One of my favorite travel trends is the worldwide journey.
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Content creators with a love of travel hit the road in the hopes of crisscrossing the globe. In the past, I’ve covered multiple accounts that cover these types of grand journeys.
There’s Courtney, a Canadian traveler who wants to go from Cape Town to China, hitchhiking. Then there’s Ian, who just completed his journey by bicycle from Europe to Japan. And then there’s Omar, an Egyptian who has already covered vast parts of the world without flying.
I regularly keep up with these accounts to see what’s next on the horizon for the creators and check in on their latest adventures. (Omar just sailed across the Atlantic after joining a small French crew manning a sailboat!)
Unfortunately, for one British couple who were on a similar journey to travel around the world on a motorcycle, they were detained in Iran in early January. Ian, from RideWithIan, faced similar difficulties when passing through Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan, but eventually cleared the countries thanks to a little help from locals.
That wasn’t the case with Lindsay and Craig Foreman, who were just sentenced to ten years in prison by Iranian authorities. The charges? Espionage.
Why were the Foremans charged and sentenced to prison in Iran?
Lindsay and Craig Foreman departed the UK after Brexit, choosing to move to Spain. Brits might recognize the couple from their time on the show A New Life in the Sun back in 2022, which aired on Channel 4. Lindsay Foreman, who is a psychologist and life coach, made plans a few years later to speak at a conference in Brisbane, Australia, in July 2025.
The work trip sparked the idea of a lifetime—why not leave months ahead of the conference with the goal of heading from Spain to Australia on a motorcycle?
Lindsay and Craig decided to go for it. They would also carry out a sociological research project along the way, asking others what it means to be human and what constitutes a good life.
After cruising through Spain and cutting east to cross through Europe, the pair reached Iran in late December 2024. The couple, who were documenting their journey for friends and family, made a post about their excitement to arrive in the country. Not only did they have Iranian visas, but they also had a tour guide who would stay with them for their four-day journey across the country to Pakistan.
On January 3, 2025, the couple was detained. Authorities allegedly believed that the Foreman’s collection of sociological research constituted a national threat. They charged the couple with espionage under the guise that they were providing critical intel to enemy nations.
Authorities held the pair in custody in Tehran until October 2025, when they appeared in court. Shortly after, the courts announced a decision was pending. However, it didn’t come until February 19, 2026, when the pair were each given ten years in prison for espionage. Now, UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has pledged to work tirelessly to ‘pursue this case relentlessly’ with the hopes of getting the Foremans home. If you’re interested in staying updated on this story, I recommend following the BBC’s coverage, as well as learning about Iran’s hostage diplomacy
