Journey Insights
"A long time ago I heard Truman Capote describe his idea of a short story as, "a scrap of lightning that briefly illuminates the landscape." The image is so vivid that it has stuck with me over many decades, and I can't think of a better model for Journey Insights. Ideally they should be short and unpretentious. They should deal with a single event such as an incident, a meeting, a confrontation, a revelation, but within the telling there should be something that illuminates the landscape, and that landscape could be the local environment or culture, the journey of which it is part, or it could be the human condition. Some Insights may stray a long way from this prescription, but whatever it is it must be simple, honest and genuine, and to write something honest and genuine is already a triumph."
Ted Simon (2012)
Riding The Fence Line
Exploring the border between Arizona and Mexico on horseback, Bob Clark finds himself unprepared for the "wall mentality" and questions the motivation for barrier construction. View Insight
Borderline Prescription
Bob Clark offers some perspective on what cross-border consumerism says about the state of the nation. View Insight
Francisco Coronado
The Huachuca Mountains have been a challenge to explorers and migrants alike for hundred of years. Bob Clark highlights the modern-day barriers facing would-be immigrants. View Insight
Not Easy Being Legal
Crossing into Mexico on the Jupiter Discovery Ride, Bob Clark experiences tight security at the border and learns about the reality of daily life for legal migrant workers. View Insight
Stranger In A Strange Land
In the first 'on-the-road' Journey Insight of the 2012 Jupiter Discovery Ride, Bob Clark reveals some of California's more surprising landscapes and the impact of water management on its immigrant population. View Insight
Chance To Share. Chance To See.
Sharing images of Tibetan and Uyghur families, Eleanor Moseman explains what drives her to explore remote and forbidden cultures by bicycle, and how the experience has changed her perspective. View Insight
The Road Not Taken
With some interesting historical context, Bob Clark scratches beneath the surface of immigration along the Arizona-Mexico border and discovers school censorship and an alarming death toll. View Insight
Show Me Your Papers
Setting the scene for his Jupiter Discovery Ride in May, Bob Clark considers how new immigration legislation in Arizona could impact on one of the oldest traditions in medicine. View Insight
In the Shadow of the Tiger
Geoff Thomas reflects on how his choice of motorcycle affected his understanding of the communities he travelled through and why less is so often more. View Insight
Unexpected Consequences
Echoing the value of "interruptions", Harry Lyon-Smith recounts the chain of cause and effect that connected an unreliable motorcycle with the kindness of strangers. View Insight
A Picture Paints A 1,000 Words
Merv Colton shares a glimpse into the timeless backstreets of Morocco where the absence of a common language is no barrier to trust and mutual understanding. View Insight
My Father's Voice
In this touching memoir, Bernard Smith reflects on the emotional impact of a detour through Kanchanaburi Province in Thailand to seek out the infamous Bridge over the River Kwai. View Insight
