I've been to 53 countries and one was next level for excitement

When Bobby Bolton's 11-year relationship ended abruptly, he thought he'd lost everything. Then came the business collapse - a few unlucky deals and a slowing economy that sent his thriving construction company spiralling into the red.

Just days after his 30th birthday, Bobby found himself living in a caravan on a derelict Hertfordshire farm with less than seventy pence in his bank account. His purpose, identity, and future appeared to have vanished overnight.

His mother pleaded with him to come home to Wigan and live with her. "She thought I was suicidal," he explains. He compromised by driving 200 miles north for a weekend, and it was there that his new life began after he saw a battered Land Rover adorned with an expedition sticker outside the pub where he had met old school friends for the evening.

In that instant, Bobby found himself with a renewed sense of purpose. "I'm going to drive to Australia," he declared to the bemusement of his friends. It sounded like drunken bravado, but Bobby wasn't joking.

Instead of giving up, he went home, sold every possession he had - his beloved campervan included - and scraped together enough to buy an old ex-army eight-wheeled MAN truck.

Three years later, Bolton has travelled through three continents, 53 countries and written an inspiring and entertaining book about his 42,000 mile-long adventure. And, if that wasn't enough, along the way he has amassed nearly 400,000 followers on his Instagram account - and fallen in love again.

Just six days after leaving the UK, Bobby met Marie Delaval, a 27-year-old Frenchwoman who was walking her dog in the mountainous South of France near Saint Tropez. After just two dates, she joined him in his truck to see what might happen next. And that was only the start of their adventure.

Paying bribes to corrupt Russian policemen; digging out mountain passes in Albania with an old spade; getting punched at the Kazakhstan border and surviving an avalanche in Georgia were just some of their early experiences. They were also interrogated by the Taliban at a dangerous checkpoint after taking the wrong road out of Kabul.

In Romania, Marie nearly died when she fell 200 metres down a snow-covered ridge - Bobby slid down behind her, ice axe in hand to slow his descent, to rescue her. All this is certainly an inspirational way to reconnect with the world around you.

"Who gives up everything - their job, house, belongings - to drive from Wigan to Australia?" asks Bobby, who has a degree in construction engineering, with characteristic humility.

The answer is a man who knows that sometimes you have to lose everything to find what really matters most.

Says Bobby: "Throughout this journey I came up with a kind of mantra that sums it all up: 'Don't let who you are today stop you from being who you could be tomorrow'.

"I didn't even know if what I was trying to do was even possible, but I didn't care. I was fully committed to getting on with it and going as far as I could. I thought then that my chances of actually making it to Australia were slim, but I told myself, over and over again, that it was all about the journey not the destination."

The conversion of Bobby's truck, three years ago, was all about grit and ingenuity. He worked long hours while sleeping on the floor of a shipping container and showering under an outdoor tap. After building a workbench with salvaged wood, his father joined him for the toughest jobs, both men grafting beneath the oily hulk of "the adventure machine" before washing off under a cold tap.

Bobby had never used social media before, but shortly before he set off to France he filmed a ten-second video that declared: "I'm selling all my worldly belongings and converting this truck into a home on wheels to take me and my dog Red from England to Australia."

He posted it to Instagram as @one.truck.life. The response was immediate as the concept struck a chord with thousands.

His second video featured a hand-drawn cardboard map showing his intended route: "Head south and east - a lot - to Australia."

At that point, he had no visas, no plan, not even a confirmed route - just blind faith that the adventure would work out.

Six days after setting off, Bobby hiked to a hilltop above Saint-Tropez to watch the sunset in a moment of stillness and reflection. Then, out of some nearby bushes darted a dog, followed closely by Marie. "Do you speak English?" Bobby asked nervously. Marie was apparently unimpressed but intrigued; they swapped names and parted ways.

On her way back down the hill, she spotted Bobby's parked truck and snapped a photo of its Instagram handle which was emblazoned on the side. Then she sent him a message.

Two weeks later they met for a walk and two weeks after that she moved into the truck, bringing her dog and three bags of clothes, and together they set out across Europe and Asia, rarely more than two metres apart, 24 hours a day.

"We aren't living a normal life and it has its challenges," Bobby says with understatement.

In Russia, the couple were forced to pay bribes to corrupt police. In Tibet they had a collision with the Chinese Army: "They claimed I hit them - I disagreed," laughs Bobby.

In Pakistan, Marie faced down a machine gun. And in Cambodia they were rescued by farmers when their truck got stuck in jungle mud.

The idea of reaching Australia was soon put on hold as they decided to drive the length of Africa, from Cairo to Cape Town in eighty days.

"Having guns pulled on us in Pakistan was just a warm up for Africa which was 'next-level' for excitement," says Bobby of its vast landscapes and endemic corruption.

"We approach everything with a big smile and plucky British attitude. Whether it's policemen, border guards or even terrorists stopping you on the road, you give a big thumbs-up and that's how you talk your way out."

They spent 43 days crossing Congo alone - meeting villagers who'd never seen foreigners or even heard of Instagram - but found a haven in the Moroccan Atlantic coastal oasis of Essaouira where they relaxed for a few days in the laid-back pedestrianized souk by the sea.

Each day on their epic journey brought fresh challenges, including frozen fuel lines in Tibet and food shortages in remote Kyrgyzstan. The van could do only eleven miles to the gallon. "You either move quicker and spent more money on fuel or move slower and spend more on food. We did the latter," he says.

Yet through it all they persevered and, perhaps against all odds, grew ever closer.

Soon their fantastical adventure had become more than an escape from heartbreak. During that first year, their feelings grew from respect into true devotion, and on the anniversary of their first meeting on a French hillside, Bobby proposed atop a Himalayan mountain at sunset.

"We went for a hike in the mountains in the evening as I wanted to propose at sunset. I hadn't told anyone - not even her dad," he says sheepishly.

He presented Marie with a makeshift ring fashioned from a key fob that he found in his tool box and woven with prayer flags. She squealed when she saw it."

He and Marie are now back in Wigan to plan their wedding. They'll marry this October in the foothills near Saint-Tropez in a Catholic ceremony followed by celebrations at a local vineyard among friends and family.

Originally, Bobby planned to reach Australia which he viewed as his finish line. He was going to sell the truck before returning home for a conventional life. But along the way he discovered a fresh, and addictive, sense of purpose, and this was something neither he nor Marie want to lose.

"We realised we weren't ready for it all to end," says Bobby. "Australia was supposed to be the chequered flag but we are now planning our next adventure."

Bobby originally left home with his last £600 but hoped to pick up small sponsorships along the way. Then, early in the journey, Continental Tyres came aboard as sponsors; the monthly retainer the couple are paid for interesting travel content has made a self-sustaining life on the road possible.

What is also remarkable is that while they were snowbound in Kyrgyzstan, Bobby signed a book deal after he was approached by Macmillan publishers. The couple then rented a jungle lodge in Cambodia, and while Marie went to volunteer in Laos, Bobby wrote 100,000 words in just ten days.

And as they travelled, their Instagram following ballooned as people around the world visited their page for a dose of Bobby's characteristic raw honesty about love, fear, hardship and hope on the road.

The couple are now about to start building their next truck together which will even be "future-proofed for children". Their next journey will take them through Mongolia and Siberia, back down through Central Asia and to Africa again.

Bobby has received many messages from followers who say his journey gave them hope when they were suicidal or struggling themselves.

"Traveling saved my life," he says simply. "If our story helps someone else find their purpose - or just keeps them going - that's worth more than anything.

"I started this trip broken-hearted and with no clear idea where I was going," he says quietly. "Now I have love, purpose, and more adventure than I ever dreamed possible."

• Truck It! The Drive Around the World That Saved My Life by Bobby Bolton (Macmillan hardback, £20)

www.instagram.com/one.life.truck.it/