© Copyright 2003
Sophie Binder Designs

The World, two wheels, and a sketchbook.

In April of 2001 I embarked from Saint louis, MO on a 14 months journey which was the fullfillment of a long-time dream: circle the globe on my bicycle, sketchbooks and watercolors in the bags.

14,000 miles later, 15 countries further, my soul full of memories for a life time, I rolled back into Saint louis, MO with a much more personal vision of the World.

As I was going back to some sort of sedentary life, I found the best therapy was to dive into my next daunting project: publish a book on my journey. This book is to be a "Carnet de Voyage" as we say in French, where drawings are very much a part of the story, because they are at the core of the journey.

And yes I am still trying to find a publisher!

I came back with about 600 sketches and from these and some photos, created a presentation trying to capture the essence of my journey, drawing being the way I anchored my memories and triggered communication when words were irrelevant.

I have shared these images and stories with audiences in schools, universities as well as private venues and found it to be very fulfilling. The response has been extraordinary. The journey itself, of a woman traveling alone on her bike intrigues many, but the drawing dimension has definitely added a spark to people curiosity.vI'll be happy to show these slides to any organizations that would be interested.