Thanks for the heads-up. :thumbup1:

I've just hooked-into the first of his video series. Looks like a fab story to follow. Six minutes into Part 1 of 52 .. and I've already subscribed!

I'm a Dan Walsh fan as well. :thumbup1: Dan was on HUBB years ago and is mentioned in several posts over the years. And you might even find his posts here under Dan23.
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...ays-must-36591
You can buy his book on Amazon, also sold under title of "Endless Horizons".
https://www.amazon.com/These-Days-Th.../dp/1846053102

I liked the book but for me his best were articles he wrote for UK's
BIKE magazine. He worked for them for years, goes even further than his book does. Africa, UsA, Latin America and more.

I had mentioned Dan to some Motojourno friends I knew at US Motorcyclist magazine. They ended up sponsoring Dan after reading his BIKE pieces. They got him a new BMW F650 and some up front cash and he did a few installments for the magazine.

So off he went, writing pieces for both BIKE and Motorcyclist ... but something happened in Buenos Aires and Dan kind of went into a self described drunken spiral. He finally pulled out and managed to get the book done.

But as I've said, IMO, Dan's best work were his articles from the road.

Dan is a Manchester, UK native. Not sure where he is now.

So many good suggestions. I'll have to update the first post and make a comprehensive list.

I'm glad to see that a number of you mentioned quality of writing as well. It's something that I particularly look for being a English teacher and having done my fair share of wordsmithing.

Patrick, any chance there's an online resource for Dan's work from his motojournalism days?

cry of the kalahari
 

the cry of the kalahari took me to africa!!

It's been a while since I last read These are the Days etc but a little like Zen and the Art etc you start off wishing you could lead his lifestyle and then end up pleased that you don't. Both the best of times and the worst of times at the same time.

Paul C's (anyone here?) review of These are the Days on Amazon puts bike travel books in a kind of scholastic pecking order: Sam Manicom is the trusted teacher who delivers the goods, Graham Field's lessons will pass in a blur. You won't remember half of what you did but it was inspirational, but Dan Walsh is the crazy supply chemistry teacher who got sent home at lunchtime. Pity that Dan wasn't around for the 'is this the real life, is this just fantasy' early days of Bike but making it back from his first 'road test' might have been problematical.

If he does get back into print I hope he manages to avoid second album syndrome. I've been reading Three Men on the Bummel recently. No, it's not some kind of Victorian gay porn epic but the follow up to Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome where, now somewhat portly, they wheeze their way round the Black Forest on bicycles. It would be perfect for a literary version of those 'you'll never believe what that cute kid actor looks like now' click bait sites.

IMO, Dan's work is nothing like Zen and the Art.

For me, only readable part of Pirsig's "Zen and" were his literal bike maintenance parts, too few and far between for me.

The rest were scattered thoughts of a semi boring Philosophy teacher. :nono:

In contrast, Dan's book is mostly totally readable ... funny and entertaining, save the very end ... which gets a bit depressing. But mostly we see humor everywhere ... which is very hard to do!

But as I said above ... IMO, all his BEST WORK can be found in his earlier BIKE articles. All funny, up beat, crazy ... and FUN! (a good editor can make even an average writer look brilliant!)

So did you actually read his BIKE articles? His Africa stories were some of my favs. :thumbup1:

2nd album syndrome is tough. As much as I wanted to love Ted Simon's follow on books ... I did not. Jupiter was it. His Zenith, IMHO.

The guy being left out ... a real current pioneer ... is Austin Vince.
Hopefully we'll get a new crop of young traveler geniuses soon to re-define the genre and keep us interested.

Same Manicom tried to pass off a trip he'd made 5 years previous for a current Adventure book. Some decent writing ... but a bit sleepy for me. A classic "jumping on the ADV band wagon" guy.

bier

Years ago I looked but could not find much of his work in the BIKE archives. Now?
I'm sure it's all out there somewhere.

You may find his work in archives of Motorcyclist's magazine and perhaps BIKE's are now more comprehensive than 10 years ago when I last looked.

I used to hang onto BIKE magazines when I was working at City Bike. But ditched everything about 8 years ago. Too much clutter. Tons. :oops2:

I had stacks and stacks of magazines that I was hoarding. I made the purge a few years back too. What is the year range I'd be looking for in the archives online?

Good question ... I'm not positive but thinking from 1999 up to about 2004.
Good hunting. bier

Updated the first post with the running list. I've got a few that I'm definitely going to dig into.

Cheers!

Books that inspired travel
 

Jupiter's Travels by Ted Simon. Stunning read at the time

One text is listed twice.
I'll let you figure the dual listing.

Another case of a good author with a very good command of the use of English who happened to also have an interest in travelling by motorcycle.


It's easier that way round; some motorcyclists wouldn't know how to construct a coherent sentence.
But ghost writers and youtube will deal with that.

Fixed beer

Agreed. I like Ted Simon for the quality of writing. I had heard an interview with him and he is particularly proud of Jupiter's Travels for this very reason. It may sound a little boastful, but I can't argue that it is very well written and I will give credit where credit is due.

No, that's not what I was trying to say. The two books are at opposite ends of the spectrum but it's my reaction to them that's the same. I'm happy riding along with the bike trip bits but but once they start exploring some of their respective 'lifestyle concerns' I start squirming in my literary seat and wondering where it's all going.

I've read "These are the Days' twice (although, as I mentioned, not recently) and remember it as being funny, engaging, superbly written and full of life. It's what he's writing about - 'life max' I suppose, that makes me feel uneasy. If it's not the writing that's supersaturated it all then Dan's burning through his life at a different rate to the rest of us. You just know there has to be consequences, if not now then eventually, and at some level you fear for him.

Remember that bit at the end of 2001 A Space Odyssey where one minute they're trundling along looking at the scenery in their spaceship and the next it's all gone psychedelic - 'my god it's full of ... quality. Whatever you think of Pirsig's philosophy you have to wonder where he's gone mentally. For me both books ended up as slow motion mental car crashes, trips where the wheels came off.

Re Bike mag, the early weed and chops editions from '71 on - anarchic and 'lifestyle' orientated with bikes almost as bit players, would have suited Dan's style perfectly had he been active then. But whether it would all have been 'excessive' is anyone's guess. The requirements of publishing deadlines and profit margins didn't seen to have the same priorities then as they did when Dan was writing for them years later. But that's just from the outside looking in. Maybe I simplistically bought into a vision conjured up by 9-5 latte sipping city types tapping away on their typewriters and more Bentley than BSA. I hope not.