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It absolutely was a different time. I spend a lot of time now harking back to it! Thanks for your saying these things, means a lot.

The feeling of living only once and of not being ok with following the traditional, expected path, got so intense that we had to DO something to alter our future for the better. FWE was the result. Life can be complicated. Glimpses of freedom / simplicity.. moments of clarity.. seem to come around so rarely within the fog of sedentary life. But if the opening words of the film helped to open up one of these far-between portals to another way of life, and if the intensity of feeling is there and you are able and truly want to, jump through before it closes. Who knows when it might open again?!

❤

I once heard that the greatest modern luxury is being offline. So few of us can live with it or can be brave enough or afford to live without it. It’s the real world little things that matter.. the exploration, true culture, genuine ‘authenticity’, none of which are found in a tourism setting, especially after jetting in and heading straight for the power adapter for phone charging to spend the entire time rubbing in / hamming up / filtering a superficial encounter with people and places so as to say you’ve ‘done’ it, gobbling up ‘experiences’ without nourishment or satisfaction or soul, packaging them to combat insecurities, to look good, and to be ‘liked’. None of this is a journey.. it’s just another ‘destination’.

Bonjour oui 100 % d'accord avec toi Vive le vélo ! Gilles

Thanks Wayne! Happy to hear you have been motivated! Go for it!! You certainly don’t need a flashy bike. I would recommend a comfortable one in good working order though. I still go on rides around the uk on a £100 bike I got in 1998 with 4 gears. It’s comfortable and I may have upgraded the rims and tyres since purchasing… I don’t use my round the world bike very much, mostly because it’s a bit too robust for smaller rides and I’d also be devastated if anything happened to it. Jack’s bike of FWE is still in China somewhere no doubt..!

Thank you, William. We feel very grateful to have had the opportunity. Never say never!

We were introduced to an amazing guy in Los Angeles who came onto the project as executive producer. We asked him if we could bring on Sean Penn, he said he can’t get him, but there is this guy called Peter Coyote who is interested.. The rest is history. Having Peter on board for FWE has been one of the great privileges of our lives and we still have to pinch ourselves.

Thanks for the kind words Roland. The age pre-phones with the internet in them feels rosier and rosier as the years roll by. Just lucky to live that. And here’s to Peter! Cheers and tailwinds, Ben

@@benwylson3089 Thanks for the reply Ben! And you're right; as I'm nearing 51 now, I more and more feel like moving away from internet and social media and just live life without it. I guess that's because we now realize (and also by seeing documentaries like yours) that those times where much more impressive. I'm going cycling in Denmark this august and take your film as an inspiration to cycle as 'offline' as possible. And yes hopefully with tailwind :)

​@@rolandmd73 Here's to your direction! I'll aim to follow your lead. Thanks again and have a great ride offline in Denmark! Cheers!

Peter Coyote only narrates for Ken Burns when he’s not narrating Free Wheels East, which, as it happens, is a lot more of the time..

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Have replied in one in my previous comment!

Thanks Peter! The film is just a tiny part of it all and we’ve been hoping to write an unabridged book / do an exhibition for years. One day.. For now the whole thing remains rather underground and to this day it only captures the attention of the few that stumble upon it. We are passionate about getting the story out there because it does seem to resonate with those that find it. Perhaps one day it will be unearthed by someone of influence, but for now it remains in obscurity. And actually, given the non-commercial nature of it all, maybe that is how it is supposed to be! All the very best, Ben

Thank you! Pleased to hear, from two fellow bike riders!

Thank you!! Always so grateful for comments like this 😊😊 🙏

We left in 2005 and the film was made in 2010!

This is the man who narrated The Vietnam War, Peter Coyote. So no rip off… only this time it was us working with him rather than Ken Burns.. 😅

@@benwylson3089yes stole the idea not the man..i think its brilliant !!

@@user-ku4yk4ut4z 🙏🙏

We didn't do anything 'properly', I'm afraid - as this was only really about riding bikes for ourselves as we had done on BMXs on backstreets when we were little, not proper 'cycling'. We never really thought about safety and nobody ever really told us it was unsafe at the time. Kids these days are much more conscious of safety and I don't dispute that it's a good idea to wear helmets and shoes! At the time, it was about grabbing the brush and daubing paint indulgently rather than following the technique of trained draftsman. Our clothes, when we wore them, were flowing, grime-ridden cotton. Nothing was breathable or practical. We never wore sunscreen and we rode along motorways without a hard-shoulder simply because it looked like the shortest route. We did not see the future at the time. We only saw the moment. I do not contest that this was reckless, but it was all part of the freedom, even a freedom from the responsibility of looking after our bodies. At the time we'd have preferred to join the roadkill than to give up even this trace of freedom... which is something that most responsible people can't understand. In short, we were irresponsible and I apologise for the that.

You are far too kind - thank you.

Great to hear and here’s to your trip. Hoping you do it and it’s the experience of a lifetime!

here here , im 44 and would love to do something like this

Peter Coyote - he did ‘the war in Vietnam’ and also played the scientist in E.T, amongst many other things..

Thank you Bee Keeper! Love back to Norway!

Hi @jenssen97 - what a brilliant message - thank you for taking the time to send this and for your points. - We drew and painted the maps ourselves on my old drawing board and my sister made them digital. There are some BTS images of this on of this on the Free Wheels East Film facebook page, buried somewhere.. Can't guarantee they are to scale. - think we have some archive from Berlin, but it was not filmed well enough / relevant enough to make the cut.. Nothing to do with Berlin!! One of the best cities there is. - I believe strongly the world was better for the mind and soul then. I hope the film reminds people of that. - ah.. the Thorn Raven tour - the best bikes in the world. Would buy the same thing today. But I still have one! - Thanks so much once again, great to know what resonated with you!! All the very best, Ben

On average it cost us £38 per week in 2005 for a year on the road. But you have to camp out and mostly be in very inexpensive countries to do this. Things are a little more expensive now.. but even if you spent 100% more than we did.. you are still on a luxury budget there!

Thanks Martin!!

Thanks Bob, glad to hear you enjoyed it. All the best, Ben

@@benwylson3089 "Feeling trapped for a very long time." "I couldn't see myself living the rest of my life in a fixed situation or lifestyle." "When you realize that you don't have to live your life based on what society tells you." Society, parents all predetermine what and how we as individuals should live our lives. Yes, there is probable success in following what society tells us to do and live. However, it depends on what we as individuals define as success. Working like a dog for someone else for years and years, acquiring a bunch of stuff that either ends up being sold for less money than we bought it for, giving it away or throwing it away. Doesn't make a lot of sense. Yet the majority of people fall into this mindset. We don't have a U-Haul truck following us to the grave site. I like new things just like everyone else, but everything wears out eventually (2nd law of thermodynamics. Matter wears down and out, it doesn't evolve stronger, better, like the lie of evolution tells us). My parents are in the last stages of their lives. They have acquired so much stuff. Three separate homes and everything that goes along with that. After they die, I don't want to deal with all their stuff....what a burden! I don't want any of it either. Then their stuff becomes my stuff. No, not me. I want to be unencumbered from stuff. Especially from other people's opinions of how I should live. I tend to separate myself from those types of people.

Thanks for taking the time to type this special message. Normal life will always be an enigma.. always a shock to the system! Here’s to finding our way back to the road again one day! Maybe we’ll take the kids with us?

@@benwylson3089 Hah! Take the kids, maybe they'll enjoy it Or, at least when they're still young enough to be pliable. Teens are such a faff! The most I ever did was 5.5 months from home at a time, during the pandemic when my flight kept being cancelled. Remember how it was to be stuck in the same 4 shirts, day after day? It was alright though, was in Australia at the time and they were *open* - it was such a shock coming from the UK where we'd simply been closed more or less since March. Gosh, it was odd. Hope you have a lovely weekend.

@@Jablicek haha! Hoping you have a good weekend too!

Fuck hope Fuck life. All of this is unreachable. You work till the day you die after being wasted to death after globalist regime disposes of you after being treated as a number.

Indeed - we’ll done Jamie… 😅

Hey Natema! Loved reading your message. Thank YOU!

Thanks so much for your kind words - they mean a lot!

Amazing! I’m v envious. We actually left without a map and even picked up our first for free in tourist information when we arrived in France, I believe. We then just bought roadmaps when we arrived in major cities. This was all paper navigation and through asking locals. We only used internet in cafes.. no such thing as 3g then! Good luck with your trip!

​@@benwylson3089 Less tech and more human contact brings us all closer together in every sense. Have just discovered your epic adventure and film. I hope life is treating you both well and your memories are keeping your dream alive. Best wishes from a fellow adventurer in Devon, Per Mare Per Terram 🧭⚓️🌍

Thanks so much Graham! Your words mean a great deal. And if you are a Royal Marine, much respect from us.

@@benwylson3089 Yes, I am a former 'Bootneck' 👍

Thanks Phillys - so happy to hear. Tailwinds!