Rob Lilwall

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Rob Lilwall (born 1976) is a British-born adventurer, author and motivational speaker who now lives in Singapore and is one of Asia’s most popular professional speakers.

He grew up in London and Shropshire, went to Shrewsbury School, and studied geography at Edinburgh University for four years. After earning a PGCE at Oxford, he taught geography at Larkmead School in Abingdon for two years before quitting to chase adventure.

In 2004 he launched Cycling Home From Siberia, riding from Magadan in northeast Siberia back to his home. He traveled more than 30,000 miles (about 50,000 kilometres) through 28 countries over more than three years, with detours through Papua New Guinea, Australia, Tibet, Afghanistan and Iran. He crossed seas by ferry or by hitchhiking on yachts, cargo ships and dive boats. He was robbed twice, contracted malaria, camped in temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees, and was knocked off by cars twice. He also became the first person to bike across the Kokoda Trail. His book Cycling Home From Siberia was published in 2009 by Hodder & Stoughton; a North American edition followed from Simon & Schuster, and it was translated into several languages. National Geographic created a six-episode TV series from his footage, which aired in Australia in December 2009.

In 2009 Lilwall married Christine Liu, and they moved to Hong Kong, where they worked with the Viva child-at-risk charity, running its Mobilisation Office. He began giving motivational talks across Asia.

In 2011 he walked 3,500 miles from the Gobi Desert town of Sainshand back to Hong Kong in a project called Walking Home From Mongolia. National Geographic produced a TV series about the journey, premiering in December 2013, and Lilwall was joined by cameraman Leon McCarron. He wrote a weekly column for the South China Morning Post during the walk, and Hodder & Stoughton published a new book in 2013, with translations into German and Chinese. He also contributed to NatGeo Traveller and appeared on Time Out, the BBC World Service and BBC Breakfast.

In 2015 Lilwall and Christine rode a tandem from Los Angeles to New York. In 2016 he undertook what he calls his most ambitious expedition: a 71-day solo crossing of China’s Taklamakan Desert, walking about 1,000 kilometres with a home-made cart named Odysseus. He finished in October 2016 and returned just in time for the birth of his first child. He later noted that part of the journey used the Southern Silk Road, so it wasn’t a strict first solo crossing. He wrote four articles for the South China Morning Post about the desert crossing.

Lilwall has supported Viva financially, raising over $100,000 for the charity. He and Christine ran the Hong Kong Viva office from 2010 to 2014, and he later served on the charity’s board. He collaborated closely with his friend Alastair Humphreys, and they remain close, even serving as each other’s best men.

His other expeditions include cycling across Ireland (1995), biking the Karakoram Highway in Pakistan (1997), a trip to Ethiopia (2002), and journeys to Bolivia and Peru (2003). He has walked across Israel from the Golan Heights to Masada, via the West Bank, and did a lap of the M25 in 2010. His Siberia adventures appear in some of Humphreys’ books.

Lilwall is a committed Christian and earned a degree in contextual theology from St Mellitus College, London. He and Christine Liu Lilwall have two children and have lived in Singapore since late 2021. He is currently writing a book about his solo Taklamakan crossing, due to be published by Hodder & Stoughton in 2023, and a film about the expedition is in production with Fforest Films for release at film festivals in 2024. His main work now is as a global corporate, keynote, motivational and inspirational speaker. He has spoken at major conferences for companies like Nike, Adidas, HSBC, UBS, Goldman Sachs and Microsoft, and has given three TEDx talks. He has spoken in about 20 countries and earned the Certified Professional Speaker (CSP) credential from the National Speakers Association in 2017. Since the Covid-19 pandemic he has also given many virtual talks and workshops for clients around the world.