In 2022, Bobby Bolton lost almost everything: his relationship of 11 years ended, his construction business collapsed, and he found himself living in a mouldy caravan on a derelict farm in Hertfordshire with only a few hundred pounds to his name. His mother feared he was suicidal, but Bolton refused to move back home to Wigan, feeling it would be 'the ultimate defeat'.
On a weekend visit north, a chance encounter in a pub with a couple driving a battered Land Rover Defender with a 'Family Expedition' bumper sticker sparked a life-changing idea. 'I suddenly realised what I needed was to get out on the road like them,' Bolton says. 'I wanted to rediscover my purpose.'
Three years later, the 33-year-old has travelled through 53 countries across three continents, covering more than 42,000 miles in an adapted MAN truck. Along the way, he amassed over 380,000 Instagram followers and fell in love with Marie Deleval, a 30-year-old French woman he met in the second week of his travels. They are now engaged and planning their next adventure: a journey through Mongolia and Siberia in a converted eight-wheel-drive military truck.
'I ended up answering all those questions: I want to live in the truck, I want to live with Marie and I want to be an overlander, exploring the world,' Bolton says. His mantra, 'Don't let who you are today stop you from being who you could be tomorrow,' reflects his belief that change is always possible.
Bolton describes himself as an 'overlander' rather than a traveller or backpacker, emphasising the independent, uncurated nature of his experiences. 'We go on dirt tracks and back roads, travelling through society,' he explains. 'We get an insight into people's lives and might reach places where they've never seen a foreigner before.' His adventures are chronicled in his new book, Truck It!, written in a conversational style full of 'plucky British attitude'.
Now back in Wigan for a brief rest, Bolton and Deleval are eager to hit the road again. 'It's amazing to be able to do laundry and have home-cooked food,' Bolton laughs. 'But we will get itchy feet. We have a taste for it now.'
