Most people talk about breaking free. Luke Deakin laced up his boots and walked out the front door. No gimmicks. No entourage. Just a backpack, blistered feet, and the stubborn belief that the world is best understood at walking pace. Under the name Chubby Trekka, this quietly fearless Brit is trekking from the UK to Vietnam—through cities and wilderness, heatwaves, lightning storms and hailstorms—carving his path across continents with nothing but grit, humility, and a wry sense of humour. His mission? To prove that you don’t need money, fame or a reason that fits neatly in a sentence. Just heart, and the courage to keep going when no one’s watching. This is more than a walk. It’s a rebellion against comfort, a pilgrimage of presence, and a wild reminder of what we’re capable of—one step at a time.
Luke didn’t set out to break records. He’s not interested in fame, and he isn’t doing this for charity, clout or content. In fact, ask him why he’s walking from the UK to Vietnam, and the answer is refreshingly unmarketable.
“To be a better person,” he says plainly, with the kind of quiet conviction you can’t fake.
Luke left everything behind — work, relationships, comfort — to lace up a pair of boots and head east. No crew. No back-up plan. Just a man with a rucksack, a sense of humour, and a belief that something better lies on the other side of effort.
“There’s no drama to the decision. I just knew I had to go,” he says. “I didn’t want to be stuck anymore.” His initial budget and time estimate was £2000 for an 8-month hike. But “you quickly burn through that” he admits. “The best thing is people are kind, and support and help along the way.” He’s 9 months in and currently 40% of the way through in Georgia. On the border of war, entering a new cultural phase of the trip, the next phase is unknown.
He’s now thousands of kilometres in, with dust-covered ankles, a sun-bleached beard, and a collection of surreal stories that would make any adventurer pause.
A Path Full of Everything
So far, the journey has delivered beauty and brutality in equal measure. Serbia, he says without hesitation, has been his favourite country so far — not just for the landscape but the warmth of its people. “People just stopped me in the street and gave me food. It was that simple.”
And food, it turns out, plays a big role on the road. “Türkiye had the best food. No question. Just incredible,” Luke beams. “That alone could get me walking back through.”
But with long, exposed roads and remote nights in a tent, the risks are real. He recalls one night in particular — everything dead silent until something began moving outside his tent.
“There was just this rustling. Not a twig snap. Not the wind. Something that knew I was there. I lay completely still, holding my breath,” he says. “Those moments mess with your head. I didn’t sleep a wink that night.” He then admits “That night I told my brother to call for help if he received no news within 24 hours.”
Still, nothing compares to the lightning storm.
“I genuinely thought I was going to die,” he says. “I was running through this open plain — bolts slamming into the ground nearby — and I just kept thinking, this is how it ends. But I couldn’t stop. There was nowhere to go. So I just ran.”
And he filmed it. Not for views. Not for drama. “Because that’s literally my life. If I’m going to tell this story honestly, I’ve got to show the terrifying parts too.”
It was in Türkiye that Luke’s solo journey became a duet. Sophie Tang, from Destination Happiness, joined him for the trip. “Having someone else there, it just makes it all feel easier,” Luke says. “You’ve got someone to laugh with when things go wrong, to share the silence, to push through the tough days. It’s not about going faster — it’s about not feeling so alone.” Their time walking together brought fresh energy, and a reminder that even a deeply personal mission can be made lighter through shared miles. Sophie, calm as you like was at a crossroad in her life “I just finished one chapter, and wanted to create content, and Luke had asked me to join, so I hopped on a flight and came.” She runs her own separate channel, but can be seen silently in Luke’s “This is his journey, so I don’t want to be in the way or steal the limelight, that’s why I appear quieter.”
She’s quite the contrary. Way more social, open to more strangers, and efficient. They fit hand in hand, which is essential for travellers as nerves can creep in quickly if your buddy annoys you.
You can see that these two are in no rush. They want to enjoy their path through the world. Sometimes, they are only chasing visa deadlines, which happened to mean they need to go back to Türkiye to make up for missed kilometres due to a calculation error. Adding those kms back is important to Luke. “I’m doing this for myself, I’d be lying to you and myself if I didn’t do them, so I documented it well, and we’ll make them back soon.”
Why Walk?
When asked why he didn’t just travel normally — take a plane, maybe a bike — Luke shrugs. “Walking is the most honest way to see the world. You’re exposed. You’re slow. You can’t fake your way through it.”
Every blister, every rainy morning, every kind stranger who shares a cup of tea becomes part of a tapestry stitched by effort. The slowness is the point.
And so is the vulnerability.
“There’s something about not knowing where you’ll sleep, or what you’ll eat, or who you’ll meet. It forces you to listen. It makes you humble.”
There’s a thread of stoicism running through everything Luke says, but never in a way that feels performative. He’s not a martyr for discomfort — he just believes discomfort is where growth lives.
What Happens After Vietnam?
That’s the question he gets asked the most. What comes next? Is this it? Is Vietnam the finish line?
“I don’t know,” he admits. “Probably a break. But maybe… maybe it’s just the beginning.”
He doesn’t say it for effect. You get the feeling that this man — who once lived in the machine of modern life, and chose instead to start walking — is now tuned into something quieter. Something wilder.
Luke doesn’t have all the answers. That’s sort of the point.
A little life advice
“Just go for it,” he said, embracing life. But Luke later had bigger ideas for me, the editor of BOMBA. “Start a Youtube podcast channel, man. It’d be incredible!”
That it would be Luke, and who am I to ignore the advice of a man who just walked half the globe? I left our convo feeling energized, and knowing he’d support a pod is huge. Thanks for that, my little personal takeaway from another profound and brilliant Bomba interview.
A Different Kind of Hero
In a time when algorithms reward noise and filters, Luke and Sophie’s walk is an act of radical simplicity. It’s slow. It’s hard. It’s real. And it’s rooted in a desire not to escape life, but to meet it fully — one step at a time.
He doesn’t pretend to have a cause or a plan or a lesson for anyone else. But if there’s something to take from his journey, it’s this:
You don’t have to be the fastest, the strongest, or the loudest. You just have to start.
Oh and btw, thanks to Luke, you’ll never say the word Vietnam the same again! VYETNAAAAAM!
Subscribe to their journeys here: https://www.youtube.com/@Chubbytrekka and Sophie’s podcast is live: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLa9HWrk0m_q5KKqXU5w8BhWIImTu8obIi
