h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

My son was dreaming of travelling. Eventually, he came up with a firm plan, to cycle south east across Europe to Budapest. He researched the route carefully, looking for cycle tracks and campsites and he bought a lot of kit. His most expensive purchase was a bike - a second hand Thorn Raven expedition bike, with a hub gear.

After a trial run to Devon and back he was ready. He set off on 27 June, on a bicycle weighed down with panniers. By next evening, he had crossed the channel to Calais and cycled as far as Lille, despite getting lost on the way. He then crossed into Belgium and, on one day, he cycled 118 miles across the Ardennes to Luxembourg. He followed cycle tracks through the middle of Frankfurt, which he said looked like Manhattan with Gothic churches. Then, when he got to Rothenburg am der Tauber, the hub gear failed.

He was disconsolate about this. He knew that the gear would be difficult to fix, partly because all the working parts are inside and because he had already found out that this bike wasn't designed to take a hub gear. So he came home, taking a series of trains across Germany to Brussels and the Eurostar to London.

If I had thought this experience would put him off cycle touring, I was wrong. He is now contemplating a trip to Russia, buying a map and starting to learn Russian. I have mixed feelings about all this. I admire him for his resourcefulness and sheer courage, but I am afraid of the hazards along the way - getting lost, breaking down in the middle of nowhere, getting arrested ...

He is going back to university in September to finish his degree, so none of this is going to happen before next June. All sorts of things could happen before then.