strong, confident man with an iron will and a victory or death attitude. I'm an average guy who didn't have any friends. Who sat on his couch. Alone at 33 years old, looking forward into his future and saw only loneliness, pain and disappointment. So I made the fool hearty decision to ride around the world on a motorbike. It's changed me in more ways than I could ever imagine. And 3 years later, I'm still understanding lesson's from the road.

When I started 'planning' this trip, I knew what I was like. I knew that if I sat down and planned every road, every stop, calculated every mile down to the dollar and every service down to the mechanic's name. I wouldn't go. Never having planed anything in my life and a perfectionist mentality. Or, more specifically, the need for something to be perfect before I start. Thereby ensuring I'll never begin anything because nothing is ever perfect. There is only one way. Save every dollar, and go...My first challenge happened before I even started.

I work in the rope access industry. Google it ;) Also, I perform what's commonly called 'FIFO' in Australia. Or, Fly In Fly Out. This arrangement took me from my home in Melbourne to the city of Darwin in the Northern Territory. In actuality, Darwin is a small town. Still, it has one of the most significant natural gas production facilities in the Southern Hemisphere. A place where hard work earns big dollars. If your 'tough enough'. A common problem people produce is what's colloquially nicknamed 'Mango Madness'. Basically, you go mad with the heat. I was lucky enough to be blessed with the condition. In four weeks, I descended into a full-blown alcoholic with suicidal depression. After flying home from my swing (4 weeks are working, 1 week off). I never returned. The pain of failure sunk deep into my soul.

I'd told everyone about my big adventure. Full of bravado and arrogance. Now, I returned. A broken man who couldn't 'tough it out' in the harsh Northern Territory sun. Fortunately, my doctor actually cared about my well-being and recommended a series of blood tests. And therapy...I was referred to a specialist who diagnosed me with a blood condition I can't remember the name of. He also recommended I be careful as we head into a typical Australian summer because the heat can cause anxiety with my condition. Wait...WHAT!!!

You see, the specialist wasn't aware of what brought me to him in the first place. He only knows my tests results. After explaining how I was in Darwin, where the 'average' temperature is 40 degrees celsius and humidity is 90%. I was met with the only logical response from a medical professional...Laughter. And a question "I bet you didn't enjoy that did you!?". The truth is, I was so relieved. Maybe I wasn't so 'weak' after all???