Elspeth Beard did something that still makes people stop and look twice: in the early 1980s she rode a motorcycle around the world when you couldn’t be tracked, couldn’t Google your way out of trouble, and couldn’t call anyone when things went sideways.
In this episode of the OverlandEurope Podcast, we don’t retell the headline story for the hundredth time. We talk about what followed: the real aftermath, the real value, and the parts most people skip.
Elspeth opens up about how dyslexia shaped her early life, being labelled “stupid,” learning to adapt, learning to fight, and learning to stand on her own feet.
That thread runs right through the ride … and through everything she did afterwards.
We also dig into her second career as an architect specialising in extreme conversions: water towers, unusual listed buildings, projects that “no other architect wanted to touch.” She explains how the problem-solving and negotiation skills from long-distance travel translated directly into planning battles, regulations, and the constant push to find a way through.
And then there’s the modern angle: social media, GPS, over-planning, and the quiet loss of that rare feeling of being truly alone in the world, untracked, unbuffered, living off your decisions. Elspeth doesn’t romanticise danger, but she makes a clear case for simplicity, spontaneity, and one idea every traveller should carry: go and get lost.
If you travel, want to travel, or have ever come home from a big trip and felt oddly displaced, this one is worth your time.
SPONSOR: This episode is brought to you by Taking the Pea
