Long-distance skateboarding

Rob Thomson's epic skate adventure

Anytime you sit down with an adventurer, the first question is always the obvious one: Why? Is it to push yourself to the limits of endurance, or simply the exhilaration of hitting an unlikely goal?

Meet Rob Thomson. 28 years old and hailing from New Zealand, he’s perhaps not your typical adventurer on the surface. Moving to Japan after graduating from Canterbury University he found himself guilty of becoming too comfortable in his cultural cocoon. As he settled down, became acquainted with the culture and began conversing with the locals in Japanese something kept dawning on him: “These people are no different from me!”

It was here where the seeds for his adventure were planted. Not purely a desire to just see the world, but a belief that no matter how different we all seem or the language barriers, fundamentally we all share a common humanity and common emotions.

Combined with his work at Asia Pacific University’s International Admissions office and the people he encountered there, he decided he wanted to experience these cultures and humanity for himself. Originally, he planned a solo 12,000km bicycle trip from Japan to London. No big deal, until Thomson traded in his bike for a skateboard in Switzerland and skated the rest of the way. And then skated across America. And then China too. With just himself for company.

20,000 kilometres via bicycle and skateboard, numerous visas, some 20 countries, four continents and a world record later, he’s had the journey of a lifetime. WideWorld had a chance to chat to Rob earlier this month to find out more about his incredible story.

To start with, if you had to sum yourself up in one sentence, what would you say?

I am all into experience: what it means to be human, what it means to live, what it means to operate as a ‘co-inhabiter’ within this diverse and beautiful world.

How did you come to decide on doing it by bike?

It was always going to be some sort of journey by bicycle. My mode of transport was simply not a variable that could be tinkered with within the equation, it....

To view the full article register with WorldWide today or login.