Horsing around

At the age of 14, James Greenwood's grandfather gave him a book about a man who rode through south America. When he became disgruntled with life as a banker, he embarked on a similarly inspired journey.

"I was working in the winter and I realised that I wasn't even seeing the light of day, so I left," he explains. Aged 24, he decided to travel the globe - on horseback. After almost a decade he completed his journey on Tuesday.

Beginning in Argentina, he travelled across South America before crossing the Pacific, South East Asia, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey. In Europe he travelled through Eastern Europe before returning to Gloucestershire.

"I wanted to see as much as possible. I've seen so many cultures over the years as well as crossing ice-caps and deserts."

Spending around 10 months of the year away from home, much of his time was spent looking for horses (in India it took him three months) and completing paperwork. Riding around 20,000 miles posed different kinds of problem.

"I managed it with great difficulty," he concedes. "But I was sponsored by Land Rover Clothing, received some research grants and wrote a book called No Guns, Big Smile.

"Initially I considered carrying a weapon. I spoke to my father and he said that the problem was that I might be forced to use it. Ultimately, a trip around the world isn't worth a human life."

He was confronted with guns, but doesn't judge the experience as terrifying as anything Mother Nature conjured up.

"The things that have really terrified me were natural elements. I remember riding across the high planes of the Andes and the sky was full of zig-zag lightning. There wasn't so much as a twig around and I felt that my head was sticking out saying, `earth me'."

While camping in South America, a tree (located five metres away) was struck by lighting. He also contracted typhoid, malaria, two kinds of dysentery, heat-stroke and boils along the way.

Riding offered him the opportunity to learn languages, read and write: "I used to listen to music, but I found myself becoming more monk-like and dispensing with material goods."

He details his travels as if describing an Aladdin's cave of treasures; riding clearly relaxes him but surprisingly, travelling through London's metropolis required greater powers of concentration than more remote regions on Earth.

"I own an Arab stallion that I rode back from Hungary and I'd advise anyone to just get on a horse and ride. I look for local horses as they can be adapted to suit the local conditions.

"You don't need to be very skilled to enjoy the countryside, while horses enjoy travelling," Greenwood maintains. "It's always sad to part with them, but usually I'm able to sell them on to a better life than before."

Having travelled the world over, he now considers himself more religious. After nine years of in the saddle, he has no immediate plans, save spending more time with his family.

He possesses enough exotic tales to fill a thousand long winter evenings - these include the revelation that the most beautiful women in the world come from a place called Rousse on the Bulgarian/Romanian border - but the enormity of his journey is ultimately judged by the people that he met along the way.

"People tell me that what I've done is amazing, but for me it's just been a daily occurrence," Greenwood modestly states. "All I can say is I've met so many people who I'm in awe of."

James Greenwood is available for slide lectures on his record- breaking journey around the world. Tel: 01594 842 880