June 7, 2005

I am a member of Servas and in early spring had a very nice visit to Japan, staying with many Servas hosts. One of them put me in touch with Nakanishi-san who is a member of both Servas and another group I'm part of, the Warm Showers List to connect touring cyclists with hosts willing to allow them to overnight with them. Nakanishi-san was in the midst of a 6-continent self-sufficient bicycle tour and would be passing through the town I live in in North Carolina!


Unfortunately, his timing ended up being such that I was just getting back from a trip myself. My friends the Connellys who live nearby agreed to host him, but I was back in time to meet him in the evening that he arrived, June 7, 2005. He was in a bit of a rush, cycling from Atlanta enroute to Washington, D.C., where he was to meet a Taiwanese cyclist arriving from overseas a few days later - otherwise I would have loved to have spent more time and cycled with him!


Daisuke is an amazing man; though most of it is in Japanese, his website gives some information about him, including some pictures from past trips.


He told us that he worked hard in the construction business in Japan and saved money to support his habit of world travel, self-supported, on his bicycle loaded to weigh 150 pounds. He was on his sixth journey, this one lasting since July 1998, having cycled 52,000 miles in 67 countries on 6 continents.


Along the way, he has made instant friends among folks, met celebrities including the soccer star Pele, and been featured in magazines and newspapers from Latin America to Asia. He carries an interesting book with clippings of articles about him, pictures he has taken, and stories.


I hope that I will be fortunate enough to have Nakanishi-san come back and spend some time with me! He is a humble, warm, and truly interesting person to be with!