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Every Day an Adventure #3
Distant Suns
Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
Sam Manicom's dynamic third book transports you to Southern Africa, South and Central America. Sam has a gift for describing the vibrancy of people and places, and you are led effortlessly through three very different parts of the world by his enthusiasm and his acute observations. Human behavior, drama, passion, disaster, humor, and the pure adrenaline buzz of overlanding such far-flung, wild and exotic places are all here.
This thought-provoking mix is brought alive by both his descriptive, which can make the mouth water or the hairs on the back of the neck crawl, and the historical tidbits and cultural notes about the people and places he visits. Distant Suns highlights the joys of traveling with others and how, when you are with others, you often do and see things you otherwise may not have done; but also touches on the added stress that comes with traveling in groups - even small groups.
Unlike his two previous books, Sam travels with a companion, Birgit, who you'll have met during the course of his previous book Under Asian Skies. Distant Suns is the story of how boy meets girl, both endowed with a mile-wide streak of wanderlust, and both fiercely independent, but learning to live together on the road, and saving each other's lives on occasion. Birgit catches your attention right away with her incredible initiative and capability with her bike. Yet, she'd only been riding a bike for 600 miles when they arrived in Kenya at the beginning of this journey.
Sam and Birgit's adventures are never without peril, but the attitude they have is what makes them terrific world travelers. Over the course of three years, a lot of things can and do go wrong, but Sam and Birgit don't let any of them stop them from completing their journey. When Paul Theroux wrote, "Take the leap. Go as far as you can. Try staying out of touch. Become a stranger in a strange land," he could have been describing Distant Suns.
Sam Manicom's dynamic third book transports you to Southern Africa, South and Central America. Sam has a gift for describing the vibrancy of people and places, and you are led effortlessly through three very different parts of the world by his enthusiasm and his acute observations. Human behavior, drama, passion, disaster, humor, and the pure adrenaline buzz of overlanding such far-flung, wild and exotic places are all here.
This thought-provoking mix is brought alive by both his descriptive, which can make the mouth water or the hairs on the back of the neck crawl, and the historical tidbits and cultural notes about the people and places he visits. Distant Suns highlights the joys of traveling with others and how, when you are with others, you often do and see things you otherwise may not have done; but also touches on the added stress that comes with traveling in groups - even small groups.
Unlike his two previous books, Sam travels with a companion, Birgit, who you'll have met during the course of his previous book Under Asian Skies. Distant Suns is the story of how boy meets girl, both endowed with a mile-wide streak of wanderlust, and both fiercely independent, but learning to live together on the road, and saving each other's lives on occasion. Birgit catches your attention right away with her incredible initiative and capability with her bike. Yet, she'd only been riding a bike for 600 miles when they arrived in Kenya at the beginning of this journey.
Sam and Birgit's adventures are never without peril, but the attitude they have is what makes them terrific world travelers. Over the course of three years, a lot of things can and do go wrong, but Sam and Birgit don't let any of them stop them from completing their journey. When Paul Theroux wrote, "Take the leap. Go as far as you can. Try staying out of touch. Become a stranger in a strange land," he could have been describing Distant Suns.
- GenresTravelMotorcycle
Audible Audio
First published September 8, 2008
19 people are currently reading
76 people want to read
About the author
Sam Manicom
13 books30 followersSam Manicom, overlander, traveller and author of 4 motorcycle books, was born in the Congo in Central West Africa where his parents worked. His family returned to the UK when he was 10 and he has been travelling for much of his life.
His first solo trip was age 16 by bicycle into Europe. Many backpacking, hiking, cycling and hitch hiking journeys later, and back in the UK but wanting to do something completely different, Sam learned to ride a motorcycle. Within 3 months of starting to ride, he set off to travel the length of Africa. This 1-year trip turned into an 8-year, 200,000 mile, around the world motorcycle adventure across 55 countries.
Sam’s 4 'Every Day an Adventure' series books take the reader travelling through the different sections of the eight-year journey. Africa – ‘Into Africa’, Asia and the Middle East – ‘Under Asian Skies’, Southern Africa and South America – ‘Distant Suns’, and North America – ‘Tortillas to Totems’.
His 5th book, released in February 2022, is called ‘The Moment Collectors’. An anthology of 20 authors original work compiled and published with the subtitle ‘Twenty Travellers’ Tales from Around the World.’
Sam now works full time in the world of adventure travel. He’s a keen advocate of motorcycle travel in particular and when not writing his books, magazine articles and conducting multimedia travel presentations within Europe and the USA, he’s very much involved with travel related organisations. Sam is a co-host for Adventure Rider Radio RAW.
In 2017 he was awarded the Overland Magazine ‘Spirit of Adventure’ Award for his contribution to Overlanding.
When he isn’t writing or presenting, Sam and his partner Birgit are usually off riding somewhere.
Find out more about Sam and his travels via his website www.Sam-Manicom.com ‘Every Day an Adventure’
And the first Adventure Bike TV ‘Under the Visor’ interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bToV6...
Catch up with Sam on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
His first solo trip was age 16 by bicycle into Europe. Many backpacking, hiking, cycling and hitch hiking journeys later, and back in the UK but wanting to do something completely different, Sam learned to ride a motorcycle. Within 3 months of starting to ride, he set off to travel the length of Africa. This 1-year trip turned into an 8-year, 200,000 mile, around the world motorcycle adventure across 55 countries.
Sam’s 4 'Every Day an Adventure' series books take the reader travelling through the different sections of the eight-year journey. Africa – ‘Into Africa’, Asia and the Middle East – ‘Under Asian Skies’, Southern Africa and South America – ‘Distant Suns’, and North America – ‘Tortillas to Totems’.
His 5th book, released in February 2022, is called ‘The Moment Collectors’. An anthology of 20 authors original work compiled and published with the subtitle ‘Twenty Travellers’ Tales from Around the World.’
Sam now works full time in the world of adventure travel. He’s a keen advocate of motorcycle travel in particular and when not writing his books, magazine articles and conducting multimedia travel presentations within Europe and the USA, he’s very much involved with travel related organisations. Sam is a co-host for Adventure Rider Radio RAW.
In 2017 he was awarded the Overland Magazine ‘Spirit of Adventure’ Award for his contribution to Overlanding.
When he isn’t writing or presenting, Sam and his partner Birgit are usually off riding somewhere.
Find out more about Sam and his travels via his website www.Sam-Manicom.com ‘Every Day an Adventure’
And the first Adventure Bike TV ‘Under the Visor’ interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bToV6...
Catch up with Sam on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 2, 2020
Sam’s third book was a bit different from his first two EPIC adventures…
This time the story (3rd of 4 books spanning 200,000 miles over eight years of adventuring) picks up pretty much where the last one left off. Travelling now with Sam and his beloved Birgit on two bikes!
This third book takes you down through Africa again but at a very different pace. Sam, by now a seasoned traveller experiencing a very different Africa from his experiences of his first book. Then an amazing serendipity whisks them across the ocean and on to South and Central America!
If you’re already hungry for some more adventures of your own, this book will surely whet your appetite further still! If you’re more the type content to live such adventures through the tales of others’ this book is great for that too!
Sam is a natural story-teller, that much is apparent from having read his first two books, this one too is just as good! In fact truth be told, when my copy arrived I devoured the first 100+ pages in a single sitting the morning it had arrived!
Order your copy now, you’ll not be disappointed!
I just thought I’d write a quick testimonial before I start his fourth book (Tortilla to Totems) which just arrived in the post today...
www.sam-manicom.com
This time the story (3rd of 4 books spanning 200,000 miles over eight years of adventuring) picks up pretty much where the last one left off. Travelling now with Sam and his beloved Birgit on two bikes!
This third book takes you down through Africa again but at a very different pace. Sam, by now a seasoned traveller experiencing a very different Africa from his experiences of his first book. Then an amazing serendipity whisks them across the ocean and on to South and Central America!
If you’re already hungry for some more adventures of your own, this book will surely whet your appetite further still! If you’re more the type content to live such adventures through the tales of others’ this book is great for that too!
Sam is a natural story-teller, that much is apparent from having read his first two books, this one too is just as good! In fact truth be told, when my copy arrived I devoured the first 100+ pages in a single sitting the morning it had arrived!
Order your copy now, you’ll not be disappointed!
I just thought I’d write a quick testimonial before I start his fourth book (Tortilla to Totems) which just arrived in the post today...
www.sam-manicom.com
November 23, 2021
Sam´s and Birgit´s third book, Distant Suns takes us on his and Birgit's journey from Mombasa, Kenya to South Africa via Cruise Ship (!) To South America and further south to then head north towards Mexico.
I am very impressed with Birgit, who drives a very slightly modified BMW R60 / 5 from 1971!
She rides this old bike through Africa, South America, USA, on all kinds of surfaces, and this aging bike handles it very well.
This should generate shock waves for anyone who thinks you have to have Touratech - fully equipped BMW GS 1200, Honda Africas, Ducatis, KTM ;s worst, to go out on an RTW at all. (Round The World Trip)
And you understand that she is maybe inexperienced motorcyclist but not a inexperienced traveller She learns to drive (fast as luck would have it!)
They travel slowly and you learn a lot about the countries because the presence from the first books is still there.
A lot happens, but most importantly, the encounters with people, the descriptions of the surroundings are the best thing about the book.
Gunnar / Sweden
November 23, 2022
Great read, wonderful storytelling. In my opinion much better than Ted Simon, less tedious self introspection and more about the places and the things he sees.
February 3, 2023
Would have enjoyed more descriptions of the random people in the places he visited.
June 11, 2025
Read this while biking Africa. Made me want to do the Americas. Loved the little drawings and pictures in the middle.
July 4, 2016
Good to revisit the places I travelled through in South America in the eighties and see them again through someone else's eyes.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews