The Right Stuff for Travel

Plans are for dreaming, but dreams are for doing.

I like meeting people who do what they say they are going to do. You know this type of person as soon as they open their mouths, as they have the ability to speak simply about the most far flung, over-the-mountain-and-through-the-woods types of journeys.

Bicycle Luke is one of these characters. I met him on the road in Hungary as we were both riding bicycles, and he told me that he was going to ride to Turkey, fly to England, bike around Britain, fly to Thailand, bike around Southeast Asia, return to Australia, buy a motorcycle, and then ride around the outback of his homeland.

And this is what he did. He set out with a plan over one year ago, and he is still living it.
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Wade from Vagabond Journey.com
in Istanbul, Turkey- March 11, 2009
Travelogue —Travel Photos —Click on map to view route.

Cihan Karadag is another one of these people. For lack of a more appropriate vehicle, he rode 10,000km through Iran on a little 150cc scooter with 12 inch wheels. He now says that he is going to circumnavigate the entire Middle Eastern region on a motorcycle. I believe him when he says that he will ride through Sudan. I also believe the he will complete any journey that he sets out for.

He is just that kind of person. He has the quality that Tom Wolfe calls the “right stuff,” and I believe that he can do anything.

Cihan Karadag in Iran. Photo from Cihan Karadag

He can do anything, simply because he does it. No questions asked, Cihan is the kind of fellow who comes up with a notion and automatically brings it to life. It is a simple matter of cause and effect.

Great acts only seem great to those who do not do them.

Plans are for dreaming, but dreams are for doing.

I wrote an article about Cihan, One Motorcycle, One Man, One Long Journey, which is intended to act as both a story and a press release for the Turkish media. I am unsure if it is publishable in the English language press in this country, but I am hoping that the Turkish papers pick up on it and go interview Cihan themselves. His journey deserves the coverage.

He is also a very good photographer, visit his Iran pictures at Photos from Cihan Karadag

Friends on the Road
Bicycle Luke in Istanbul, Turkey
Hammock Tent as Travel Shelter

Plans are for dreaming, but dreams are for doing.