I finished the book but it became a struggle as I longed for motorcycle adventures through a multitude of continents. As a motorcyclist and world traveller I had an empathy with Ted - I was there with him. I still travel with my work and I still bike (but only on dry days) and I have children too - but I will not bore you with it (yawn). I lost him in soft, comfortable, good ol' USA.

Buy and read Jupiter’s Travel twice is my advice.


Excellent follow-up to Jupiter's Travels   July 23, 1999
 19 out of 20 found this review helpful

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!


For the gypsy in all of us (not just bikers) - a must read!   June 24, 1999
 3 out of 5 found this review helpful

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!


An enjoyable and enlightening read.   May 24, 1999
 6 out of 7 found this review helpful

"Jupiter's Travels" is a strongly remembered book to this reader, having added perspectives to the way I think of things, life. "Riding High" is a well placed completion of JT that I didn't even know I would want, until I had read it. I moved quickly and superficially through the parts concerning parenthood, but found the rest of the book most enlightening and enjoyable. Highly recommended.

~Troyce


puts world travel on a human level   May 14, 1999
 1 out of 2 found this review helpful

When I was younger I didn't want to come home from vacations. My parents had to fool me into thinking we were going to stay in another motel until we pulled up in front of our house! In "Riding High", Ted Simon shows the very real dilemma about coming home after four glorious years on the road. The big suprise is that home wasn't the place he had left from! The book shows us how one person can start a journey that comes a way of life for four years and survive a bumpy ending in an entirely new land. The great thing about "Riding High" is not that it takes us around the world again with Ted, but that it brings us home with him as he tries to settle down as the "internal gypsy" is still running on.