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Miles & Miles: A Lifetime of Travel in Asia and Latin America
This imaginative and beautifully written new book is entirely fresh and genuinely thrilling.
Compelling true stories bursting with real-life charismatic dramatis personae: the sweet and delightful Yukari from Singapore where organised crime and love become entangled - Gorbat, the bold and considerate Afghan tribesman - Shu, a shrewd but controlling Chinese oligarch are but a few.
Miles, a natural-born traveller with an open mind whose wanderlust adventures are illustrated by a descriptive narrative drawn from powerful themes as tensions mount and contrasting stories unfold.
Miles & Miles is split into two eras. On the Road represents the globetrotting years of 1973 to 1981, when Miles is a wide-eyed, curious young man, hungry for new experiences. He begins with an overland journey from England to Australia and back again followed by a spell as an expedition driver in the Near East; thereafter his roaming moves on through the Soviet Union to the Far East.
In-between these two eras, Miles pursues a career which evolves into running his own company. Once this activity takes him overseas, he reconnects with the world at large, and the second era, On Assignment, is underway. Although cushioned by an executive lifestyle, the real soul and spirit of a now seasoned traveller remains as he journeys into Latin America, China and Asia from 1998 to 2006, the events of which shape the remainder of his life.
Compelling true stories bursting with real-life charismatic dramatis personae: the sweet and delightful Yukari from Singapore where organised crime and love become entangled - Gorbat, the bold and considerate Afghan tribesman - Shu, a shrewd but controlling Chinese oligarch are but a few.
Miles, a natural-born traveller with an open mind whose wanderlust adventures are illustrated by a descriptive narrative drawn from powerful themes as tensions mount and contrasting stories unfold.
Miles & Miles is split into two eras. On the Road represents the globetrotting years of 1973 to 1981, when Miles is a wide-eyed, curious young man, hungry for new experiences. He begins with an overland journey from England to Australia and back again followed by a spell as an expedition driver in the Near East; thereafter his roaming moves on through the Soviet Union to the Far East.
In-between these two eras, Miles pursues a career which evolves into running his own company. Once this activity takes him overseas, he reconnects with the world at large, and the second era, On Assignment, is underway. Although cushioned by an executive lifestyle, the real soul and spirit of a now seasoned traveller remains as he journeys into Latin America, China and Asia from 1998 to 2006, the events of which shape the remainder of his life.
- GenresTravel
290 pages, Paperback
Published February 24, 2026
About the author
Miles W. Hewitt
10 books12 followersMiles Hewitt was born in Northumberland, England during the 1950s and left home at midnight on his fifteenth birthday driven by a desire to travel.
This fascination with travel began in the summer of his childhood. Their family of three motored in a Morris Minor from the North East of England to the South Coast to visit grandparents. It was a drive time of twelve hours. For the duration Miles slid around on the smooth bench seat in silence, enthralled by the ever changing scenery. When they eventually clambered out of the car, a disparity in ambience was distinctly evident.
What stuck in his mind was the polarity of sound between the two locations. At the seaside on the English Channel, the rippling waves rolled ashore over the smooth round pebbles, poppling, purling and babbling. In contrast to the Northumberland coastline, where rolling breakers trimmed by frothy foam flopped onto the sandy shoreline with a ruffle, a splosh and a splash.
In fact everyday acoustics played a major part in his craving to uncover more from this exciting world. In class at school, Miles could hear the captivating boom of foghorns shrouded in mist on the River Tyne, evoking a desire to become a stowaway aboard a cargo ship and sail to exotic lands. At night in bed he would listen to the metallic pounding of locomotives on the East Coast Railway - spellbound by their lonesome whistle - as they thundered through the station en route to London or Edinburgh. Miles dreamt of being a hobo while scaling these monstrous metal structures and freighthopping to faraway cities.
In 1973 as wide-eyed curious young man with an open mind, hungry for new experiences, he made an overland journey from England to Australia. After the return trip from Perth to London, Miles became an expedition driver in the Near East; thereafter his roaming moved on through the Soviet Union to the Far East.
He pursued a career in commerce which evolved into running his own company. Once this activity took him overseas, Miles reconnected with the world at large. Although cushioned by an executive lifestyle, the real soul and spirit of a now seasoned traveller remained as he journeyed into Latin America, China and Asia, the events of which shaped the remainder of his life.
Miles returned to his native Northumberland together with his Mexican wife, Irma, to write his first travel novel, Miles & Miles, published in 2018.
This fascination with travel began in the summer of his childhood. Their family of three motored in a Morris Minor from the North East of England to the South Coast to visit grandparents. It was a drive time of twelve hours. For the duration Miles slid around on the smooth bench seat in silence, enthralled by the ever changing scenery. When they eventually clambered out of the car, a disparity in ambience was distinctly evident.
What stuck in his mind was the polarity of sound between the two locations. At the seaside on the English Channel, the rippling waves rolled ashore over the smooth round pebbles, poppling, purling and babbling. In contrast to the Northumberland coastline, where rolling breakers trimmed by frothy foam flopped onto the sandy shoreline with a ruffle, a splosh and a splash.
In fact everyday acoustics played a major part in his craving to uncover more from this exciting world. In class at school, Miles could hear the captivating boom of foghorns shrouded in mist on the River Tyne, evoking a desire to become a stowaway aboard a cargo ship and sail to exotic lands. At night in bed he would listen to the metallic pounding of locomotives on the East Coast Railway - spellbound by their lonesome whistle - as they thundered through the station en route to London or Edinburgh. Miles dreamt of being a hobo while scaling these monstrous metal structures and freighthopping to faraway cities.
In 1973 as wide-eyed curious young man with an open mind, hungry for new experiences, he made an overland journey from England to Australia. After the return trip from Perth to London, Miles became an expedition driver in the Near East; thereafter his roaming moved on through the Soviet Union to the Far East.
He pursued a career in commerce which evolved into running his own company. Once this activity took him overseas, Miles reconnected with the world at large. Although cushioned by an executive lifestyle, the real soul and spirit of a now seasoned traveller remained as he journeyed into Latin America, China and Asia, the events of which shaped the remainder of his life.
Miles returned to his native Northumberland together with his Mexican wife, Irma, to write his first travel novel, Miles & Miles, published in 2018.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 31, 2018
Enjoyable travelogue spanning the globe, not full of adventure but certainly not dull either.
February 9, 2019
This book is very easy to read. Miles Hewitt writes about his travels through Asia during the 70's and his business travels in later years. He gives you the experiences without the dragging of to many details. I highly recommend this book
April 20, 2020
This is a highly readable and thought provoking book, especially for the inveterate traveller who remembers a time, in the not too distant past, when the world seemed so strange and different from the modern, globalised society that we have come to know today.
Miles Hewitt combines his intrinsic inquisitiveness for travel with his marvellous description of the local food which he encounters along his way and assiduously explores irrespective of his personal concerns and traditional European values. This is a remarkable journey undertaken by a young man pursuing his dreams of exploration and his sexuality at time when the world seemed so distant and remote to the vast majority of us.
Miles Hewitt combines his intrinsic inquisitiveness for travel with his marvellous description of the local food which he encounters along his way and assiduously explores irrespective of his personal concerns and traditional European values. This is a remarkable journey undertaken by a young man pursuing his dreams of exploration and his sexuality at time when the world seemed so distant and remote to the vast majority of us.
February 28, 2019
I found it hard to believe that the author, at such a young age, had all these adventures. Perhaps he did, but his account sounds fanciful to me.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews