Episode 19- Taking the Ride of Your Life with Chris Donaldson

Today, we discuss the journey of Chris Donaldson! Thank you for joining our journey through the arts. Like we always say "Pursuing your Passions is a Bitch... But it's worth it!"

Please Check out our friend, Chris Donaldson-
His Amazon Page- https://www.amazon.com/stores/Chris-Donaldson/author/B0886JJM1M?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

Also Check us out and our future projects at The Rogue Scientist Productions
Website- https://theroguescientistproductions.com/
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087537946337
Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/roguescientistproductions/

Check out "The World Beyond" by Charles Dockham on Kindle Vella- https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B0BMZPTP6G

Check out "The Beautiful Beast" by Carolyn Clark on Kindle Vella-https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B0BVMNPBKZ

Check out Watsynthebox- Guest host William Thornhill- https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094728966282&mibextid=b06tZ0

Transcript

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (00:01.399)
Thank you, and welcome to Pursuing Your Passions as a Bitch. I'm your host, Charles Dockman, the owner of the Rhodes Scientist Productions and the author of The World Beyond, an ongoing story on Kindle Vella. With me, I have my guest host, Chris Donaldson, the writer of Going the Wrong Way. Chris?

Chris D Onaldson (00:17.583)
Charles has to be here.

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (00:20.491)
Thank you so much. And thank you for joining us today. First off, I just kind of wanted to just ask you a couple of questions. So what was kind of the inspiration of kind of getting started with this project?

Chris D Onaldson (00:35.53)
It started off a long time ago, back in the 70s, I was brought up in Belfast, which is sort of a bit infamous in those days for the various troubles. Went to school in the centre of town, you'd see bombs going off and traffic disruption and people getting shot around the city. It was a sort of strange upbringing for kids, but we didn't really know much better because we didn't have seen anywhere else.

Chris D Onaldson (01:04.054)
But it was dying to get out of Belfast and 79 decided to ride a motorbike to Australia. And that was really the start of it all.

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (01:14.163)
Awesome. And then so from there you kind of you went on your journey and I know that we were kind of talking about it beforehand but on your first trip were you able to make it to Australia?

Chris D Onaldson (01:29.542)
No, I got as far as London, which was only about 300 miles from Belfast and it was just November 79 and the Atoll mainly decided to take over the American Embassy in Tehran and basically closed the road east. So I'd already left home. I thought, well, I can't go back.

Chris D Onaldson (01:47.05)
after two weeks, after telling him I've made some way to Australia and come back two weeks later after getting to London. So I decided to go to Africa. And that's when the sort of journey, the magic started away because it stopped actually going to somewhere as the destination. I was just going to traveling for the sake of it. Before the internet, obviously. So in those days, you got your information from guidebooks or maps, which I didn't have any of because they were all for going to Australia.

Chris D Onaldson (02:17.474)
So ended up driving around the Middle East, Israel, Syria and Jordan, going across the Sahara desert and really pretty much without a clue where I was going, but just enjoying the journey for the journey's sake. I ended up in South Africa in the middle of apartheid, I got hitched a ride in a yacht race coming back to the UK. I got the bike shipped to the States, drove around the States and then made my way down to South America, got hepatitis and...

Chris D Onaldson (02:47.73)
Everything sort of fell apart in Bolivia. I made it down to Argentina and finally got home. And at that stage, I was planning to write a book. In fact, I started writing the book. And then there's another guy called Ted Simon wrote a very good book about doing the same sort of thing, but he'd done it all the right way. He's done it all. He was a journalist and he thought I'll never be able to compete with that. And he hadn't made the mistakes that I made. So I think it's a bit of a barst.

Chris D Onaldson (03:16.794)
sort of put by my ventures on paper. So I sort of forgot about it for 40 years and then took out the computer and laptop and decided about three or four years ago is by the time the story to bed. So the book came out three years ago and it's been going really well.

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (03:37.555)
Which is amazing, so you self-publish the book.

Chris D Onaldson (03:44.464)
Yeah, I mean self-publishing is a, well, first of all, writing the book was a venture on its own. Not a very intellectually sort of efficient guide school. I never did very well at English classes, but it's a certain story. If I can write a book.

Chris D Onaldson (04:05.81)
and get published as a bestseller on Amazon. Anybody can really? Let's say there's a book on everybody and I think I believe there is. It's a matter of having the determination to get finished with it.

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (04:21.855)
Of course. And in this case, you had the great inspiration behind with this journey that you took, being able to travel basically across the world and you had a story to tell and it's really amazing. And so I think that you were saying that you had gotten a best seller at one point on Amazon.

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (04:49.059)
for the book.

Chris D Onaldson (04:51.46)
Yeah. Yeah, I got some paperback, and a paperback ebook and audio book. So it's, it's had some.

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (05:00.203)
Mm-hmm.

Chris D Onaldson (05:04.17)
great reviews. I've had a lot of hardships along the way. Now, me and my mom is probably not having enough money because I set off on a three month trip and I ended up a year and a half later still going. So it was really living like a native in Africa and South America places like that, working here and there where I could get some, get a job. But there's a lot of hardship driving a motorbike across the desert through Africa.

Chris D Onaldson (05:34.686)
In various instances I got stopped by armed soldiers and different things happening. So it certainly, it's a motorcycle book, it's a travel book, but it's more of a coming of age book really because it was only 21 at the time. And certainly the journey was a major milestone on my life's journey. It taught me a lot of things about patience, about determination.

Chris D Onaldson (06:02.526)
perseverance. It just put me in good stead and other diverse things like 10 years ago the banks closed down my business, took my properties off me, it was ended up more or less bankrupt but I was able to go to get the laptop out, learn a bit of law and self-litigate against them, get most of my properties back again. So it seems strange but I know I couldn't have done that without having

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (06:27.288)
Mm-hmm.

Chris D Onaldson (06:30.37)
Driven across the Sahara Desert on a motorbike 40 years ago.

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (06:35.803)
Yes. And it's, I mean, that's like I said, it's an amazing journey just to kind of be able to just pick up and do something like that. You said it is coming of age tale, especially to kind of do that in your 20s. I don't know the complications compared to trying to do something like that nowadays where with so many restrictions in terms of travel and just how many different avenues you kind of have to kind of go through.

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (07:05.843)
Um, it's an amazing tale of being able to just, um, travel, see the world, see, see just things that you haven't seen before. Um, and everybody kind of tries to say, well, the world's this way here. So it must be the same over there or same over in different areas. And you just kind of see the beauty of nature and the beauty of everything else. So, um, no, it's, it's, it's an amazing thing to be able to, um,

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (07:35.575)
take your bike and just the different lessons that you've learned, especially because I expect that you've probably broken down a couple times during that time frame and just kind of the struggles that you had to. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly.

Chris D Onaldson (07:47.17)
Well, me and the motorbike. Both of us. Yeah. Well, funny enough, I'm remarkably well qualified to compare travelling 40 years ago and what it would be like today because after the book was published one of my mates said to me, you never actually got to Australia, why not have another go?

Chris D Onaldson (08:10.466)
So I thought, well, we're gonna do that. I still have my same old motorbike that's sitting in the garage. So I set off on that a year and a half ago, just after COVID or in the middle of COVID really. And decided to try and get to Australia again because I've got a job and I've got family and commitments within two weeks stages. And stopped for two months, flew home and flew out again, picked the bikes up again. And finally got there last month. So.

Chris D Onaldson (08:39.27)
It was interesting to do the same sort of journey that I set off when I was 21 with my 64 at the last count. So it was nice to be able to say I can still do what I can do when I was 21, I guess.

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (08:54.799)
Mm-hmm.

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (08:57.519)
Exactly. And so, so did you see any more difficulties in the journey for since from when you were 21 and now?

Chris D Onaldson (09:07.155)
Well, sore back and sore, sore backside. Probably a few aching joints that you didn't have when I was 21. But yeah, I mean, the Internet's probably one of the biggest differences in everything. 40 years ago, you sort of forget how much it affects our lives and how much we use every day. We're using Google Maps or phoning home every day.

Chris D Onaldson (09:35.798)
bugging a hotel, finding out where you're going, what's the end of this next corner. When I was going down to Africa, I actually rode off the edge of my map at one stage in Uganda and I met a, luckily I met a guy coming up the other way and we swapped maps and until then I hadn't a clue what was, what was next country's name was even, whereas now you just get your phone out and everything's there, you know.

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (10:01.839)
Yeah, exactly. Oh, I didn't even really think about that, the difficulties of just having to carry the maps that you needed to go from place to place. I didn't even think about that. No, you're right. We've kind of been spoiled a little bit with Google Maps and always having the ability to kind of be able to navigate, I guess, around the world with just the phones in our pockets, which is

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (10:32.945)
pretty amazing to come from. Yeah.

Chris D Onaldson (10:35.47)
It's pretty amazing. And it's the same woman talking to you in Belfast as there is in the States and as there is in Iran as well. It's the same woman talks to you and tells you where to go. It's quite amazing. I don't know how she manages to do that. Yeah, sort of.

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (10:46.375)
Exactly.

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (10:52.483)
So are you planning on trying to continue your authorial journey by writing another book about your travels?

Chris D Onaldson (11:05.33)
I've started writing a bit. If the first book was a coming of age story, is this more of a sort of coming of old age story because I'm just sort of coming through retirement age and recently diagnosed with partner's disease, which is one of the reasons I sort of wanted to challenge myself to make sure I could still do these things.

Chris D Onaldson (11:27.946)
But so it's yeah, no, that definitely is another book and I'm not too sure what it would be called Adventure Before Dementia is one title we have for it. But they're still looking for something there. But it is it's the first book, so it was interesting for people because it was a young guy learning what the world was about. This is a different stage in people's lives.

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (11:37.114)
Mm-hmm.

Chris D Onaldson (11:56.538)
He was quite a bit younger than that, but a lot of guys when they get retired, they've been working for 40 years, their family's left, and they really don't know what to do with themselves. They end up just working in the garden or going to play golf until they're popular clogs. So it's one of the sort of give people the notion that you can still get out and do the things you used to do when you were a teenager. You just do them a wee bit slower and take a bit more time out of it. But with any luck, you have a bit more money and a bit more sense. Enjoy it. Yeah.

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (12:28.943)
Exactly. Just wisdom comes with age is a huge piece. Yeah, supposedly. Supposedly. But...

Chris D Onaldson (12:34.113)
Well, supposedly.

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (12:45.079)
Well, not spending days on the motorcycle is probably a little bit better. But no, that's a pretty good story to just kind of take a look at. I'm sorry to hear about your recent diagnosis. But to use that to...

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (13:10.939)
Yeah, but to use that to motivate yourself to explore the world more and to kind of really kind of take a look at the world more. This kind of.

Chris D Onaldson (13:22.702)
Well I think whenever I sort of say to people, said to people who's going to do it a couple of years ago, you know people have said I'd love to do that myself but I've got this to do or I've got that to do I can't do it because everybody's got a reason why they don't want to do something or to put things off. But really you know you're only here once you maybe you need to get out and do it, stop making excuses for things and just do things rather than...

Chris D Onaldson (13:50.914)
Think of a reason why not to do it. Just think of a reason to do it, to be more proactive and do what you wanna do while you can, you know?

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (13:57.803)
Mm-hmm.

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (14:02.119)
No, and that's big, especially with our community here or my listeners here. Primarily the goal I've always been trying to establish is while there are so many different avenues for you to get your books out there, for you to step into the, to become an actor, to become a director, to become a comedian, a musician, anything, there's so many different avenues for you to take, just taking those first steps and stop.

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (14:31.363)
coming up with excuses as to why you shouldn't take those first steps is huge. And in this case, when it comes to your journey, where you just decided to bike around the world, it takes a lot of commitment and it takes doing it and stop planning it and just at some point just going, just taking that first step out the door. So.

Chris D Onaldson (14:54.857)
Yeah, it's the first step, it's the most important, but, and even just from a state of mind, you know, remember kind of, I was writing about crossing the desert.

Chris D Onaldson (15:06.542)
It's a road bike. It's not one of these adventure bikes. It's designed for going off road. So it was totally out of place in the desert. And the thought of crossing the whole desert in one instance was just impossible to comprehend. But I would sort of say to myself, well, if we can stay on the bike for like half hour and get to three, five miles, then that's something. And then after that, you know, just by breaking things down into smaller bites.

Chris D Onaldson (15:35.358)
becomes more physically possible and mentally possible as well, mentally comprehensible sort of thing. You know, you can say, well, I can do that for half an hour. I can't do the whole thing, but we'll do that for half an hour and see what happens after that. So as you say, take it day by day, getting the first step out there is the main thing.

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (15:35.511)
Mm-hmm.

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (15:58.099)
Yeah. And how much would you say? I I'm thinking that you might have actually calculated this, but how many miles did you end up traveling?

Chris D Onaldson (16:10.304)
I have about 45,000 probably. I just to say I didn't go around the world. You can't really ride around the world because there's too much water and dodgy countries in the way, but I sort of went up and down it a couple of times. Driving around the world is a romantic motion. Although, let's do one of the bikes now in Australia.

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (16:13.836)
Wow.

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (16:24.747)
Hehehehehehe

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (16:28.971)
Yeah.

Chris D Onaldson (16:32.014)
So I want to take it to the states next and sort of do May as well go around to where I'm halfway around there now already

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (16:38.407)
Mm-hmm.

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (16:41.307)
Yeah. So what would you say for our listeners in terms of, in this case, you've kind of taken your life experience and you've been able to write it down and share it for those out there. What would you say for our listeners in terms of something that they should kind of try and do, something that they should try and attempt?

Chris D Onaldson (17:17.219)
Well, if they're thinking of writing a book, I suppose this is formulating what it is you're trying to talk about, what it is you're trying to say. I think I've read stories that there's a people, something 99% of people who start writing a book never finish. It's having a determination to get there, to keep it going, to get there at the end. I think it's the main difficulty people have.

Chris D Onaldson (17:43.438)
You have the focus, there's so many distractions in our lives now, it's very hard, much harder to concentrate I think on one thing at a time. Writing a book is so much more difficult than you think it's gonna be. You just need to sit down and decide you're gonna do it. I think telling everybody you're gonna do it is a good thing too, because it needs you to embarrass if you stop.

Chris D Onaldson (18:12.482)
But you just gotta have the perseverance to keep going to the determination, as you say. Tell your friends to give you a hard time if you don't keep up with it, you know?

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (18:22.73)
Mm-hmm.

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (18:26.595)
And I think a huge piece that I always like to instill is that sometimes life experience is the best motivator and sometimes life experience is also the best inspiration for stories as well. And like in your case where you took your journey around the world and you and you've shared that journey with everybody else.

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (18:55.739)
I think that sometimes going on a journey for themselves and going on a journey to just see the world is important to inspire you in many different things. It becomes the inspiration of many stories. It becomes the inspiration of many different things. So it's a huge piece. But.

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (19:20.631)
I would just like to say, I think we are coming to the end of our program today. I would definitely like to thank you for joining us on our podcast. Are there any upcoming projects? Are there any social media platforms? Are there any different pieces that you would like our listeners to follow you on?

Chris D Onaldson (19:45.591)
Well, yes, on Facebook and Christophe Donaldson, Chris Donaldson and going the wrong way is the name of the book. It's on Amazon as an ebook, audiobook, paperback, hardback, all over the world. Amazon's amazing technology, how they've been able to use the technology to cover the world for writers.

Chris D Onaldson (20:07.822)
for authors, books called Going the Wrong Way. It's on my website as well. If you want to author autographs, copy, which is chrisdonelsonworld, chrisdonelson.world.

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (20:23.171)
Thank you. And as for me, you'll be able to find us on our website, the road scientist productions.com where you have our merchandise and links to my story on kind of develop the world beyond. You also have all of our road scientist social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr. The best way to support us is to like our podcast on your favorite podcast platform of choice and let us know how much you've enjoyed our show. We want to thank you Chris for being on our show today and thank all of our listeners for joining us as well.

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (20:51.651)
This has been our podcast to all of those out there looking to start a new career in the arts such as acting, music, writing, comedy and more. Always remember pursuing your passions is a bitch, but it's worth it.

the_rogue_scientist_productions-e2df (21:04.395)
Thank you.