After two-and-a-half years cycling around the world a 24-year-old from Herne Bay has finally completed his journey.

Former Faversham schoolboy Josiah Skeats left in May 2015 and has since travelled through 33 countries across Europe, Asia and Australia, arriving at his final destination at Sydney Opera House last month.

He started his adventure soon after graduating from Aberystwyth University, having budgeted three pounds per day for food and drink.

“I wanted an adventure and I just wanted to see the world,” he said.

“I chose to finish in Australia because it was about as far away as I could get.”

Initially Josiah struggled to cycle more than 60km per day, but by the end he was covering more than 130km in 24 hours.

His journey, however, was not one without trials and tribulations.

While cycling through the Himalayas Josiah struggled to get the necessary nutrients into his body, which resulted in fatigue and a loss of more than 12kg inside a month.

He also suffered eight bouts of food poisoning over a period of two months which left him “tent-bound” as he left Turkey.

He was later denied entry into China and arrested twice in Tajikistan.

“Policemen dragged me into prison and told me ‘If you give us $30 we’ll let you go’,” he said.

“There was difficulty travelling and going through countries where I didn’t speak the language, but I learned how to live like the locals.”

The most challenging part of his journey was travelling through Myanmar in south east Asia.

It is not open to tourists and as a result he was forced to sneak across the border, camp illegally and regularly scramble into bushes to hide from the police.

However, Josiah, an ex-pupil of Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School, emphasised how in every country he travelled through he was welcomed by the locals.

“I’ve travelled on a cheap budget,” he said. “I’ve been very vulnerable cycling into towns where they’ve never seen tourists and I’ve always been welcomed.

“India was my absolute favourite country because I was invited to stay with locals every night for four months.

“Each night they’d say ‘you can stay in my house and tomorrow you can stay with my cousin’.”

Josiah estimates that the entire trip cost him about £5,000 as he camped during the night and would only spend money on food, occasional bike repairs and visas.

Now that he has arrived in Sydney, he is planning to stay there until March 15 to begin writing a book and deliver talks at a number of schools.

To find out more about his journey, visit www.facebook.com/Josiahskeats.