An exhilarating journey for charity began Monday morning in Hong Kong when Morgan Parker revved up the engines of his motorcycle and sped off as friends, supporters, and organizers waved farewell.
Morgan was accompanied to the Chinese border by an entourage. He was greeted on the other side by representatives of the first of 10 charities that he will be raising funds for during this epic journey.
This is the first in a weekly series of personal accounts by the former banker turned philanthropist. We will also publish additional updates and pictures from time to time.
I’ve imagined today for almost five years and planned for it for two. Its feels completely surreal that after so much contemplation and effort, the day has arrived.
Just looking at the date on my bedside clock as I woke gave me a strange moment. I’ve been talking about 1 March 2011 as the day the greatest challenge of my life begins – the charity expedition from Hong Kong to Brisbane. I was wrong. The “real” journey is already well-underway.
Fundamentally changing your life is almost impossible. Sure, “things change” over the course of our 27,000-odd days on this planet, but do we?
Pretty much everything and everyone in our life keeps us more or less the same. Life casts us, and then we play our role. We take breaks from it, we mess around with it, we reject it, we love it, and sometimes we question it. Rarely do we change it, more often it changes us.
Strategic Planning
Most people would think I’ve planned my life strategically, the reality is far different. I have tended to just react to opportunity rather than seek it out or create it. I admire people who create.
My life is all about how I’ve reacted to chances that have come my way, and in that context, I’ve always been an adventurer: willing to try things and go places others dismiss without thought. So I guess this is just another adventure for me.
Wrong again!
On the Road Again
After roughly 13,500 days, today I try to find my way home …. Yes, in three hours I’m riding 24,500 kms to Brisbane, but I’m really riding into a new a paradigm I’ve been creating in my head for years. A role perhaps cast for me, but with a script I couldn’t read until now.
Maybe life’s eternal questions won’t be answered over the next 115 days in the saddle of my motorbike, but my eyes will be wide open as I search for a deeper understanding of this fascinating planet and the people who inhabit it.
I have a sneaky suspicion there’s more to life than what most of us have seen up till now. Whilst the first half has been full of amazing experiences, they all generally fit into an existential box I’ve been gleefully, yet naively, immersed in for too long.
My aspiration is freedom … to roam … to think without prejudice or manipulation … to give … to experience only to learn … and to see, feel and hear the stories of others from different worlds.
Our world is changing, if not for the shortness of our individual time on this planet, we would see that so much more clearly. I’m changing too, and one day soon I hope to see beyond my own imagination.
Thank you to all who support Wheel2Wheel and enable us to make a difference to the lives of others.
A heartfelt Bon Voyage to Morgan Parker from the Accidental Traveler Writer as he embarks on his journey through 10 countries in 100 days to raise funds for 10 deserving charities.