Sydney to London on a Wing and a Prayer

No plan, no paperwork, no experience, no problem.

By: Justin Hughes

Oct 23, 2018 at 3:03pm ET

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Like many riders, I'm a big fan of Long Way Round / Long Way Down. It took many months and an entire crew, and an insane amount of planning to help Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman plan and execute their wild long-distance trips across several continents and numerous countries on decked-out BMWs.

Nathan Millward did none of that.

Instead, when Millward's visa extension was denied and he had three days to leave the country, he simply strapped his few worldly possessions to his former Australian Postal Service Honda CT110 named Dot and started riding home to London, England. That's it. He didn't have a plan. He didn't do any research into the legalities of crossing all of the borders between Australia and the U.K. He had very little money to fund his trip. To top it all off, he had a tiny motorcycle with a smaller engine than a Honda Grom, not some decked out adventure motorcycle designed for such travel. Crazy, right? The crazier part is he actually made it the 23,000 miles home.

The video Dot: Sydney to London On a Wing and a Prayer briefly tells the story of Millward's epic journey. In fact, his journey didn't even stop in London. After a while, depression and even suicidal thoughts set in, the result of a mental crash after such an amazing adventure. Eventually, he ended up shipping his CT110 to New York, then riding to Alaska, as you do.

I dream of being able to undertake a journey like Ewan and Charley someday. "Dream" is the operative word because in all likelihood it will never happen. I can relate more to Millward and his spur-of-the-moment trip. My own journey to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, to ride the famous Cabot Trail was a similar last-minute trip, though I at least reserved campsites in advance. I'm too tied down to my current life to give up everything and hit the road the way Millward did, but if I ever do undertake an epic road trip, it will likely resemble Millward's journey much more than Obi-Wan Kenobi's.