Sierra Blogging Post Archives

If you've ever wondered how long it would take to skateboard around the world, the answer is about two and a half years.

New Zealander Rob Thomson just returned home after a two-and-a-half-year skateboard journey around the world. Thomson was working in Japan when his contract came up for renewal. Instead of renewing it, he decided to head back to New Zealand - the long way.

Thomson began his journey on a bicycle but quickly moved on to a skateboard for the rest of the trip. He set a Guinness world record for the "Longest Journey by Skateboard" and spent about $15,000 in total on flights, meals and accommodations.


"I only planned to trial skateboard 1500km from Switzerland to England to see if it was an efficient way to travel," he said in this article on Stuff.co.nz. "I'm all about efficient transport. If it was going to be some macho thing I had to push through, I wouldn't have carried on but it was fine - more physically demanding than the bike but not so much that I couldn't take it."

Thomson spent time in the Caribbean, China, Turkey, and Kyrgyzstan (among other places), but he said the United States and Uzbekistan were the most hospitable and generous countries he visited.

The long-distance skateboarder traveled 12,159 km in total, but three seemed to be his lucky number. He crashed three times during the journey, went through three pairs of shoes, three sets of skateboard wheels and three skateboard decks. Not bad for 2 1/2 years of skating around the world.

"I wanted to be able to do this and still have enough energy to communicate and connect with the local people. It wasn't about skateboarding - it was about getting round and experiencing where I was," said Thomson. "I'm just keen to promote traveling under human power. It has so many benefits; it's sustainable and good for your health."