On January 1 2006, in Mauroy, France Jean-Mi pedalled the first leg of what would be a long tour; A tour which saw him cycle through Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Israel, Cyprus, Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia, Italy and Switzerland.

Beyond his strong desire for adventure, Jean-Mi entrusts to the readers of his website his other motivations for accepting such a challenge. In particular he wanted to show to young people that being a Scout is to follow your dreams to the end, to achieve them whatever unforeseen obstacles may appear on the road along the way.

Jean-Michel Chalon meet Steve Fossett in the World Scout Bureau in Geneva

As a missionary of the modern times, Jean Mi, who is disapointed by the decrease in membership numbers of the Scout Movement in France, has not hesitated to "advertise Scouting" to anyone he met during his voyage.

He has also tried to meet as many Scouts as possible on his journey, to identify the characteristics inherent in each country: "In Maghreb for example, I was surprised to note that many of the Scouts are older and that the hierarchy is marked more strongly than in other countries".

And in addition to carrying satchels of food and materials weighing 30kg as he rode, over the course of the four months, this Pablo Neruda fan collected samples of trees along the way. Why? "Quite simply because we Scouts are gardeners of the world, and that the young growths of today are the forests of tomorrow".