Customer Reviews

Riding High

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Point to ponder: Ted Simon muses that "The interruptions ARE the journey". This book causes one to think about priorities in life and what drives them. Ted writes from a British perspective and humor and provides an insightful description of the real world as he passes through it. He describes his travel brilliantly as penetrating life's mysteries. He has been robbed, imprisoned, threatened and hospitalized. He has gone from ecstatic to despondent, but continued on, speaking to the therapeutic effects the motorcycle had on him (and his digestion). He showed keen insight into his fellow travelers as well as the indigenous peoples he observed in the many locales visited. I enjoyed his command of language and appreciated the level to which he writes. I scrambled for my lexicon and index of foreign phrases, for I enjoy the chase of literature. I was mindful of the BMW Anonymous tradition in which a rider can always find help due to his association with the marque. Ted created his own contact list as he moved along. It seems that we are really on a very small planet. I enjoyed the lessons in cultures such as the four Indian groups and an understanding of the caste system from which escape is impossible. Also, Ted provided valuable and interesting tidbits of history and cultural mores which some might find distasteful but are fascinating to me. This book fills in the gaps left by the first book "Jupiter's Travels. It continues to be an account of contradictions and inner struggles of wants and needs, both real and preceived as he marries and attempts to settle down in California. This is a real guy who suffers like the rest of us and shows us grit. I am envious of his experiences for I know that sharing them vicariously is as close as I will get. Read the book!

How can one possibly expect someone to tell a 4 year journey in one book? Well that's why Ted Simon wrote a "second" Jupiters Travel. If you enjoyed Jupiters Travel, dont hesitate to buy Riding High. It gives you more insight into how Ted travelled, what went on in his mind and life. Especially that he shares his "settling down" years made the book a good read.

Riding High is a wonderful companion to JupiterÕs Travels. In it Ted Simon elaborates upon his four-year trip around the world and he also tells us about how hard it was for him to come to terms with journeyÕs end! Settling into married life in Mill Valley is a far cry from living a constantly changing, exciting life in the glorious here and now for four years! Ted makes us feel his struggle to adapt. He does this very tellingly by interspersing some domestic scenes with on-the road scenes. For myself, I felt claustrophobic when I read about his domestic life and longed for him to be on the road again. However, I think these scenes help us understand his dilemma: how can he reconcile a longing to be on the move with a yearning for the simple life in one place? It becomes apparent that Ted, although a compassionate and friendly person, is at heart a bit of a lone wolf! All the travel scenes are great, particularly those in India and South America and the book is full of fascinating information and insights, all of which Ted shares with us in his usual honest, articulate and engaging way.

Don't approach this book as a sequel to Jupiter's Travels. Ted spends much of the book in self examination and oftentimes, self doubts. The story of his journey is interesting, and I found Ted's self realizations and gypsy spirit refreshing and engaging. Overall, even with the heavy philosophy it was a little sad to finish the book, and Ted's journey.

After getting to know Ted on his origional journey of the '70's has sparked an interest on the what after and the what before. Here it is and very interesting to me as I have paralells in my life as I pass through into my 40's with small kids in the yard and a BMW 1150GSA in the garage.

Jupiter's Travels told us of Ted's 4 year journey to see the world. Certainly impossible to fit into one volume. Thankfully Ted put his masterful writing to work again, to fill in some of the details of his adventure.
In Riding High, Ted adds detail to several episodes of the journey, while at the same time adding poignant episodes of his life once the journey concluded. He approaches these with the honesty, insight, and humor that made his first book such a treasure.
You don't want to miss this one. Ted once again takes us along with him...and it will change you!

I'll say it again ...after reading Jupiters Travels and this one Ted Simon is an alien...because there is no author on this earth that has this mans writing ability...He is an expert in the science of the human "Diagram".

Ted Simon is a good writer and the story is well written. Parts of the story are about his trip but other chapters are about his personal life. Details concerning the birth of his child are not what I was expecting for a "motorcycle story". The fact that he came to America and found a rental house to live in just isn't that interesting to me. If you want a book about his trip, this isn't it.

I read this book... oh! so, so many years ago as a fresh undergraduate in England and,twenty years hence,is among the handful of books I remember vividly. I was drawn to the book simply because I had planned a similar trip in 1975(hitch-hiking) and never got to do it. Being from the East I can vouch for a number of his Asian narratives and some of his Mid-Eastern stories (I was later based in that region). His free-wheeeling (no pun intended) style of story telling is punctuated with enough humor and philosophy to make it a wonderful read. Highly recommended!

Riding High is a wonderful companion to JupiterÕs Travels. In it Ted Simon elaborates upon his four-year trip around the world and he also tells us about how hard it was for him to come to terms with journeyÕs end! Settling into married life in Mill Valley is a far cry from living a constantly changing, exciting life in the glorious here and now for four years! Ted makes us feel his struggle to adapt. He does this very tellingly by interspersing some domestic scenes with on-the road scenes. For myself, I felt claustrophobic when I read about his domestic life and longed for him to be on the road again. However, I think these scenes help us understand his dilemma: how can he reconcile a longing to be on the move with a yearning for the simple life in one place? It becomes apparent that Ted, although a compassionate and friendly person, is at heart a bit of a lone wolf! All the travel scenes are great, particularly those in India and South America and the book is full of fascinating information and insights, all of which Ted shares with us in his usual honest, articulate and engaging way.