By Nargess Banks
‘We were planning on making a long-distance trip. Then, in 2005 my girlfriend’s mother gave us a Honda Civic DX as a present and the car gave us the perfect excuse to do it,’ Jon Hancock recalls, as he begins his tale of a road trip that began that year and has thus far covered 97,230 miles.
He hadn’t been planning an expedition as such, but the car gave him the incentive. ‘We thought it would be a great idea to make a journey to the other side of the world and our car’s birthplace in Japan.’
Eight years on the road
Originally from Bristol and with a background in nursing, Jon (39), who is now married to Christine (37), has spent the past eight years travelling around the world through Europe, Iran, Pakistan, China, India, Thailand, Laos, Burma, Russia, South Korea and Japan.
Jon and Christine spent eight years on the road, travelling in their Honda Civic
‘I spent three months in Iran, where the people are very cultured and offer amazing hospitality,’ he says, mentioning noon-khamei, a local pastry-and-cream delicacy that he admits he ‘gorged on’. Asked if he ever felt scared travelling through some of the countries, Jon notes: ‘Some areas of Pakistan were a little dangerous, but overall we felt safe.’
Suzuka, birthplace of the Civic
The highlight of their trip, though, was visiting the birthplace of their Civic in Suzuka, Japan. ‘The welcome we got at the factory was amazing,’ Jon recalls. ‘They took us to the Suzuka Circuit and we did a few laps around the track, taking pictures where famous drivers had driven. It was something I’ll never forget,’ he says.
The car proved to be a great vehicle, too. Even though, at 26 years old, it can almost be classified as a classic car, it managed to take on some pretty hairy roads.
Jon and Christine with their beloved Civic in its birthplace, Suzuka
‘We decided to make this journey to see that dreams can become reality, and that things that can seem impossible are only so due to the limitations of our minds.’
For his next step Jon would like to do one last trip with his Civic – back to the UK across the Pacific for a ‘sojourn’. ‘I want to spend the two last weeks of this journey with my trusted friend drifting in the ocean.’
