Read In The Long Run, an around-the-world scooter (and life) adventure, for free Jan. 7
Published by Crystal January 4th, 2008 in books & online resources, riders, travel & touring. 
Writer and photographer Thomas Martin Smith poses aboard Melawend for a self-portrait at the Pyramids of Giza with his friend Amer Abu Khamis who is on his camel, Hassan. Photo: © Thomas Martin Smith. Photo used with permission.
Some of us do some crazy things when facing a crossroads in our life. Some of us quit our jobs and start new businesses, some take a cruise or buy a new car or get a dramatic haircut. Then there are those like Tom Smith, aka “The Scooter Crusader,” who decide to take a solo trip around the world by scooter.After a lot of soul searching, this “unemployed, broke, divorced, and virtually homeless father of two young girls” decided to ride a 1985 Honda Elite 250 scooter he named Melawend (after his daughters Melanie and Wendy) around the world.
From May 1986 to July 1988, Tom rode from Ridgeway, Ontario Canada and traveled through Canada, the UK, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Monaco, Italy, Greece, Egypt, Sudan, Kenya, India, Nepal, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Hawaii, and the continental USA. Here’s his map.
On his trip, he faced both financial and logistical challenges, illness, mechanical problems, accidents, language barriers, loneliness, fear. He also experienced gorgeous landscapes, hospitality, and the basic kindness of strangers, and came away with more hope for humanity as a whole.
Tom wrote to me to let me know that we can now go on this adventure with him, for free. Fire up your browser on January 7, grab some snacks, and settle down in front of the fire for a few days of reading. Tom is publishing his entire 597-page, 450,000-word book about his adventure IN THE LONG RUN: A Hopeful World Odyssey for a limited time online, for free, for all of us to read. If you can’t wait, there are two free chapters posted right now, along with chapter summaries of all of the upcoming content. Bookmark www.melawend.com and get the snacks ready.For those interested in the print version of Tom’s book, the first print edition is available for sale through his site.
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Editor’s Note 1/11/08 - Go directly to the book’s chapters here: www.melawend.com/theonline.htm. Tom will be posting three chapters a week.
4 Responses to “Read In The Long Run, an around-the-world scooter (and life) adventure, for free Jan. 7”
- 1 Pingback on Jan 6th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Wow can’t wait for the whole book. Is it just me or is that scooter on the left side really ugly?
Well, at the very least, I have to admit that ugly scooter on the left is brightly accessorized!
I got a kick out of Smith’s name for his scooter, combining the names of his daughters. My father was looking to name his first sailboat when we three kids were pretty young. So he asked for suggestions and I offered “Tiwenik”, to go with the names of my brother Tighe, myself as Wendy, and my sister Nikki. My father was a new sailor and afraid it sounded too much like Titanic, so the name was never used. But it made me and my siblings laugh all summer as he managed to capsize “Thetis” often enough for Tiwenik to be closer to the true near-namesake.
I’ll be reading Smith’s book wtih enthusiasm next week.
Hello girls and all visitors to girlbike.com
Some great news regarding the odyssey book… EWAN McGREGOR has endorsed it! He sent it to me hand-written, in his own words, with permission to quote him. Here is what he had to say about ITLR:
“My two trips by bike were amazing and life changing
but short compared to Tom’s two-year traveling extravaganza! One Man, One Scooter, One Hell of a Ride!”
You can see more here: http://www.melawend.com and here: http://www.melawend.com/reviews1.htm
Great work on this site, Crystal!
All the best to one and all!
Tom
THOMAS MARTIN SMITH
“The Scooter Crusader”
author of IN THE LONG RUN: A Hopeful World Odyssey
a former law clerk’s two-year journey of friendship and communication around the world on motorscooter MELAWEND.
“…more than a little reminiscent of The Lord of the Rings.”
http://www.melawend.com