To the Edge

Jason Lewis set out to make the first ever circumnavigation of the world using human power alone - no motors, no sails. Thirteen years later he returned, having crossed the Atlantic and Pacific in a pedalo and roller-skated, cycled, swam, kayaked and walked the rest. This is a gripping real-life adventure story by the Jack Kerouac of our times. Jason Lewis - a Dorset-raised part time singer in a grunge band - wanted to lead a fuller life. So in 1994 he set off from London with the goal of becoming the first man in history to circumnavigate the world using human power alone. In Moksha, his specially-built 26-ft pedalo, Jason conquered the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, dodging pirates, sharks, container ships and the Great Barrier Reef. He fought off hungry crocodiles using a kayak paddle, nearly died alone at sea of blood disease and caught malaria twice. He was arrested as a spy by the Egyptian army after secretly paddling into the country from Sudan in a kayak, and survived a horrific road accident while crossing North America using in-line skates. Friendships - and relationships - with those who travelled with him and supported him both deepened and were tested to the limit.He now knows that the best way to ward off pirates is to strip naked and prepare to cover yourself in Marmite, and has high-fived sharks as they scratched their bellies against Moksha's hull.
He is also familiar with the finer points of buffalo-ranching. He has cycled through the remote highlands of Laos, the forbidden zones of Tibet and across Australia, Africa - where he bumped into Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman - and Europe. But Jason's memoir is not simply a terrific story of adventure, gritty determination and cool good humour in the face of attacking sea-snakes. It's also a compelling account of the unique viewpoint one man gained by turning his back on the nine-to-five and chasing his dream through thick and thin. Jason Lewis went round the world the hard way - packing a machete to ward off robbers and sleeping in flood tunnels to save money. He saw the greatest natural beauty the world has to offer and met the people who live in the world's remotest corners. For anyone who enjoyed Jack Kerouac's On The Road, Jon Krakauer's Into The Wild or Alex Garland's The Beach, Jason Lewis' story is a must-read.