An intrepid man is walking from the UK to Vietnam in a year after a drunken dare.
Luke Deakin set off on foot last September and plans to arrive in Vietnam in under 450 days.
The 31-year-old is trekking almost 10,000 miles with just a backpack after his friends teased that he’d never be able to make it.
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He’ll pass through 23 countries in total.
Luke is currently in Turkey after walking through France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece.
His next steps will take him through Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia before finally making it to Vietnam.
“It’s brutal and my body is constantly in pain but I love it,” Luke, from Stratford-upon-Avon, West Mids, said.
“Some days, I’m completely drained and other days I feel unstoppable.
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“The hardest part is showing up every day no matter how tired I am.
“Looking back at how far I’ve walked is insane and it doesn’t feel real sometimes.
“When I crossed into Turkey, I realised I’d walked through four time zones and coming up to 4,000km.
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“I was stood outside a mosque and I couldn’t actually believe I’d walked there.
“It started as a wild idea, just something I jokingly mentioned when I was drinking with friends.
“They laughed at me and said I would never make it but the more I thought about it, the more I realised it was possible.
“I wanted to do something that pushed my limits and to prove normal people can achieve great things.”
Luke says the physical strain, weather and local wildlife are the biggest challenges he’s faced so far.
He said: “Originally, I planned to do it in eight months but I soon realised I wouldn’t be able to do it that fast.
“The weather has been pretty crap at times with freezing cold, heavy rain and crazy winds.
“There’s also the physical strain. Walking 40 kilometres a day takes it’s toll.
“Border crossings, visa issues and wild animals are an issue but it’s all part of the adventure.
“Some days there aren’t any shops for miles and you have to carry a lot more food which an be tiring.
“I’m not in a major rush and I’m trying to enjoy each place as I pass through.”
Luke says he didn’t do any preparation other than packing light with a tent, sleeping bag, clothes, water filtration, a first aid kit, wash bag and five power banks.
He said: “I didn’t really prepare anything except my route, and a clothes in my backpack to keep me going for a couple of days.
“I knew I had to pack light and have enough space in my bag for food and water.
“My backpack weighs around 11kg without water.
“My advice to anyone wanting to start a journey like this is to just begin. You will learn so much along the way.”
Luke wakes at 8.30am every day and is on the road half-an-hour later.
He covers around 24 miles per day, staying in budget accommodation or camping in his tent.
Luke said: “Every day is different.
“I normally start the day with local breakfast and stock up on snacks for the day.
“Every 10 kilometres, I take a 20 to 30 minute break to stretch my legs and enjoy the peace and quiet.
“I try and chat with the locals, explore the local towns, stopping off and trying local beer.
“At sunset, I start thinking about where to camp.
“In some countries, camping is frowned upon so I have to find a place out of the way but remember that there are bears and wolves.
“As for showering, I use hotel showers and if I’m camping I use wet wipes or most gas stations have a shower.
“There’s also an app that shows you all the active shower points.”
Luke took a ferry from Dover to Calais and will need to sail from Azerbaijan to Kazakhstan, as reported by Need to Know.
He said: “People have joked and said I should have walked on water between Dover and Calais.
“I’ll need to take a boat across the Caspian Sea, avoiding Iran and Russia.
“Azerbaijan’s borders have been closed to tourists since 2020.
“There’s talk of them opening soon but if they don’t, I’ll walk to the border, touch the gates in Georgia, get a bus to Tbilisi airport, fly to Azerbaijan, get a bus to the other side of the border and touch the gates in Azerbaijan.
“I’ll be gutted if I have to do this because I wanted to do it all on foot but I have to be open minded and sometimes it’s not that easy.
“Apart from that, it’s all on foot. Every step of the way.”
He says his friends and family thought he was bluffing when he told them that he planned on taking on the challenge.
Photographer Luke said: “My friends and family thought I was mad but some of them were excited.
“Some assumed that I wouldn’t go through with it.
“Now I’m months in, they’ve come around and are fully supportive.”
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