Month: October 2013
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How To Free Your Inner Adventurer
There are, broadly speaking, two categories of Big Adventure. Category One is the “blank slate” journey. It begins with a wholesome hatred of present circumstances; an acknowledgement of the stagantion of the protagonist’s life. This loathing catalyses a full-bodied response: burn each and every bridge, dispose of all tangible reminders thereof, and bugger off into […] Continue reading →
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The Cycle Traveller Who’s Going Nowhere (Plus, Upcoming Screening Events)
You know what I love most about this fantastic little film? (Do watch it.) It’s the fact that what our protagonist has unwittingly done is exactly the same as embarking upon a really long bike trip. The only difference is that he never leaves his home city. (But then if life on the road is less about leaving […] Continue reading →
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Microadventure: Past Journeys, Lost Memories & Future Projects (Part 4)
This is the final part of an account of touring the Netherlands and the UK by recumbent bike. Start at the beginning. Two things surprised me when I woke up in a damp polo field in Cambridgeshire. Continue reading →
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Talking bicycle travel (and more) on Roz Savage’s Adventure Podcast
Last week I was honoured to be invited as a guest on a new adventure podcast series hosted by Roz Savage, ocean rower extraordinaire and all-round legend, cunningly entitled Roz Savage’s Adventure Podcast. (iTunes link / RSS link.) My incomprehensible burblings comprised the series’ 7th episode, which has so far featured the likes of Al […] Continue reading →
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Microadventure: Naivety, Uphill Battles & Small Victories in Adventure Travel (Part 3)
This is Part Three of an account of touring the Netherlands and the UK by recumbent bike. Start at the beginning. In pitch darkness I pedalled away from the port, waving goodbye to the three Londoners I’d met on the ferry. Decked out in woefully inappropriate attire — tweed, a trilby, a tie-dyed T‑shirt — they […] Continue reading →
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Everything Will Be Fine. Here’s Proof.
Today’s guest post is from former English teacher Jamie Bowlby-Whiting, whose success adventuring on an absurdly low budget has made even my best attempts feel decadent. He’s developed two core principles for his adventures: 1. impossible is nothing, and 2. everything will be fine (until it isn’t). This story reminds me so very strongly of that […] Continue reading →
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Microadventure: Touring the Netherlands on a Recumbent Bike (Part 2)
This is Part Two of an account of touring the Netherlands and the UK by recumbent bike. Click here for Part One. I gingerly lowered myself onto Challenge Bikes’ ‘Hurricane’ recumbent touring bike, lay back against the full-size padded seat, and swung the pivoting handlebar assembly towards me from its resting position. For a vehicle […] Continue reading →
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Kona Sutra 2014 Preview
UPDATE: My full review of the 2014 Sutra is now online and supersedes this preview. Check it out here. In 2012 I took a cross-section of the best and most popular mid-range road touring bikes and singled out the Kona Sutra as the one I wanted to take on a long-term test for my ride […] Continue reading →
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Microadventure: A Very Laid-Back Bike Trip (Part 1)
The last time I saw Holland was a day in late June 2007. I saw Holland disappearing in my rear-view mirror, the Belgian border drifting beneath my bicycle wheels as I crossed a river somewhere south of Maastricht. (I didn’t actually spot the border crossing itself, E.U. Freedom of Movement being the luxury that it is.) […] Continue reading →
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What Exactly Is It That Stops You Following Your Dreams?
This is a guest post by Fraser Baillie, who last month took the giant leap of jacking it all in and hitting the road. Today he shares some retrospective thoughts, 3,000 miles from home at the far end of Europe, about the turning point that made his dream into the reality he now lives every day. […] Continue reading →