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From a young age, self-taught British photographer Alex Gandy dreamed of going on far-flung adventures, inspired by childhood stories of Ernest Shackleton and Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island."
Working as an urban planner in chaotic London, Gandy took up cycling as a temporary escape from city life.
"Zipping through the streets, dodging cars and pedestrians became ... almost a form of meditation," he told Business Insider.
After some hard saving, Gandy came up with a plan. In 2013, he left his job and began training for a massive undertaking: a bike ride across the Asian continent.
Starting in Istanbul, Turkey, Gandy set off on a 15-month journey through 13 countries, encountering hospitality and kindness, as well as countless obstacles, along the way. He used his photography skills to document his travels, keeping a blog of his trip as he went. He also collected money for a charity for children in Nepal.
From a dog bite in Turkey to cluster bombs in Laos, the trip definitely took its toll on Gandy. Still, the freedom and experiences he gained by the nearly 14,000-mile-long adventure were priceless.
"On the road, I could be whoever I wanted to be," he said. "Not everyone has a 22,500-kilometer bike ride to put on their CV."
Gandy has shared photographs from his series, entitled "May Your Footsteps Fall Upon My Eyes."
SEE ALSO: This guy spent 1,000 hours riding Greyhound buses to photograph his 'heroes'
Why a bicycle? "The bicycle gave me the freedom to go just about anywhere I wanted and forced me to travel at such a slow pace that I really got to know the countries I was traveling through," he explained.
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"It's remarkable how just being able to say hello to someone you're passing can completely transform your experience of a place," he said. Here, villagers converse on the side of the road in the eastern Turkish town of Savsat.
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Gandy spent a couple of hours chatting, drinking tea, and playing backgammon with stall owners in the new market building in the Turkish city of Ardahan.
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