NOTE: Please turn on annotations for the story.

In one week, Scott Stoll lost his job, his best friend, his girlfriend and his confidence. Disillusioned with society, full of angst, a lost and wandering soul with nothing left to lose, Stoll asked himself a question: If I only have one life, one chance, if I could do anything, what would I do? Re-imagine the journey: http://www.FallingUphill.com/

His answer resulted in a 4 year and 25,742 mile journey around the world by bicycle seeking answers to the great mysteries of life, vowing to find happiness or die trying. The quest wasn't easy. He was imprisoned, held hostage, mugged, run over, suspected of terrorism, accused of espionage, trampled, diseased, heartbroken—he nearly died a dozen times. But more importantly, he also discovered the wonders of the world, kindness among strangers, the meaning of life, peace, love and—Yes!—happiness, in the most unlikely places.

Re-live and re-imagine a journey around the world on a bicycle as a man stumbles through moments of pure survival and moments of pure enlightenment.

If you could do anything, what would you do?

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More about how this video was made: Scott took all these photographs with a film camera, without ever knowing what they looked like? And he only took one picture of each thing, such as the Sphinx. It is quite a contrast to using a modern digital camera where anyone can see their picture instantly and take as many as needed to get the perfect shot.

This is the short version of my new widescreen, hi-def version with never-before-seen footage. A Youtube featured video and specially requested for the 2010 Boston Bicycle Film Festival. Now with annotations.