Hi! I’m Tom, originally from England, but the island was too small.
For 20 years I’ve been exploring the world by bike at every chance I get.
Why? Simply put: because it’s the closest thing you’ll find to pure freedom!
Here at TomsBikeTrip.com I share hard-earned lessons about cycle touring and bikepacking, tell original stories, and road-test new ideas.
A love of adventure has powered my 100% AI-free blog since 2006, when I first decided to travel the world by bicycle and write about it.
Welcome!
The blog: over half a million words of hard-earned, hand-written cycle touring & bikepacking advice.
-
Home For Christmas
Good evening. I’m writing from the opulent luxury of my parents’ home! But the luxury doesn’t come from central heating, a hot shower, or a well-stocked fridge (although these things are most enticing). No, the true luxury is the feeling of having a permanent base to come back to, something I haven’t had for almost 18 months. Travel is often a compromise — it takes time to settle into the flow of constant movement, from one set of surroundings and people to another, the same daily routine of goodbyes and hellos in return for a constantly varied cultural experience. Now,… Continue reading →
-
A Quick Trip to Blighty
As you might have guessed from the title of this post, Tenny and I caused something of a stir when we turned up unannounced at my parents’ front door last Sunday night! Continue reading →
-
Iran, Tehran, Highlights and Woes
Tehran has been little like the dusty, smelly pile of whitewashed hovels that my fevered imagination had conjured up. It turns out that Iran as a whole is a developed, stable country, with all the virtues and vices of any other modern state. Continue reading →
-
Tabriz, And A Train Ride To Tehran
After a deeply memorable few weeks on the road, I find myself once again in a capital city – this time, it’s Tehran. Continue reading →
-
East Azarbaijan, or north-west Iran
The prospect of crossing the Armenian-Iranian border was something over which we’d spent many weeks fretting. Tenny had been nervous about the idea of cycling in Iran – her home country – ever since we’d first entertained the possibility many months ago. For me, Iran was the most obvious and enticing successor to Armenia, rather than backtracking through Georgia or Turkey, and it was where Tenny’s family still lived, which threw up the idea of a surprise visit. With that in mind, we decided to head in the direction of Iran and cycle for as long as we felt comfortable,… Continue reading →
Books, eBooks & Guides
I’ve written a range of guidebooks and travelogues to read at your leisure, whether you’re preparing for a bike trip, living life on the road, or home and dreaming of the next big ride.
How To Hit The Road: A Beginner’s Guide To Cycle Touring & Bikepacking
First published in 2017 and updated in 2021, this book is my comprehensive newcomers’ introduction to the art of the bicycle-mounted adventure.
Every aspect of a cycle tour or bikepacking trip is covered in 34 chapters, split over three parts: pre-trip planning, initial execution, and adapting to the long haul.
As well as broad, practical advice, I’ve woven inspiring and reassuring anecdotes throughout the book – because getting away from the starting line isn’t about knowing everything, but having the confidence to begin.
Drawing on my personal experience of almost two decades of adventure cycling, more than 50 veteran riders from diverse backgrounds have also contributed to this guide, making it one of the most well-rounded introductions you’ll find to this radically liberating form of independent travel.
Whatever you’re planning and wherever you’re going, if it involves a bicycle and the spirit of adventure, How To Hit The Road has got you covered.
Janapar: Love, on a Bike
My first travelogue, originally published in 2013 and the subject of a successful crowdfunding campaign, telling the true story of my first 3½ years on the road.
This was far from your typical long-distance bike tour, however. From the cover blurb:
When twenty-three-year-old Tom Allen and his friends set off from their English village to cycle around the world, they were expecting physical hardship, extreme conditions and a serious case of culture shock. But the hours spent poring over maps could never have prepared them for the experience of life on the road: the petty squabbles, the extreme hospitality, the unexpected joys and dangers.
And then Tom meets Tenny, a feisty Iranian-Armenian girl with dreams of her own, and hits a crossroad. Should he give up his grand plan for the girl he loves, or cycle off and risk missing out on the greatest adventure of them all?
Temporarily out of print (except in the USA), Janapar is still available as a Kindle ebook from all Amazon portals worldwide.