AFTER six years spent cycling adventure across six continents for charity a doctor has encouraged others to take on big adventures.

From battling the arid deserts of Syria and Afghanistan to being detained in China on suspicion of espionage, Dr Stephen Fabes had a dramatic journey as he travelled 53,568 miles across 75 different countries from 2010 to 2016.

The 36-year-old said: "I don't think, even after something like this, that your appetite for travel and exploration goes away.

"I wouldn't do it on a bike again, I've got into running so maybe I will do something a bit Forest Gump-esque."

Along his journey he contracted dengue fever, survived volcanic eruptions and towed a roller-blader across Uzbekistan.

His highlight was the generosity and warmth he found while hopping to community to community.

He said: "Because you are on a bike you are a lot more vulnerable.

"People would always offer me a place to stay. I slept in churches, army barracks, fire stations, and often in people's houses."

Over the six years Dr Fabes fundraised £20,000 for medical humanitarian charity Merlin.

More than a year after his adventures finished in February 2016 the Oxford native returned to his home city from London this week to encourage others to take to the world.

Dr Fabes was a key speaker at the North Wall Arts Centre in North Oxford for the Kendal Mountain Festival – dedicated to films, speakers and workshops covering all aspects of mountain and adventure sports.

The former Abingdon School pupil said his advice for anyone itching to travel was to 'just got for it.'

He said: "If you tell people you are going to do it, then you've really got to follow through with it.

"When you start talking about it, you'll find that so many people will come forward to help and try to get it off the ground for you."

As well as documenting his journey online, Dr Fabes will be putting pen to paper and hopes publish a book documenting his last two years of travel.

He added: "It won't be ready for a while yet but it will focus on the final two years of my journey in twenty countries across Asia.

"As well as being an adventure story the book will also explore the foundations of the global health gap and the bonds between marginalisation and disease.

"En route I visited medical projects serving people on the edge of society: those physically separated from the mainstream by distance and hinterland.

"Those economically edged out, scraping by in slums and shanty towns.

"The quest to understand more about inequalities in health represented another journey, running synchronously with the physical one by bicycle.

"By travelling gradually I began to make sense of how health and disease can relate not just to wealth and lifestyle, but to the environment, traditions, beliefs, politics and migration."

For more information and Dr Fabes' next adventures visit cyclingthe6.com