passes with Dan. He then suggested
I visit a biker friend of his, Billy, at
the Nurburgring, so I headed further
north back into Germany. I fell in love
with the place and ended up staying
with Billy and his family for almost a
month. If you haven’t noticed already
I seem to fall in love with every place I
go and get stuck!
Having no plans and complete flex-
ibility is the best way to travel.
People often ask if it’s scary, lonely
or dangerous to travel alone, and es-
pecially when it comes to wild camp-
ing and riding through places like the
Balkans.
Since I left London I have not had
a single bad encounter and have been
constantly blown away by the kind-
ness and generosity of strangers. And
one of the reasons I love riding so
much is because of the incredible bik-
er community that exists; it’s a family
like no other.
My plan was to wild camp all
through Europe, but I've actually
only had to wild camp a handful of
times over the past seven months as
strangers have always welcomed me
in and let me stay with them, and I
now have close friends all over Eu-
rope and Turkey. So, for that reason
I’d say travelling alone is the complete
opposite of scary and dangerous, it’s
fantastic!
If you’re planning a bike trip but
can’t find any mates to join you, do it
solo, you won’t regret it!
I must admit, during my nights of
wild camping in Bosnia and Albania
I was a little apprehensive, especial-
ly with the wild wolves lurking, but
this was short-lived after the police
showed up in the morning one day
(as it turned out my tent wasn’t as well
hidden as I’d hoped) to make sure I
was okay.
And then was invited to the nearby
town for a hot coffee, which I defi-
nitely wasn't going to turn down af-
ter sleeping in my tent in -11 degree
temperatures and unable to feel my
hands.
It’s in these moments that you real-
TRAVERSE 68
ise that not everyone is out to get you,
and people in general are kind and
generous.
Think I’d better get a move on now
and head for the Georgian border be-
fore my Turkish visa expires!
I could talk for hours about all the
amazing encounters I’ve had, but I
must away ... oh, and if you follow my
adventures and want to get in touch,
please do. I'd love to meet you. BK
Ben started on a mission, to become
the youngest person to circumnav-
igate the world by motorcycle. He
quickly discovered records weren't
important, he had things to see, things
to do. While reading of Ben's adven-
tures, spare a moment and reflect on
his dedicating the ride to his friend In-
dia Lockhart-Lewis who sadly passed
away at just 22 years old. Ben still
has a mission, he's raising funds and
awareness for Crohn's and Colitis UK
www.justgiving.com/fundraising/
thekingontheroad