London to Beijing along the old Silk Road

Dear friends, in two weeks I will be embarking on the most ambitious trip of my life, the trip I always dreamed of.

I will be travelling from London to Beijing by land crossing 17 countries and 40,000km over four months.

The aim is to follow the old Silk Road - the network of ancient trading routes along which goods, ideas and technologies flowed for thousands of years - and to document it as it is today through the people people, places and cultures I encounter along the way.

Travelling by road, I hope to discover and learn about what connects the various cultures found along the route, what we borrow from each other and what we share. When I return, these stories will form part of a photographic exhibition that will allow visitors to take a journey along the Silk Road themselves and to learn more about its history and reemergence today. I am very grateful to my boss Matt Reed and the Aga Khan Foundation for sharing in this vision, supporting this project and allowing me the time to undertake this endeavour.

On 23 June, I set off from King’s Cross St Pancras in London and from there will be travelling to France; Italy; Croatia; Bosnia & Herzegovina; Montenegro; Albania; Greece; Turkey; Iran; Turkmenistan; Uzbekistan; Kyrgyzstan; Tajikistan; Afghanistan (tbc); Pakistan; and China.

I look forward to sharing photos, videos and stories from this journey soon.

🙏