Hi, my name is John and I am about to embark on a challenge, in which I will attempt to travel overland* from Aberdeen in Scotland, to Aberdeen in Hong Kong without forking out for any transport costs between stop off points.

I set up jaunt so that others can follow my journey and meet the people I encounter and who help me along the way. I am also using the expedition as an opportunity to raise awareness and money for the mental health charity and support resource Shout. 


Follow my journey

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I am an artist and curator from Glasgow, who normally lives in London. After becoming worn out by the rat race, at the beginning of 2025 I made the decision to leave my corporate job and dive into a life on the road.

Through sharing my journey across the globe, my goal is to offer a channel of positivity in an increasingly unsettled world. I want to do this by shedding light on the perspectives of those I meet on my travels. Specifically, I am setting out to capture and share as many dreams as possible, and will do this by asking strangers what their hopes are for the future.

By using social media as a platform in this way, I will also work to raise awareness and funds for mental health charities in the UK. This is a cause that is close to my heart, as in the past years I have experienced how the pressures of modern life can impact our mental wellbeing. With this, I have come to learn how vital the incredible resources made available by organisations in this space can be!

Route

Start: Aberdeen, Scotland

Finish: Aberdeen, Hong Kong

This stage of my expedition will begin in March 2025 in Aberdeen, Scotland. The foreseen route will take me from the UK into Europe. I will then head east, working my way through the continent until I reach Turkey and then on to the Caucasus. From here I plan on crossing the Caspian Sea to reach Kazakhstan. I will then proceed east toward China. Upon arriving here, I will pass through the northern desert regions and into Mongolia, before turning south. I will continue in this direction until I reach Hong Kong, which is situated on the southern coast, where the Pearl River meets the South China Sea.

Roughly, this route will span over 14,000KM and up to 25 countries.

*as the land borders of Azerbaijan have remained entirely closed since 2020, it is currently impossible to complete this route without taking one short flight between Tbilisi in Georgia, and Baku, Azerbaijan (a distance of around 500km).

How can you help?

Give to Charity!

By doing this you will help me as I work to reach my fundraising goal. Any money you give will go to the UK Mental Health Text Service & Charity, Shout. It will also motivate me more than I can express to you.

So go… donate by clicking here!

Sponsor a Leg of the Journey!

The challenge on hand is that I have to figure out how to get from a-b without organising or sorting out my own transport between each stop off point. This means I will have to hitchhike and god knows what else to get to where I need to be. You can help me with this challenge by sponsoring a leg of my journey. To do this, just review the list of upcoming travel sectors below and get in touch to let me know which one you would like to take care of!

UPCOMING TRAVEL

  1. Aberdeen - Edinburgh (big thanks to www.rabbies.com for letting me join their tours from Aberdeen to Edinburgh!)

  2. Edinburgh - Glasgow (big thanks to my friends Steph Armour and Ewan Campbell for sorting this out!)

  3. Glasgow - London (big thanks to my old Edinburgh flatmate and friend Aime Canning for helping with this, and to Sarah Fielding for her support with this on top of her charity donation!)

  4. London - Europe (Eurostar £100 GBP / Bus £70 GBP)

To sponsor one, some or all of these legs you can whatsapp me on +44 7539 005 442

Partners, Fundraising and Sponsors

Sustainability

According to the online WWF Footprint Calendar, my carbon footprint for 2024 was estimated at a huge 27.4 tonnes. This is over 3x the UK average. 

Worryingly, of this figure almost 80% was produced via my travel habits - namely, flying internationally. This has made me realise that learning more about low carbon travel practices is crucial for me and others travelling now. But also it strikes me as an essential point of education for the next generation of people who wish to explore the world or work internationally. 

This is why I have decided to record the footprint of my trip across the world, to the best of my ability. I am no expert in this area, and my resources are limited. So a lot of this will be based on estimates. However, as the internet has become the most amazing resource in the past years, I should be able to form a fairly good idea of how I am doing as I go. The aim of creating this record, is not to campaign or preach - it is primarily to educate myself. That said, I do also think it can only be a good thing to be transparent about my what type of impact this kind of adventure can have on the environment. Hopefully, in doing this, that footprint of mine will reduce significantly and I will be able to share some good new practices that can help others adopt a more conscious approach to travel too!

I will be posting about this on social media throughout my trip and will publish updates here.