From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads: A Bowie Odyssey

James Briggs never understood what Bowie’s Life on Mars? was really about. Twenty‑five years later, stuck in a soul‑sapping job, a relationship going nowhere, and watching his hairline stage a dramatic exit, he realises life on earth isn’t making much sense either.

So he does something brilliantly unhinged: he drops everything and decides to cycle one of Bowie’s most iconic lyrics — “From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads” — to figure out what life, love, and Bowie’s strangest masterpiece actually mean.

What follows is a life‑affirming, chaotic, and often laugh‑out‑loud journey across Europe. James visits French châteaux where Bowie recorded, Spanish Olympic stadiums he played, former communist countries where his music was banned, and the Berlin Wall he helped bring down. Along the way he dodges furious Soviet ballerinas, baffled village mayors, and a very angry Cliff Richard fan.

Somewhere between the climbs, the mishaps, and the Bowie landmarks, James finds kindred spirits, a renewed (and occasionally hostile) love for cycling, and a reminder of what happens when you stop following the crowd and start following the music that shaped you.

From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads is a warm, funny, and inspiring call to embrace the strange, take the long way round, and live with the fearless curiosity of the Starman himself.