Category: Big Adventures

Ten days have elapsed since we made our way hesitatingly out of Istanbul after nearly a month off the bikes. We were expecting hardship; cycling and camping in the cold, wet, and mountainous climes of northern Turkey. Continue reading →

I know you like reading about our misfortune. It’s dramatic stuff. I like writing about it, too, trying to commit the experience to words and take you to that place and time. I hope that the results are entertaining, but also resemble the reality of what happened, too — exaggeration and artistic license are not for the non-fiction of a travel blog. But to put things into a wider context, it’s sometimes good to write about the times when things do go our way! Continue reading →

Andy and I have been soaking up Istanbul for a fair while now. We’re both itching to get on the road again, and I’m excited and a little apprehensive at the prospect of seeing through the winter in Central Asia. But we’ve had more than our fair share of hiccups, and they are still preventing us from leaving. So here’s a run-down of how fate, or the process, or luck, has treated us in recent weeks. Continue reading →

We arrived in Istanbul a couple of days ago, cycling into this sprawling monolith of a city along one of the two main routes against about 9 manic lanes of rush-hour traffic, minibuses and not-so-mini-buses. That experience recovered from, we have again been enjoying the hospitality of a variety of city-dwellers courtesy of the Couchsurfing Project website, which has again demonstrated its increasingly invaluable efficiency in finding local people in urban areas with the desire to help and host travellers — all over the world. Continue reading →

We pedalled slowly down the dusty track out of the last Hungarian village. An unsettled evening was in store — clouds brooded above, hanging menacingly as the air gusted and whipped around us, and the silence of the plains was interrupted only by the distant sound of cowbells on the wind. I had cycled a hundred kilometers, and was ready to pitch my tent and sleep, but the lure of the unknown drew the three of us onwards for just a little longer. The map showed a road across the border into Romania, and it would be a satisfying achievement… Continue reading →

We attempted to leave Budapest on Sunday. We made about 30km and then it happened. My left knee, which had been giving me pain over the 3 days between Vienna and Budapest, started to hurt again. Continue reading →

The Ride Earth Fellowship was broken yesterday as Andy and I said our goodbyes to Mark, who now returns home to the UK. It seems odd that the journey that took him two months to make by bicycle will be undone in less than 24 hours. The adventures and experiences that we have had within those two months give a real insight into the value of taking the idea of travelling a little slower, and experiencing the journey itself rather than the destination. Continue reading →

If you had asked me one year ago about my thoughts on vegetarianism, I would have replied that there was no argument that would convince me to give up eating meat. It constitutes a necessary part of our diet, we are all born omnivorous, and I would happily go out and hunt my meal if I had to earn my moral right to eat animal flesh. Well, it’s amazing how travelling, reading and a bit of curious, open-minded inquiry can transform even the most previously-stalwart carnivore. Continue reading →

We quit our jobs. We sold our clothes, possessions, computers and stereos. We shaved our heads, said goodbye to friends and families, got on our bikes and cycled off one Sunday afternoon with the mother of all hangovers. We left everything we take for granted behind in pursuit of some endless quest for intrigue and adventure, some kind of idealistic mission to find meaning in the world. Now, 2 weeks after we left, how does reality stand up to the idea we spent so long preparing for? Continue reading →

After 5 days on the road, we arrived in Amsterdam in the evening of Friday 22nd of June. It took until Thursday 21st to reach the port of Harwich, after around 170 miles of cycling. During that time, we camped in parks, fields and back gardens and were shown incredible hospitality by complete strangers. We were frankly blown away by the generosity of people when they heard what we had set out to achieve. We covered the 80km from the Hook of Holland to Amsterdam on Friday, and we decided it was time for a rest day, as we’re all… Continue reading →