Month: January 2013
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‘Janapar’ is now available in paperback and eBook editions
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/58449502[/vimeo] On the 17th of June 2007 I cycled away from my parents’ front door on a mission to cycle the world. I’d called my project ‘Ride Earth’. I was a cocky 23-year-old and I thought I knew it all. I could not have been more wrong. Continue reading →
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Farsi Friday Week 3: Free language resources that work, and the theory of learning
I know, I know, it’s a Sunday. On Friday I was at the London Bike Show, where I did my first ever public talk about my travels (a first tiny step towards curing my phobia of public speaking). And because the UK’s train drivers treat a flurry of snow as a reason to stay in […] Continue reading →
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A different kind of tour — of Taiwan’s bicycle industry
I’ve started to receive a steady stream of PR emails thanks to my blog’s more-or-less decent visitor numbers over the years. These emails usually go straight to the spam folder (sorry PRs!), but a recent one caught my eye: “As part of your ongoing and deliberate transition to celebrity bike tourist,” it asked (not at all […] Continue reading →
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Book Launch: Saturday 26th, central London. All welcome
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Tom Allen (@tom_r_allen) Just a quick note to let you know that there’s a free meetup happening in central London a week on Saturday. Officially it’s the book’s ‘launch party’ (because every book needs one) — the date after which the paperback will be on general […] Continue reading →
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Farsi Friday Week 2: Some Language Learning Techniques They Don’t Teach At School
Since last week I’ve been having a daily dialogue session with Tenny, and at the same time figuring out a learning system to suit me. I know from previous attempts to learn languages that my biggest stumbling block when I arrive in Iran will be vocabulary, so I’ve decided to make that the focus of […] Continue reading →
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More on honesty and deceit in travel writing
I remember reading an early draft of Andy’s book some years ago and complaining that events I witnessed alongside him were sometimes retold in a slightly different order. I was annoyed because he’d deliberately altered aspects of the truth, however tiny, to suit the telling of his story. Having now written my own book, I can […] Continue reading →
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Truth and lies in narrative non-fiction
I have no idea whether it is a good idea to be putting the finer details of my personal life up for public scrutiny in a 400-page book. I am worried. Things exist in this story that a big chunk of my ego does not want anyone to know. And I know I’m going to […] Continue reading →
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The Man Who Lived On His Bike [Video]
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/35927275[/vimeo] This isn’t exactly a cycle-touring video, but I love it nonetheless. It’s just a masterful demonstration of the creative breadth of short film. As a filmmaker still very much learning the craft, I’m awed by the passion for the concept and the skill of the execution in this 3‑minute piece. No fancy visual bollocks, […] Continue reading →
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Farsi Friday Week 1: Why Persian? And Where To Begin?
There are a few reasons I’ve chosen Persian (also known as Farsi / فارسی) as my focus for 2013, and as the first foreign language that I have ever committed to learning ‘properly’. Continue reading →
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My 2013 New Year’s Resolution, or قصد سال جدید من
I, Thomas Richard Allen, hereby pledge to become fluent in Persian by the end of 2013 by means of total immersion in the language. Continue reading →