An Interrupted Life

TREATMENT

ACT I

MARK HOLMES, aged 59, warm, articulate, adventurous, loses everything within days:

his company collapses after 28 years, and eleven days later his wife SUE, his soulmate of

nearly four decades, dies after a long battle with cancer. Mark is left shattered — no wife,

no job, no income, no purpose.

At rock bottom, he makes an extraordinary decision: to ride the world’s largest production

motorcycle — the 2,300cc Triumph Rocket — around the world.

He sets off from the UK in April 2017 with two simple messages to share wherever he goes:

“Stop smoking — you’re killing yourself.” “Ride a motorcycle — it can be so much fun.”

Wherever he stops, people gather around the monstrous bike. They ask about the engine

size, the cylinders, the mileage. And then comes the question Mark once dreaded:

“Why are you travelling alone?”

Eventually he stops hiding and tells the truth — the loss, the heartbreak, the collapse.

Faces transform. A simple bike question becomes a human moment. People open up to him

about loss, regret, dreams deferred. Some want to change their lives. Many follow him on

social media. He realizes his journey is inspiring others — and that changes him.

All the while he is confronting his grief, his beliefs, his identity — and slowly rediscovering

himself. But one encounter overshadows everything.

Five weeks into the journey, Mark stops in Cassis on the French riviera, a town filled with

memories of his wife. He expects it to hurt — but finds surprising peace.

One night, while dining alone, he notices three friends at a nearby table. Two women, both

named DALILA, giggle as they catch his eye. They invite him over. He hesitates — then joins.

1Mark and one Dalila, the brown-haired one, feel an immediate connection. They talk, drink,

laugh, and eventually spend the night (platonically) at the trio’s rented apartment. In the

morning, seated beside her at a bay window overlooking La Madrague, as she speaks softly

about Cézanne’s paintings, Mark feels something ignite inside him — something he thought

had died forever.

They exchange numbers. She returns to Lyon. He continues riding. But the WhatsApp

messages keep coming. Sweet. Playful. Curious. Intimate.

Mark realizes that, despite his grief, despite the absurdity, despite the miles —

he’s falling for her. He diverts his route to visit her in Lyon. They walk the city. Share meals.

Talk for hours.

ACT II

He leaves the following morning, insisting he must continue the journey, but the connection

deepens. He invites her to meet in Rome. They share four magical days — an unlikely,

intoxicating romance.

They meet again in Istanbul while he waits for his Iran visa. They explore the city, sail up the

Bosphorus, wander the bazaars, and fall deeply, unexpectedly in love.

After reaching India Mark receives a devastating email from Dalila with the title ‘au revoir’,

forcing him to confront the emotional cost of his constant departures.

(MIDPOINT)

At the Taj Mahal, a chance encounter reframes his journey as a tribute to love and finds the

right words to reply to her. He reaches out to fight for their future and wins her back.

Later Mark parks the Triumph in Delhi and flies to Spain, where he and Dalila meet in

Marbella. They’ve only spent 12 full days together in person. But the emotional truth is

undeniable. At dinner, guided by a courage he thought he’d lost, he drops to one knee and

asks:

“Dalila, at the end of my journey, will you marry me?” She says yes.

And then he leaves again, determined to complete the odyssey before returning to her —

and to their new life.

After meeting with his son, daughter-in-law and new granddaughter in Indonesia, Mark

realises his family is still grieving for Sue and disapprove of his new relationship.

Mark doesn’t deny the timing is complicated — but he stays open, feeling more alive than

he has in years.

Mark invites Dalila to join him in Bali where they exchange rings and make a binding

commitment to each other.

2Mark’s journey continues to unfold across five continents, landscapes shifting as

dramatically as his inner world.

– He reaches Mount Everest base camp.

– He is hypnotized by Angkor Wat, overwhelmed by Borobudur, enchanted by Taj Mahal.

– He battles the poverty, chaos and beauty of India.

– He dives the Great Barrier Reef.

– He experiences the raw life of Australia’s Outback.

– He feels the thunder of Perito Moreno glacier, the mist of Iguazú Falls, the magic of Machu

Picchu.

– He fishes for piranha in the Amazon.

In the extreme heat of the centre of Australia, meeting more fascinating people, all of whom

are touched by his story, he pulls up in front of Uluru he declares:

“I’ve reached the centre of my world”

.

Although the real journey is internal, Mark keeps riding - through deserts, mountains, cities,

spiritual encounters, and moments of raw danger. He deals with police and army guns

pointing at him, an angry machete wielding man, a breakdown in Brazil, and exposure to

extreme poverty.

But now every mile has a purpose. Mark invites Dalila to meet him in Mexico where she

arrives with a spectacular question:

“Darling, do you know it is really easy to get married here”. Mark didn’t, but that’s what

they did, much to his family’s disapproval.

ACT III

He knows where home is going to be now, but, in Canada, after being refused a visa waiver

to enter the USA because he crossed Iran, he rides up to the Alaska border anyway and asks

to be let in for 10 minutes. Confounded and stunned, he is arrested and spends a night in a

cell.

After being released the next day, his exuberance exceeds his normal caution. In heavy rain

and rounding a tight bend, he crashes into a herd of Bison in the middle of the road, ending

up unconscious in a ditch.

When he finally finishes, after 506 days and 39,000 miles, he does not return to live in

London. He returns to Lyon — to Dalila — and to the life he never expected to find.

On arrival in Lyon, Mark is told by Dalila that their Mexican marriage certificate was not

accepted by France. However, the dogmatic, determined and tenacious Dalila finds

solutions to the bureaucratic problems and presents Mark with a French marriage

certificate, accepted by his new country. Their new life together can begin.

A journey that began in despair ends in rebirth.