For six years, a former motorbike racing star has been traveling the world barefoot.

Photo Credit (Gettyimges)

Axel Pons, a former Moto2 World Championship racer, made a significant lifestyle change six years ago when he made the decision to go barefoot around the world.

Early in his motorcycle racing career, Axel Pons had a lot to live up to as the son of the renowned Sito Pons, a two-time MotoGP champion. He chose to take a hiatus from motorcycle racing and concentrate on fashion despite some encouraging results in the Moto2 World Championship, with a 16th place finish in the 2016 season serving as the pinnacle of his racing career. Expectations were very high, but so was the strain on his shoulders. He worked as a fashion model for a while before going missing and then coming back in 2019 to do an interview with the Spanish daily El Pais, where he stated that he wanted to calm down and move on from his previous life. However, the type of transformation that was about to occur was unexpected.

Pons recently told a roadside journalist, “I started to wonder what the point of living such a fast life is.” “My story is lengthy, but I can tell you that I decided to let go of everything and just grab a backpack and go for a walk after I started walking three years ago.”

Recently, a YouTube video of Axel Pons strolling through Pakistan went viral. He told the guy filming that he had been going barefoot for the past six years, only wearing a pair of crocks when he had to. He was wearing thick dreads, a dirty appearance, and no shoes. As evidence, he even showed the camera his black, hardened soles, which undoubtedly looked like they had seen a lot of wear and tear.

Pons, who competed in ten Moto2 seasons between 2008 and 2017, began his voyage in his home country of Spain in Western Europe. He strolled leisurely eastward while taking in the beauty of his surroundings.

When I felt ready, around 15 months ago, I made the decision to begin traveling east toward the sun. In an earlier video that was uploaded to the Wahaj Ali.B YouTube account, Pons stated, “This is what I’ve been doing this past year, and it’s been beautiful.” “I started moving more and more slowly, until I’m now taking my time and enjoying the little things in life.”

The former motorbike racer went on to say, “It’s nothing special; it came naturally.” Eventually, it made more sense to walk, let up of everything we had accumulated over our lives, and simply want to be completely united with Allah, or God. Walking is the method we use for practice.

Axel started his 6,500-kilometer journey from Spain to Pakistan 15 months ago, although he has been walking barefoot around the world for almost six years. It seems that he intended to proceed to India, but visa issues prevented him from crossing the border. At this point, he is thinking of trekking into China and attempting to enter India from there.