JASON LEWIS, THE FIRST TO CIRCUMNAVIGATE THE GLOBE

Today, The Grandma has been reading about Jason Lewis, the English author and explorer, who completed the first human-powered circumnavigation of the Earth, on a day like today in 2007.

Jason Lewis (born 13 September 1967) is an English author, explorer and sustainability campaigner credited with being the first person to circumnavigate the globe by human power. He is also the first person to cross North America on inline skates (1996), and the first to cross the Pacific Ocean by pedal power (2000). 

 

Together with Stevie Smith, Lewis completed the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean from mainland Europe to North America by human power (1995).

Lewis set off with friend and fellow adventurer Stevie Smith from Greenwich, London on 12 July 1994, to complete the world's first human-powered circumnavigation, and the two dubbed the journey Expedition 360. 

By July 2007, Lewis had travelled over 60,000 km. He successfully ended his 4,833-day expedition on 6 October 2007, having travelled 74,842 km.

In mid-1994, Lewis and Smith mountain-biked 2,700 km through France, Spain and Portugal to the port of Lagos, Portugal.

Departing on 13 October 1994, Lewis and Smith then pedaled 111 consecutive days and 7,200 km across the Atlantic Ocean from Portugal to Miami, Florida in a wooden pedal-powered boat named Moksha.

Lewis then rollerbladed thousands of kilometres across North America. He was struck by a drunk driver in Pueblo, Colorado, and spent nine months recovering from two broken legs. He finished the North American expedition leg in 1996.

In 1998 and 1999, Lewis and Smith spent 53 days pedaling Moksha across the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco, California to Hilo, Hawaii, where Smith ended his journey. In four days, Lewis and a small group of supporters hiked the 128 km across Hawaii.

After 73 days of solo pedaling Moksha across the doldrums, Lewis completed the Pacific Ocean crossing from Hawaii to the island atoll of Tarawa.

In May 2000, he was accompanied by Moksha's builder, Chris Tipper, to pedal the 2092 km stretch from Tarawa to the Solomon Islands. With the help of friend and expedition supporter April Abril, Lewis then pedaled Moksha 2,333 km for 32 days across the Coral Sea to Australia.

In 2001, Lewis and a group of supporters spent 88 days cycling 5,632 km across the Australian outback, starting near Cooktown, Queensland, and finishing in the port city of Darwin, Northern Territory.

After spending many years raising funds to continue Expedition 360, Lewis was reunited with Moksha in 2005. He and expedition supporter Lourdes Arango pedaled 833 km from Darwin to Dili, East Timor.

Throughout 2005, Lewis kayaked thousands of kilometres through the Indonesian archipelago from East Timor to Singapore.

In 2006, he biked from Singapore to the Himalayas, and biked and hiked through the Himalayas to the port of Mumbai. Covering 3,704 km in 46 days during early 2007, Lewis and friend Sher Dhillon pedaled Moksha from Mumbai, India, crossing the Arabian Sea to Djibouti.

Lewis then planned to travel through Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt, and the Middle East before reaching Europe -encountering a problem at the Sudan-Egypt border. The Egyptian authorities would not let him pass through their waters, and when his visa for Sudan ran out he was left with an impossible decision. He attempted to kayak across Lake Nasser to Abu Simbel but was arrested on suspicion of spying. He was released, but Egyptian authorities forbade him from cycling the 287-km journey to Aswan. He completed this section illegally by riding partly at night. During his journey through Sudan he encountered actors Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman who were travelling south as part of their Long Way Down motorbike trip.

In July 2007, Lewis reached Syria, and then cycled across Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Austria, Germany, and Belgium before returning to London on 6 October. Pulling Moksha in tow, Lewis crossed the Greenwich Meridian Line where he had begun his expedition 13 years earlier.

During his expedition, Lewis twice survived malaria, sepsis, a bout of mild schizophrenia, and a crocodile attack near Australia in 2005.

As part of a wider interest in sustainability and education, Lewis has visited more than 900 schools in 37 countries, giving talks to students and involving them in a variety of programs to promote world citizenship, zero carbon emission travel, and awareness of consumption habits on the health of the planet.

In August 2020, Lewis announced on his blog that he and Stevens would embark on a three-year journey named GB360, circumnavigating United Kingdom and Ireland with refitted Moksha, bike and kayak, documenting examples of sustainable living along the way. They began the first leg of their trip, Cymru360 circumnavigating Wales, from Deeside on 19 June 2021, covering 1046 kilometres in 8 weeks, and ending on 12 August. After completion, Lewis tweeted that if funding permits, they plan to circumnavigate Scotland or Ireland in 2022.

More information: Instagram-Jason Lewis

Adventure saved me from becoming an ageing,
balding rocker grinding out covers
in some shitty South London pub.

Jason Lewis