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.
-
Diary Of A Writer At 7:29am On A Thursday Morning
Sitting in my flat by the heater with the dregs of a cuppa, I started to wonder about writing a past-tense narrative of the absolute present, extracting not just a storyline but flashes of vocabulary and what I suppose might be deemed ‘creative bursts’ from my own head and spelling them out (no pun intended) on the screen in front of me. Pale blue dots pierced my vision from below; the stalwart glow of a pair of tiny travel loudspeakers, unedited and vague beneath the bevelled edge of the monitor. I wondered, suddenly, if people from the future would recognise… Continue reading →
-
Be The First To Read ‘Janapar’ By Supporting The Kickstarter Campaign
One of the reasons that my blog has been quiet in recent weeks is because of a mammoth push forward with my big writing project. The book of Janapar is now in its penultimate draft form, and I’m putting together a team to take the publishing process to completion. I’m really excited to announce that I’m opening this up to your involvement through a brand new Kickstarter UK campaign, which launches today! But rather than pen yet more words (trust me, I’ve written enough recently), I’ve recorded you a video appeal: (Click here if you’re having trouble seeing this video.) Continue reading →
-
Film Blog: Report From The World Premiere of ‘Janapar’
Firstly, apologies for the radio silence this last week or two. I’ve been on a very different kind of bike tour — in Taiwan, of all places. There’ll be more on that soon. In the meantime, I wanted to share a few notes from Janapar’s first festival outing, which took place at the 20th Raindance Film Festival in London. Continue reading →
-
Why Crowdfunding Has The Power To Make Better Lives
Those who think crowdfunding is about money are missing the point. For the uninitiated, crowdfunding is — loosely — putting an idea on the table and politely asking the world if it would like to help make the idea a reality. If a project resonates, its needs are met through a culmination of small, individual contributions. And thus can it come to fruition. Continue reading →
-
20 Questions Worth Answering Honestly (And My Responses)
Al Humphreys’ twenty questions — and I suggest you answer them too — came at just the right moment; when you suddenly find yourself wrestling with time and priorities and wondering if the path you set yourself on is still the right one. (It’s worth facing an uncomfortable truth or two sometimes. As a more talented writer than me once said, “no legacy is so rich as honesty”…) 1. Do you earn enough money? No. I currently don’t earn enough to keep a roof over my head and pursue my (inexpensive) interests. [At the start of 2012 I vowed to reconcile this… 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.