In late 1973, sponsored by The Sunday Times, Simon began travelling around the world on a 500 cc Triumph Tiger 100 motorcycle. For four years he travelled over 64,000 miles (103,000 km) through 45 countries. Most accounts from his trip are detailed in his book, Jupiter's Travels, while some of the book's gaps are filled in its second part, the book Riding High.

En 2008 Morgan, étudiant à Grenoble INP – Génie industriel annonce à ses amis qu’il prépare un voyage autour du monde à vélo, pour une durée d’environ 3 ans. Siphay, ami de longue date, à ce moment là saisonnier en station de ski, répond à la nouvelle avec enthousiasme. Il veut se joindre à l’aventure ! Brian, ami d’enfance des deux compères et étudiant à Toulouse INP-ENSIACET, propose de les rejoindre sur la route, le temps de se convaincre qu’il s’agit d’une expérience exceptionnelle à ne pas rater.

Travels with Charley: In Search of America is a 1962 travelogue written by American author John Steinbeck. It depicts a 1960 road trip around the United States made by Steinbeck, in the company of his standard poodle Charley. Steinbeck wrote that he was moved by a desire to see his country on a personal level because he made his living writing about it. He wrote of having many questions going into his journey, the main one being "What are Americans like today?" However, he found that he had concerns about much of the "new America" he witnessed.