Category: Articles & Essays
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Why Backpacking Is Great (And Other Myths)
I wrote this horribly opinionated, elitist, provocational polemic last year, and have been wondering what to do with it ever since. There may be nuggets of truth in there somewhere, but please don’t take it too seriously! Continue reading →
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High-Tech or Low-Tech?
There’s a balance to be struck between taking too many and too few techy gadgets on an expedition. I’m a bit schizophrenic in this area. I’d like to say I’m naturally frugal — last year I hitched home from Armenia with only a knife, phone and poncho — but I also greatly value the usefulness […] Continue reading →
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The Brick Wall Of Eternal Dissatisfaction
It occurred over the festive season, when I had the pleasure of hosting Fearghal and Simon in Yerevan for a very merry Christmas and New Year. Conversation had turned to bicycle travel, as it had an annoying habit of doing every few minutes. Fearghal and I were discussing motivations for future bike trips. “It just wasn’t […] Continue reading →
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Why I Can’t Live In Armenia (I’m Too British)
My life is boring. My daily routine consists of getting up an hour before sunrise, going for a run, jumping into (and rapidly out of) a cold shower, having breakfast and then sitting down for an 8‑to-12-hour stint in front of my computer screen. I am making websites for a living these days. It puts […] Continue reading →
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Guest Blog: Raised From The Alive
For this, the first in an occasional series of guest blogs (they’re all the rage these days), I’d like to re-introduce an old friend, a man with whom I braved the horrors of Western and Central Europe for 10 weeks of this bicycle journey… ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Mark Maultby! Take it away… Hello there. This […] Continue reading →
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Don’t Make New Year’s Resolutions
I think New Year’s Resolutions are a really crap way to make positive changes to the way you live. Why? Well, I reckon it’s much more effective to start doing something than to stop doing something. Most New Year’s Resolutions seem to revolve around giving something up. So, on the first of January this year, I’d […] Continue reading →
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Company For Christmas In The Caucasus
It’s December and the mercury is dropping fast. This week I experienced my first morning run in the falling snow, crunching quietly in the pre-dawn blue around the faded grandeur of Victory Park and its empty dilapidated walkways, crumbling statues and rusty fairground rides. The onset of winter took me back a couple of years […] Continue reading →
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What Happened When I Tried To Organise A Bike Ride In Yerevan
Hello dear readers. I’m in a particularly frustrated mood this evening. I’ve had a great day climbing one of Yerevan’s nearby mountains, trudging through snow all day and having a lovely picnic on the summit. When I returned home, I read a particularly aggravating email, and so I wanted to share the situation with you, […] Continue reading →
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Now And Next For A Long-Term Bicycle Adventurer
Recently I’ve been sharing what I’ve learnt over the last couple of years of adventuring. As a result, the blog’s readership has never been higher, and it’s great to know that people are finding it useful and entertaining — it motivates me to keep writing. But if you’ve been a reader for a while, you […] Continue reading →
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Getting Married And Quitting Facebook
On Saturday the 19th of September Tenny and I were married in a small wedding ceremony in Yerevan. We had made a surprise arrival at the church on Armenia’s one and only cycle rickshaw with an entourage of bicycle activists leading and following us through the main streets of the city. After the ceremony we […] Continue reading →