Journeys are linear, chronological things. They have a beginning, a middle and an end. Books are exactly the same. It’s a perfect fit. Start at the start. Keep going till you get to the end. And this is one of the reasons why so many travel books are very boring. Because what actually strikes me out on the road is how cyclical life is. Even more than back in the routine real world that I sneer at, life on the road is a circle of repeating routines.

Great expeditions are nothing more than a series of mundane single days, sprinkled with occasional bursts of terror or joy. Too many travel books ignore this, at their cost.

“I got up and I walked very far… I slept in a field. I got up and I walked very far… I slept in a field. I got up and I walked very far… I slept in a field. I got up and I walked very far… I slept in a field. I got up and I walked very far… I slept in a field…. ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz”

So I wanted to try to find a way to tell this story differently. I decided to write the entire book as though it was one day, one cycle. But I really wanted to find a non-linear way to tell the tale.

And I found it. I am so excited about the Foldedsheet “mappazine” version of my book.

Bear with me while I explain myself: Imagine a map. The huge, fold out, Ordnance Survey hiking maps. Open it right out and it’s as wide as you can stretch your arms. You can’t absorb it all at once (unless it’s laid out on the floor and you’re drinking tea and dreaming of adventure). So you unfold it bit by bit, section by section. Once you get the hang of it you can turn it round, flip it over, rotate it and yet still have an idea of how the point you are looking at fits in to the whole.

…Still with me..?

I took my book and distilled it down to about 9000 words. The more you delete the better a book gets. I picked about a hundred photos to tell the tale. And I told my tale across the “map”.

You can explore it how you wish. You can dip in and out. It’s up to you. It’s even got two totally different front covers depending on which way you pick it up.

One side of my “map” covers a single day on the road, from dawn until night. It’s all you really need to know about my adventures for all I do is repeat that cycle over and over…

The other side of the “map” explores my motivation for taking on these sorts of journeys: challenge, solitude, fun, curiosity…

This is the most excited I have been about the potential of a new project since I self-published my first book five years ago. I really believe you’ll agree this Foldedsheet is worth a fiver. (I’mll happily refund you if you don’t.) Better still, buy 10 and give them to everyone in your office. Buy 20 for every kid in your child’s class. Buy 100 for delegates at your next event. If I’mve piqued your curiosity you can have a preview of the look here, or watch this 25 second video.

I like this project so much that I really want to ship a lot of copies of it. That is why I have offered serious reductions for purchasing multiple copies. It’s a project I am really proud of and I want to spread it wide.

Buy your “mappazine” here, for just £5. Worldwide delivery. [UPDATE: Sold out, at last!]

What do you think? Did I explain it sufficiently? Do you think it sounds interesting or will you prefer a normal book? Please do have your say in the comments.