Sean Drysdale, a retired physician from Glengormley in County Antrim, has undertaken an ambitious global expedition to locate and visit every place named Belfast across the planet. His journey, conducted entirely on a motorcycle manufactured in the 1970s, has taken him through Africa, North America, Oceania, and Asia—encountering wars, border closures, accidents and extreme weather along the way.
Drysdale identified at least 26 locations worldwide bearing the Belfast name. According to earlier reporting on his project, the quest encompasses 19 communities in North America alone, including two in Canada and 17 across the United States, alongside destinations in South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and Jamaica. His expedition began in 2023 and has evolved into a multi-year undertaking that continues to expand.
The first phase of his odyssey took him through Africa to reach Belfast, South Africa. His North American leg, which started in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and concluded in Washington state, required him to navigate across much of the United States and Canada. The subsequent stages carried him to New Zealand and Australia before he attempted a return journey through conflict zones in the Asian subcontinent and the Middle East.
What happened during the New Zealand phase?
The third segment of his journey unfolded in New Zealand following essential repairs to his aging motorcycle. Drysdale rode along the east coast of the North Island before crossing to the South Island to locate Belfast, situated just north of Canterbury. The landscape impressed him deeply, with its dramatic contrasts between snow-capped peaks and coastal vistas.
"The variety of the landscapes is just incredible. You're looking at mountains with the snow on, then you're looking at the sunshine sparkling on the sea."
He noted that New Zealand's true scale often surprises visitors.
"If you put an overlay of New Zealand on Europe it stretches from northern Scandinavia almost all the way down to Spain, so it's a very, very long country."
However, several weeks into the New Zealand portion, disaster struck. While attempting to overtake a truck, his motorcycle left the road and ended up in a ditch, with Drysdale himself landing in hospital. He sustained a fractured hand, and the bike was initially deemed beyond economical repair. During his recuperation and while the motorcycle underwent restoration, he flew to Australia to visit Port Fairy, a settlement formerly known as Belfast.
"There's still lots of Belfast named things there,"he observed of the Australian location.
How did geopolitical conflicts disrupt his return route?
Drysdale's plan to return to France, where he now resides, involved shipping his motorcycle to India, then riding through Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and across Europe. The journey was derailed by escalating tensions between nations. When India and Pakistan entered into military conflict, the border between them closed, preventing his planned overland passage.
Unable to proceed with his original itinerary, he arranged to have his motorcycle shipped to Dubai instead. He flew to Islamabad to meet his two sons, Jack and Luca, where the three hired smaller motorcycles for an improvised two-week expedition through the mountains of northern Pakistan.
"We spent two weeks up there having an absolute ball on these little bikes travelling through Pakistan over all sorts of terrain,"he recalled.
"A spectacular part of the world, it really is, those mountains are something else."
A second geopolitical crisis then emerged. As Drysdale prepared to ship his own motorcycle from Dubai to Iran—a destination he had previously been unable to reach due to adverse weather—Israel initiated military operations against Iran. The resulting cancellation of ferry services forced him to abandon that leg of his journey.
Instead, he navigated an alternative route northward around the Persian Gulf, passing through Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq.
"I was standing in the ferry booking office to book my ticket when Israel decided to go to war with Iran,"he explained.
"So with all the ferries cancelled he went back to Dubai. I went up the other side of the Gulf and went through Saudi, Kuwait and Iraq."
What were conditions like in the Middle East?
Drysdale's passage through Iraq proved uneventful and positive.
"I'd get up and ride early and by ten or eleven o'clock in the morning I'd have stopped. It was not just me, the bike doesn't enjoy those 40 degree temperatures."He praised the local population, describing them as welcoming and supportive throughout his stay.
The region's extreme heat presented the greatest challenge. Temperatures in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait regularly exceeded 40 degrees Celsius by mid-morning, forcing him to curtail his daily riding to the early hours. Even his vintage motorcycle struggled with the intense conditions.
He ultimately reached France by continuing through Turkey, Greece and Italy. Reflecting on his arrival, he noted that the journey home had been considerably longer than anticipated.
"One reflection I did have when I got back and was sitting with a glass of wine, was 'this is where I've been coming to', I think it was just a long way home basically."
What has he accomplished so far?
To date, Drysdale has visited 25 current or former locations bearing the Belfast name. When reflecting on which destinations remain most memorable, he emphasised the importance of human connection over geography.
"It's usually determined by the people you met there. You meet people and they're just so kind and generous."
The obstacles he overcame have been substantial.
"I look back and think of all the hiccups, obstacles along the way and the fact that I recovered the bike from an insurance write-off twice and overcame this, that and the other - on reflection it's quite an achievement. It was perseverance, or stubbornness or bloody-mindedness."
His journey has continued well beyond the timeline described in this account. By June 2026, Drysdale was travelling through Mongolia, indicating that his motorcycle adventures have extended far beyond the original Belfast quest.
What remains to be completed?
One Belfast location remains unvisited: the community in Jamaica. Drysdale has not yet committed to making the journey to complete his collection.
"I have to decide now am I really going to fly to Jamaica to tick off the last one? I have a feeling that at some point I'll decide it has to be done, you can't leave the job 'oh so near, oh so far', so I think I'll have to do it."
The Pakistan-India border, which disrupted his original return route, remains closed as of September 2026, meaning any future overland travel through that region would depend on a change in border policy. No confirmed date or schedule for completing the Jamaica leg has been publicly announced, leaving the final chapter of his quest uncertain.
Key Facts
- Drysdale has visited 25 of at least 26 Belfasts worldwide, with Jamaica remaining unvisited
- His 1970s motorcycle has been recovered from insurance write-offs twice during the journey
- The India-Pakistan border closure forced him to abandon his planned overland return route and ship his bike to Dubai instead
- Military conflicts in the Middle East and South Asia repeatedly disrupted his itinerary, requiring multiple route changes
- His expedition has continued into 2026, with documented travel through Mongolia extending well beyond the original Belfast quest timeline
