Apprehensions are to be expected as baggage when an almost 60 year-old dreams of sauntering through Europe alone. Many might consider themselves too old to risk it. For most, a solo trip is as good as ruled out, while one on a two-wheeler might as well be considered the start of descent into dotage. But Subhash Inamdar has no concern for convention. And having completed a solo 100-day bike trip across a continent he has been longing to visit for the past 15 years, he is a happy man with little regret in life. His glass — as he puts it — is definitely half full.

“I have biked all over India two times over. I have even travelled to the (supposedly) highest pass in the world, Khardung La in Ladakh, twice,” says the Vasai resident, who runs an industrial hardware store. “I had first dreamt of travelling to Europe 15 years ago, but at that time my kids were too young and there were many expenses to take care of.” It was only when Inamdar stumbled upon Dhirubhai Ambani’s words of wisdom that he realised that to achieve his dream, he would need to work towards it.