I spent a couple of weeks backpacking round Japan with my son back in July. The first thing I realised was that I'd forgotten was just how heavy and unwieldy the d*m rucksacks were. You were not welcome getting on a crowded train or a bus with them and the thought of walking any distance with them in Japanese summer heat and humidity soon went out the window. Loading it all onto a bike when you come out of a hotel in the morning seems a much better idea.

Getting to Japan was easy though - buy a ticket and turn up at the airport. Find somewhere to stay on Hostels.com. Going there by bike would have taken a bit more than the time we had to say the least. Same thing for our previous trip to China. Without Charlie Boormans contacts there wasn't much chance of getting hold of a bike either (even though he arrived in Tokyo two days before we left- you'd have thought he could have passed on his cast-offs. Thanks Charlie!).

For me traveling by bike is a much better idea when it's practical. Yes you have the hassle of security, extra paperwork, worry about accidents / injuries /breakdowns etc but all of these are outweighed by the convenience of being able to go where you want at your pace. I've both backpacked and biked round West Africa and of the two the bike trips were more enjoyable but the backpacking did have its moments - the very pleasant afternoon I spent at the side of the road taking tea and talking to the locals and fellow passengers while the bus driver went 30 miles on a donkey to get a spare part for the bus wouldn't have happened if I'd been on the bike. Neither would my masterclass in how to pick peanuts without getting stung by scorpions have happened without another bus breaking down.

On the other hand spending 24 hrs on (yet another) bus watching a crack in the roof slowly open because too many goats have been loaded onto the roof whilst wondering if it's the gradually worsening intestinal problem or the roof collapse that's going to get me first made me appreciate the bike.

Backpacking - that is moving around a country by public transport carrying all your possessions with you - is harder than it appears - and it gets harder as you get older. Not only physically but also in the way people relate to you. I'm well into my 50's and I was getting some very strange looks from the locals in Japan, looks that my 19yr old son didn't get - a sort of "you're old enough to know better"