There and Back Again To See How Far it Is by Tim Watson |
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| Monday, 28 November 2011 10:28 | ||||
 These were the words author Tim Watson’s mother would use in reply to his enquiry as to their destination when he was in the car as a small child. It was a suitable response at the time and it stuck in his consciousness when as a middle aged man he quit 28 years of corporate life to take up motorcycling.For six months he travelled on the bike in search of the ‘real’ America, shunning the bright lights, the obvious routes and learned to ride the bike as he met some of the diverse people who make up the total of 309million residents. There was no plan and both the south and north routes he took started and finished at his home in Santa Ana, California. After all 50 states and 3.79 million square miles might have just been a little optimistic to try and see! It was a life changing experience; he ends up with a wife, a whole range of stories and experiences which are detailed in an entertaining manner in this 260 page hardback book from Haynes. Split into ten chapters, each are further divided in various experiences rather than a full consecutive narrative and allow you to easily dip in and out of this book. Unlike some other books of this genre it is not about the author trying to ‘find themselves’ or fulfil some life-long ambition, or just drop out of society by doing a road trip on no budget. Instead it is simply one man’s observations as he makes his way along the less travelled highways and by-ways of America on a basic voyage of discovery for the sake of it. The odd drama arises like running out of petrol, boots gluing themselves to foot-pegs with wet tar and so on, but tales of major blow-ups and mechanical failures solved with tin cans melted into pistons etc. are not here. Instead, it is an interesting view from a novice motorcyclist more used to a chauffeur, than carrying his own luggage and discovering real American’s as they try and work out a ‘crazy’ Brit. It does not end with any real conclusions, other than the America portrayed to the rest of the world is somewhat different to what exists outside the glitz and glamour shown on TV. It was never intended to be a documentary and writing the book was not the reason for the trips, it was just a natural progression afterwards. Reading this book will not change your life, but apart from being an excellent entertaining read, it will make you realise that you can just load up a bike and go exploring for any period of time available. Local people will warm to you and enhance the ride as I know only too well. So, it is definitely a book to put on the reading list, especially at £19.99 cover price. ISBN 978 1 84425 957 1 Available from all good bookshops or direct from the publisher Haynes at www.haynes.co.uk Review by Ian Kerr
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