Chris Donaldson

Going The Wrong Way

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Going the Wrong Way: A young Belfast man sets off on his Moto Guzzi Le Mans, to find himself, and the road to Australia. What could possibly go wrong!

Brought up in 1970s Belfast during the Troubles, Chris planned for years to escape Northern Ireland and ride a motorcycle to Australia. But the Iranian revolution closed the road east and he spent the next two years traveling the world on trains, planes, bikes and yachts. After blasting through blizzards in the Austrian Alps, he found himself trapped in Israel, then in Syria and Jordan, being held up by local Militia with machine guns and fighting off custom officers.

Chris came to us with an amazing story to tell. When we first spoke it was a collection of ideas, stories and pictures. We knew right away that we could help Chris create an incredible book. We worked with him over many month to go deeper on the stories and build a narrative around his memoirs.

The result has been incredible with Chris's book going on to surpass any of our expectations. The story has been wonderfully well received and its success is testament to the great book we crafted.

An incredible story of a young man’s search for something. Whether it was fulfilment ,excitement, or just himself, he wasn’t sure, but he knew he couldn’t find it at home in Belfast during the “troubles” of the Eighties. He sets off for Australia, via Europe and the middle East, riding his trusty Moto Guzzi Le Mans, but ends up travelling down through Africa. His journey though was far from over, and his method of return travel to Europe was inspired. After a brief visit with family he resumed his adventures, this time from North America to South America. Over 20 months, 39,000 miles and 33 countries, he encountered love ( or at least lust) , para-militaries, drug barons, wild animals, friendly locals, and fellow travelers, amongst many other things. Before the age of the mobile phone, and the internet, Chris was truly alone, and showed great ingenuity when faced with the various mechanical problems that befell the Guzzi, as Chris rode his “sportbike” through deserts and jungles. If this was a film script ( and it really should be made into one ), you’d think it too far fetched! Although in parts terrifying, Chris’ storytelling is captivating, and humorous, and makes this book hard to put down. If you like adventure, I can’t recommend this enough

This is a really great book to read. Not dressed up and describes just how much you can achieve with determination and not always believing no is a no can do. Many off the issues still exist today, but Chris overcame them without the benefits of the modern technologies that we rely on today .

A great read with typical Belfast humour to see him through the darkest of times. A great insight to traveling in the pre social media and digital times,could relate to so much of it and on a Moto Guzzi too. Thoroughly recommend it I enjoyed the journey very much.

Certainly a must read for the adventure alone and with the bike and boat journeys making it more interesting. Hard to put down untill you are finished.

This isn’t just a travel book, Going the wrong way is a tale off adventure and passion. Told in a beautiful flow that grips until the very end. I could not recommend this book enought.

Loved the book. Discovered it on ebay whilst looking for a copy of guzziology, ( I have an old spada that’s been in restoration for many years). The delayed publication of the book adds a longer retrospective and context to the trip which was done on a shoestring budget and relied on chris’s luck,determination and ability to get out of tight spots

I love motorcycle travel books and Chris Donaldson’s Going The Wrong Way is in my favourite top 3. Where this book rises above others is that its written years after the journey giving it perspective. Who remembers the world being in such turmoil when Chris made his trip in the late 1970s? Thankfully, Chris was young and thus undeterred by world events and civil unrest and his story is heart warming, funny, honest and always entertaining. A highly recommended read……you won’t be disappointed!

This book many aspects,if you like motorbikes,travel,danger,people,foreign lands,ocean racing yachts and the unexpected,definitely the unexpected,Chris ended up on a different Continent than the one he set out for!The best book I read this year,do yourself a favour and buy it.

Great book! I couldn’t put it down.

What a wonderful well told story by Chris Donaldson. The Book was gifted to my by a friend who lives in Nevada to whom I shall be for ever greatful.