Epic Adventure Book Review: The Japanese-speaking Curtain Maker by Spencer James Conway 🏍️ 📚🏍️

My executive summary is that this is a really great book about a 10-month solo motorcycle journey that starts and ends in England but is all about circumnavigation of the African continent.
The journey takes place on a motorcycle, but there is very little time dedicated to the bike itself. The book is focused on the beauty of the journey and the relationships with beautiful people along the way.
It is difficult to describe how great this story is. It begins, as many motorcycle travel books do, with journal entries as the author leaves Europe and enters Africa. Soon, you are in Egypt and witnessing a new and deep friendship being established. At that point, you will understand that this isn't your ordinary travel book. It gets even better from there. There are scares with bad drivers, bad roads, and bad people. Yet somehow, the author maintains his humanity, and surprisingly, his sanity. There are descriptions of amazing sceneries, endearing interactions with Africans, and several cameo appearances of a Canadian messiah.
Here are the five things that I most loved about this book.
1. The relationships.
Recently, on Adventure Rider Radio, Ted Simon stated that one must travel alone to have a true adventure. In keeping with that theme, this is an epic solo journey. But solo trips are often filled with rich new relationships, and this story is no different.
2. The route.
The route that Conway takes in this book is unique. It is so unique that he is the first person to circumnavigate the African continent on a motorcycle. He is probably the first because there is no reason to do it. Other than, of course, he wanted to.
The route took him through 34 countries, which included tourist traps, war zones, and terrorists. All the things that we know from the daily news. It also took him through lightly visited natural wonders, nature reserves, and villages of great human spirit. The things that the daily news doesn't report.
The thirty-four countries in Africa contain thousands of cultures and languages, and sampling those are the real reasons why he took this route.
3. The humour.
Spencer James Conway is funny. His self-deprecating humour is charming and had me laughing out loud more than once.
At tense situations throughout the book, Conway delivers brilliant responses to corrupt officials, gangsters and generally rude people. Very James Bond like. Then he follows up with, 'I didn't really say that ' and then gives us his true lame response.
4. The Canadian messiah.
The core focus of this book is not the journey. It is about making friends. One particular friend reappears throughout the journey, and he happens to have a striking resemblance to the Western depiction of Jesus.
In the acknowledgments at the end of the book, Conway wrote:
'A heartfelt feeling for Carl Routhier, who rescued me in a time of danger. Thank you, Canadian!'
5. The book name.
You will find the meaning of the book name in the last few pages of the book. The name is unique and quirky, like the author. I love the name because it represents two key issues.
The first is the impact that travel has on the traveler. In this case, Conway has returned a changed human being. He realized that. He couldn't return to his old life. Everything was going to be new for him, even his career.
The second is that "not all classrooms have four walls
'
In Western society, we place a great deal of emphasis on traditional education but not on other types of learning. When you read this book, you will realize that the author has grown throughout this journey. His experience in dealing with difficult situations and difficult people has grown in a way that can not be taught in a classroom. His tolerance of others and their culture is cultivated through a crash course, not a motorcycle reference, in direct interaction with literally hundreds of differing cultures all in one year. Most importantly, his humanity is almost incomprehensible for those of us who haven't traversed the societies the way Conway has.
None of this fits on a resume or will be recognized by the workers at the local employment office. It would likely be wasted in making curtains, the only job available when he returned to Britain.
In conclusion, I loved this book, and I can't imagine who wouldn't.
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