Deakin, 32, set off in September 2024 after making a promise during a trip to Da Nang a year earlier. He has since reached Kazakhstan, roughly the halfway point of his 15,000-km walk.
Although the journey is taking longer than planned, it has gained new meaning along the way. Deakin is now walking with his girlfriend, Sophie, and Belle, a stray dog they rescued in Georgia.
Luke and Sophie first met as friends in Hanoi in 2022 and discovered a shared passion for travel. When Deakin reached Turkey, he invited Sophie to join him for one month. The experience quickly changed the course of the journey.
“That was the perfect moment to ask her to be my girlfriend, and she said yes,” Luke said, calling it the happiest day of his life.
In Georgia, the couple’s journey took another unexpected turn when a stray dog began following them everywhere. They named her Belle. One day, Belle was hit by a car that fled the scene.
The couple treated her head wounds and called a veterinarian, who advised them to continue walking and leave Belle in professional care.
“As we were walking, the vet’s car sped past us, and I had this feeling they were going to leave her there to die,” Luke recalled.
He returned to the site but found only bloodstains, signs the dog had dragged herself away. On a second return, another stray dog led them to Belle, lying still nearby.
The couple eventually took Belle through seven surgeries and completed the paperwork to adopt her.
Luke, Sophie and Belle in Georgia. Photo courtesy of Luke Deakin |
Traveling largely on foot has brought constant challenges. In remote areas where hotels were unavailable, locals often stepped in. In Siberia, a shop owner let the trio sleep on the floor rather than camp in the snow. At times, the cold was so severe they were unable to sleep at all.
Wildlife also posed risks. In Turkey, the couple spotted footprints and realized a brown bear was nearby. Turning back would have cost three days, so they pressed on, carrying bear spray and a knife and blowing whistles every few minutes to scare animals away.
In early December, Deakin paused his walk after a friend invited him to help flood victims in Vietnam. Moved by images he saw online, he flew to Nha Trang and surrounding areas, helping raise about US$60,000 to support 600 families.
The experience, he said, highlighted how much people in the U.K. often take clean water, education and protection from natural disasters for granted.
After the relief work, Deakin spent time in Hanoi and Ha Giang to recover. Catching his reflection near St. Joseph’s Cathedral, he was reminded he had worn the same clothes for weeks. On the road, he explained, every gram counts.
On Dec. 17, he flew back to Kazakhstan to reunite with Sophie and prepare for the most difficult stretch of the journey ahead. The pair expect to walk four to five days at a time without mobile signal. To prepare, Deakin built a cart from a supermarket trolley to carry 70 liters of water and alerted the British Embassy for emergency support.
Despite the challenges, he remains undeterred. Having once lived three months in Hanoi without a phone or social media, Deakin believes he can handle the isolation.
He plans to complete the journey in late 2026 or mid-2027.
“Strength isn’t about feeling powerful every day,” he said. “It’s about continuing to move forward.”
“Just start.”
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