"Travel helps develop more of a global perspective, elevating us out of our valley and exposing us to different ideas."
My Perfect Adventure
The world's best athletes and biggest names in exploration open up.
In 2007, Jason Lewis became the first man to circumnavigate the globe by human power only—no motors or sails. Traveling more than 46,000 miles on pedal boats, rollerblades, kayaks, bikes, and his own two feet, the adventurer from Yorkshire set off from London in 1994 at the age of 26 and returned from his odyssey 13 years later.
Lewis, who traveled for the first several years with his college friend Steve Smith, shared some stories about his trip with Outside recently. In his own words, a few memorable moments include:
⇢ Dodging gun-toting Cuban pirates in the Caribbean. When the unmarked vessel came alongside, Steve and I stood up in the hatchway. We were both naked. The pirates took one look at us and took off.
⇢ While biking across Sudan in 140-degree heat, much like riding in an oven, I ran into actor Ewan McGregor in the middle of the desert.
⇢ Both my legs were broken by an 82-year-old drunk driver with cataracts who left me for dead by the side of the road in Colorado.
⇢ Surviving an attack by a 17-foot saltwater crocodile north of Queensland.
⇢ Coming within days of dying before being diagnosed (by satellite phone) with septicemia while crossing the Pacific.
⇢ Being released from jail in Abu Simbel, Egypt. Crossing from Sudan illegally in a kayak, I was apprehended by border security and interrogated for 48 hours straight.
