Chris Donaldson

Chris Donaldson's motorcycle adventure began in Belfast in 1979 when he set out on his 1977 Moto Guzzi Le Mans with one ambitious goal: to ride to Australia. What started as a planned journey soon became an unpredictable global adventure that lasted nearly two years and took him somewhere completely unexpected.

Traveling largely unsupported, Chris crossed the Sahara Desert and journeyed through Africa to Cape Town. From there, he hitched a ride aboard a yacht racing back to Europe before continuing his motorcycle adventure in North America. He rode from Canada through the United States and Central America, eventually traveling across South America and reaching Buenos Aires, Argentina.

His remarkable experiences later inspired Going the Wrong Way, a self-published motorcycle travel book that became an Amazon bestseller and earned more than 1,200 five-star reviews. The book shares the challenges, discoveries, and unexpected moments of long-distance motorcycle travel, connecting with motorcycle enthusiasts, adventure travelers, and readers who enjoy true stories of exploration.

More than four decades after his original journey, Chris decided to finish the motorcycle adventure he started. He returned to his classic 1977 Moto Guzzi Le Mans with the goal of finally reaching Australia. His longtime friend Liam Lavery joined him aboard a modern Moto Guzzi V85, giving them the opportunity to compare two generations of motorcycles while traveling across the world.

Their route takes them through Europe and the Middle East before continuing toward Dubai, Iran, Pakistan, India, the Far East, and Australia. Like his original journey, the route remains flexible, adapting to political, geographical, and practical challenges encountered along the way.

For Chris, a motorcycle adventure is about far more than simply reaching a destination. His story represents resilience, curiosity, friendship, and the determination to complete an unfinished dream. Through Going the Wrong Way and his continuing travels, Chris inspires riders and readers to explore beyond familiar roads, embrace uncertainty, and discover how taking an unexpected direction can create the motorcycle journey of a lifetime.