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.
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Philosophy Of Travel & The Making Of ‘Janapar’: An Interview With The Sprocket Podcast
Podcasts are to radio stations what blogs are to newspapers, and — as with all things online and unfiltered — good content bubbles to the surface through persistence and collective appreciation. These varied and portable programmes are one of my favourite things to listen to (with one ear, naturally) during long bike rides. I’ve started to consider how the medium might be used for future projects after meeting and being inspired by the couple behind The Sprocket Podcast. Continue reading →
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Writer’s Blog: Exhaustion, Frustration, And Other Unexpected Joys
I had no idea that writing a book would be this difficult. Continue reading →
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MSR Hubba 1P Solo Tent — Owner Review
Full disclosure: Cascade Designs sent me this tent to test during my journeys in 2012 (at my request). I’ve been using it ever since for solo camping. They were confident enough to do this in the knowledge that I would share my opinions of their products — whether positive or negative — on this blog. 2011’s Arctic Cycle finished off the Vaude Hogan 2P tent I’d been using for solo camping over the previous few years. It was a great piece of kit, enduring at a rough guess getting on for 500 pitches in temperatures from below ‑30°C (not what it… Continue reading →
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Microadventure: “The island that died for want of a telephone”
It was a promisingly sunny afternoon as we dashed down the quayside in Cleggan and threw our bags aboard the ferry for Inishbofin. After a yawnsome four-hour drive from Dublin, this sudden burst of excitement and panic ensured we would keep our appointment with Dermot by a hair’s breadth. Half an hour later, the ferry safely in port and another gaggle of American tourists off to roam the island for the afternoon, Dermot beckoned us down a slippery flight of stairs to the water’s edge where a small powerboat was tied up. No sooner had we arrived at Inishbofin, a… Continue reading →
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Film Blog: Lessons Learnt During Preview Season
I’m coming to the end of a fun and varied series of preview screenings of Janapar, which culminated last weekend with a one-off movie night in London for followers of this blog. The event was a huge amount of fun, and the film went down better than James & I could ever have hoped for. Thanks to everyone who came along. You really made the night! (And my very real apologies to those I didn’t get time to speak to properly afterwards!) 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.