Beard learned to ride a motorcycle on
Salisbury Plain at the age of 16. She began her global journey in 1982, after the third year of her architect training course, using a
BMW R60/6 motorcycle. She added soft
panniers, a tank bag and an extra bag lashed to the pillion seat before she embarked on the trip. She began her journey in
New York City,
United States, having shipped the bike from the
United Kingdom. From there, she motorcycled to
Canada and
Mexico and back to the US before shipping her bike to
Sydney,
Australia. In
Townsville,
Queensland, she had an accident which left her hospitalised for two weeks. then she travelled into Asia. In
Thailand, she collided with a dog and recuperated with a local family who fed her the remains of the dog she had crashed into. At the time of the
assassination of Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi, the entire Punjab state was closed. Beard forged the necessary permit to get out of the
Punjab region and travelled into
Pakistan before riding back into Europe via
Turkey. ==Munstead Tower==