When British cannabis enthusiast Roger Boyd* decided he wanted to disprove the lazy stoner myth, he set his mind to an incredible feat: cycling for two years, in three continents, 14 countries, and over 19,000 miles. You might imagine Boyd is the type of man to go big, but he will tell you he simply likes to do things “properly.” What’s certainly clear however, is that he has a passion for cycling, exercise, and cannabis.
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Before Boyd set off on his impressive journey, he was already striving to show that cannabis does not equal laziness. He started a website and a YouTube channel dedicated to his love of combining cannabis with exercise and adventure. He switched to vaporizing from smoking and hoped to set an example of how cannabis can fit into a healthy lifestyle.
In 2015, he set out on his biggest adventure, beginning in his home country of England and ending in Australia two years later. In that time, he would cycle through England, France, Spain, Italy, San Marino, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, Greece, India, Nepal, New Zealand, and Australia–all the while vaping cannabis every twenty miles (about 1-2 hours). We caught up with Boyd to ask him about his experience cycling stoned abroad and what his plans are for the future.
Finding Highs Around the Globe
Nepal (Courtesy of @healthystoner/Instagram)
While it would be easy to guess this adventure was a “highdea,” Boyd says there was no singular ah-ha! moment. Rather, it was an accumulation of ideas. His love of cycling and adventure collided with his passion for a healthy lifestyle and cannabis; thus the urge to disprove the idea that stoners are lazy was born.
Boyd says his packing list included:
- Clothes for all weather
- Camping supplies
- Cooking supplies
- Toiletries
- First aid
- Electrical and mechanical supplies
- Food and water
- Cannabis
“I picked up [cannabis] as I went, sampling the local strains as I traveled,” he said. “Sometimes it would find me, sometimes I had to look for it, but we always managed to find each other.”
Of course, who would not be curious as to what strains aided this incredible mission? Boyd says that in the UK, where cannabis is still illegal, he usually never knew the names of his strains.
The French Alps (Courtesy of @healthystoner/Instagram)
“It’s only recently that suppliers seem to be upping their game and labeling what they sell. For the other 19 years I’ve been an illegal cannabis consumer [in the UK], you ask for an amount, not a strain name.”
As such, much of what he consumed during his journey will remain a mystery. However, that isn’t to say Boyd didn’t come across some interesting strains while traveling, and a few in particular stood out.
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“A friend I’d met in the French Alps sorted me out with some amazing Amnesia Haze which kept me blazed for a month in Italy,” he said. “I had the best Super Lemon Haze in Ibiza, Spain. Indica was all that was on the menu in India. Nepal delivered the best hashish I’ve ever inhaled, and Australia gave a great standard of what they ‘down under’ refer to as Hydro.”
I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends
Italy (Courtesy of @healthystoner/Instagram)
Boyd says that he made lots of friends along the way—an easy feat when attracting attention with a touring bike, and many of these friends turned out to be great smoking buddies.
“I remember meeting some backpackers in the middle of nowhere on the Great Australian Bite—proper remote—and their faces when I offered them some weed vape were priceless,” Boyd said. “I made some good friends in southern Spain and I toked up with a guru in his temple in India, and loads of other Indians and backpackers along the way. Some of the best weed mates I made were in Croatia and Serbia … In Australia I met so many weed enthusiasts; loads of the people I spoke to would pull out a stash of green from their car and hand me a bud!”
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As for the country with the best cannabis? Boyd says Spain, Nepal, and Australia came out on top for stoned adventures, but if he was choosing outside of his cycling journey, it has to be a tie between the US and Canada. This is part of the reason Boyd has set his sights on North America for his next adventure.
“North America would be the dream, perhaps starting in New York and ending in British Columbia, Canada via Colorado, California, and Oregon. That sounds alright,” muses Boyd. As for how many miles he would bike this time? “The only limit is funding. I worked, saved, and paid for the [last] entire trip myself. I’d love to get a sponsor onboard so this could be my job, and then I could cycle 100,000 miles and beyond!”
Living the Dream
Australia (Courtesy of @healthystoner/Instagram)
It’s clear to see Boyd is ambitious, but he is also realistic. He doesn’t pretend his journey was easy.
“I was nervous before I set off for sure,” says Boyd. “I’d done a bit of touring in the past—the length of the UK with a mate and lots of mountain biking both with friends and on my own—but it was a bit scary to be peddling off without a clue as to when I’d be back. It wasn’t any harder than I expected, as I expected it to be hard. The good days were incredible, and the average days were still great. The hard days were indeed hard, but I learned that as long as I kept on peddling—physically and metaphorically—I knew I’d get through them and things would improve, and soon enough they always did.”
So, what advice would Boyd offer to anyone interested in following in his tracks? Go for it! But cautiously.
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“Don’t go around trying to talk to everyone about weed with a cannabis leaf-flag flying off the back of your bike and a joint hanging out of your mouth—that’s assuming you’re doing it somewhere where weed is illegal. If it’s legal, do all of the above. Also, you should already be into riding a bicycle and cannabis. I wouldn’t recommend doing this unless you’re really into both things,” says Boyd.
Boyd also advises caution when choosing location. He says that although he would love to travel in the Middle East and Central Asia, he understood the drug laws are much stricter and more serious, and wisely, he wasn’t willing to take the risk.
For now, Boyd is settled back in Bristol, England, and while he says it was hard in the beginning to be stationary again, he sees the advantages of both life on the road and life in one place. Still, he finds himself dreaming of packing up and heading back out for another adventure. It’s no wonder, because when talking to Boyd, one thing is clear—he has passion, vision, and drive. You won’t find a lazy stoner here.
“I chose to do this because I love cannabis, adventure, and exercise, and I wanted to spend a couple of years doing all three every day.”
* Roger Boyd is an alias to protect his privacy
