Tim was the only Long Rider in attendance who was actually in the saddle at the time of the meeting of Long Riders at the RGS. To honour his historic journey, he was inducted as a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, the first time a Long Rider on a journey had received such an honour. English Long Rider Sir John Ure, also a Fellow of the RGS, congratulated Tim and presented him with the document making him a Long Rider Fellow.
After riding 6,000 miles, news of Tim’s safe arrival in Romania made the news around the world. Here are just two examples.
BBC -
Three-year Genghis Khan trek ends
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7009390.stm
National Geographic – On the Trail of Genghis Khan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBFGLm5HwXY&list=WL6FEE88223614E213
After his return to Australia, Tim made a documentary film about his extraordinary ride. It immediately began garnering awards from around the world.
'Peoples Choice Award,' Banff (Canada) 2011
'Grand Prize' & 'Best Mountain Culture Film,' Vancouver, (Canada) 2012
'Grand Prize' Bratislava, (Slovakia) 2012
'Peoples Choice,' Wanaka (NZ) 2012
'National TV Award,' Domzale, (Slovenia) 2012
'Prize of Jury' Graz, (Austria) 2010
'Best Adventure Film,' Prague, (Czech) 2010
'Best Adventure Film,' Teplice (Czech) 2011
'Best Adventure Film,' Bulgaria 2011.
The moment the film was completed Tim began work on a book about his journey. He had already published a previous travel tale. But his second book was far more ambitious, as it included a tremendous amount of historical, cultural and religious information about the nomads which Tim lived among for three years. Tim’s book, “On the Trail of Genghis Khan: An Epic Journey through the land of the Nomads,” was released in 2013.
After having overcome the hardships of the journey, and having his book and film released, Tim returned to the Royal Geographical Society to present a lecture in London. These Monday night lecture at the RGS are usually sparsely attended.
Not on this occasion.
The entire auditorium was filled to capacity. An additional 150 people were seated in an adjacent room where they heard and saw Tim via a video link. But more than 200 people were turned away at the door. It was an incredible demonstration of the intense appeal of Tim’s journey on the public’s imagination.
In 2014 British Long Rider Robin Hanbury-Tenison (right) attended Tim’s lecture at the RGS and later praised his courage and literary skills.