Uneasy Rider: One man, 27 countries and 20,000 miles in search of some answers

A broken heart and a moment of drunken bravado inspired middle-aged, typically cautious journalist Mike Carter to embark on a six-month-long motorcycle trip around Europe. After completing a brief residential motorcycle course and hastily remortgaging his apartment, Mike set off alone, resolving to go wherever the road took him. By the end of his journey, Mike had traveled nearly 20,000 miles and had roamed from the Arctic Circle in the north of Europe to the Mediterranean coast in the south, and from the Portuguese Atlantic coast in the west to the Iraqi border of Turkey in the east. This humorous and insightful account follows Mike through his adventures into nations and towns of every variety, as well as into his own mind as he finds his post-divorce scars starting to heal and attempts to discover his purpose in life. Self-deprecating, poetic, and utterly engaging, Mike’s is a heroic and inspiring journey for anyone who ever wanted to leave the nine-to-five in the dust.

Mike Carter is a contributor to The Guardian and The Observer.