Ten years back Eric Lon threw up a thriving physiotherapy practice in the Mediterranean region of Provence to fulfil a long-cherished dream of climbing in the Himalayas. He hasn’t stopped scaling slopes since and the gaunt features of this slightly built, 58-year-old Frenchman certainly bear ample testament to the length of time he’s spent on the road.

in his element: ‘world gypsy’ Eric Lon enjoys a dip while climbing in the Himalayas.

At the age of 18, he became a swimming instructor in Var, a district in Provence, the ever-popular holiday destination which is blessed with a sun-kissed coastline, the salt-water lagoons and marshes of the Camargue with their plethora of birds and other species of wildlife, and the lush, green mountains of the Maritime Alps along the border with Italy. Today, with the benefit of hindsight, Lon says that his first job taught him a lot about perseverance.

Although his hometown is only a three-hour drive from the nearest mountains, he said his neighbours were better acquainted with the pleasures of the beach and that when he was a child mountaineering was frowned on as a dangerous activity. It wasn’t until he was doing his compulsory military service that Lon got his first chance to do some climbing. “I was totally smitten by the mountains the moment I set my eyes on them,” he recalled, speaking in his charming, heavily accented English. “I’d always been the sporty type, so skiing came naturally to me. I enjoy sports that are physically demanding.”

Not long after leaving the army Lon decided to become a mountain guide. He managed to acquire the necessary certification, but from then on nothing went according to plan. To his chagrin, many of his fellow guides didn’t appreciate his “outgoing nature”, as he put it, and found ways to make his life miserable.

So, to cut a long story short, he ended up as a physiotherapist with a successful private practice, the career he walked away from a decade ago to go mountaineering in Nepal, Tibet and India.

What impelled you to take this daring step?

Well, I was 49 and I’d always had this passion for travelling to exotic countries and I didn’t want to have to wait for retirement to fulfil it. I was afraid if I waited until the ripe old age of 65 to start travelling that I wouldn’t have the energy to indulge in all the things I most enjoyed doing. I wanted every day to be an adventure! So I closed up my office and set off to live out my dreams with the money I’d managed to save up.

Before that I used to take holidays abroad at least three times a year but over the past decade I’ve visited 21 countries, covering Africa and the [Indian] Subcontinent. While most people my age are thinking of how they’ll spend their retirement, I’m planning to start working full time as a mountain guide when I turn 60. Nowadays I consider myself something of a ‘world gypsy’ - a citizen of the world! I prefer staying longer in countries which have pleasant natural surroundings; mountains are, of course, still a big draw for me.

How have you managed to support yourself for so long?

By living a simple, frugal life. I eat cheaply and pick guesthouses and hotels with the lowest prices. I’d readily change rooms on the same day that I’d checked into a place if I found a cheaper place on the other side of the road! It’s also important for me to travel light; I compare myself to a snail which carries its house on its back!

What’s the best thing that’s happened to you during the course of your travels?

I’d have to say it was the time I adopted a young Nepalese man as my spiritual son. He was working as a porter in a railway station in New Delhi when I first met him. As he was already 19, I wasn’t able to legally adopt him under French law. But we began to travel together as we both share a passion for the mountains and spirituality. He’s into yoga and meditation like myself. [Along the way, Lon had picked up hatha yoga, long practised by yogis in the Himalayan region.] Today. he’s working in Nepal as a mountain guide.

You’ve also written two books …

Yes, Challenges on Ski and From the French Alps to the Himalayas. They tell readers about my personal experiences with mountaineering and skiing - and how both have changed my life - and are written from the perspective of an instructor. I strongly feel that these books teach people to believe in doing the impossible!

Were there any memorable episodes during your days as a physio?

As I’m a keen sportsman I’ve always encouraged my patients to play sports. My biggest highlight would have to be the time I took a 70-year-old female patient of mine skiing on the dunes in the Sahara Desert in Algeria. I got the idea of taking her on a surprise trip to these, the biggest sand dunes in the world, when she confided in me that in her younger days she’d visited the Sahara and had fallen in love with the dunes and the scenic landscape, but that with her chronic arthritis she felt that she’d probably never get the chance to go skiing on the dunes there. So I devised a plan with a group of my friends to help her fulfil her dream … without her prior knowledge, of course! I managed to coax her into travelling with us to the Sahara and when she was standing there, looking down at the dunes, I brought out a pair of skies and told her to just go for it! At first she was taken aback, but then she relented when she noticed that a local television channel had come along to cover the event. It was lovely to see her grin when she’d successfully navigated the course. She flashed me a victory sign when she reached the bottom.