Backpack, Jacket, Surfboard

In 1980, Graham Broyd did something outrageous—he sold his scholarship ticket to Washington, DC, bought a one-way flight to Los Angeles, and set off to hitchhike across America. Armed with a red backpack, a surfboard, and a knack for finding himself in both incredible and ridiculous situations, he bummed rides, crashed on beaches, and stumbled into experiences that would shape him forever. From rolling the dice in Vegas to interviewing senators in Congress, from the open roads of the West to the neon chaos of New York City, every mile brought a new story. Forty years later, Graham returns to retrace his steps, revisiting the landscapes, people, and memories that defined his youth. What has changed? What remains? And how does time shift our understanding of the roads we once traveled? Backpack, Jacket, Surfboard is a raw and humorous adventure memoir, a time capsule of 1980s America, and an unfiltered reflection on risk, nostalgia, and the unexpected turns that shape a life. It's for anyone who has ever dreamed of throwing away the map, saying yes to the unknown, or looking back at a wild decision and thinking, "I'd do it all over again." For fans of Bill Bryson, Paul Theroux, and anyone who knows that the best stories come from the roads we didn't plan to take.

GRAHAM BROYD is a British-American businessman, writer, and athlete. Born in Dorking, England, he went to school in Bedford and then Liverpool, before taking two gap years working and hitchhiking around Europe. In 1978, he went to Birmingham University to study International Relations. After graduation, Graham started a career in international banking, with his primary purposes being to travel and earn some money—in that order of priority. His first assignments were to New York and the Republic of Panama. Graham spent almost forty years in banking, his time mostly split between New York and London, before retiring in 2024. He was a CEO of the North American businesses of the Royal Bank of Scotland and Mr. Fix-It when the bank encountered existential problems after the global financial crisis in 2008. Graham published his first book, The Panama Canal Treaties: The diplomacy and economics behind the treaty that changed the international order, in 2024. After his retirement, Graham found his writing voice. A lifetime storyteller, Graham wanted to write down the twenty hitchhiking stories he had told for more than forty years from his original trip to America in 1980. On hearing the stories, friends had always encouraged him to write his story. And so he did.