Category: Creative Projects

  • Microadventure: Swim to an island. Sleep on it.

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    I’m on a train, speeding north from London for an event tonight in Kendal. It’s the fourth in a run of film screenings I’m doing over the next two weeks. I’m knackered. My body-clock is trashed. And I’m wearing the same clothes I was wearing in my sleeping bag last week on an island in the English Lakes that I swam to with two friends, Al and Ferg. It was a foolhardy plan, concocted by three blokes desperate to justify why they weren’t spending Valentine’s Eve with their other halves. At least the plan was a simple one: swim to… Continue reading →

  • Touring the UK with Janapar: dates & cities

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    Life in the Lake District continues as usual: rainy, rural and stunning. But things are about to get rather busy as I hit the road with Janapar this month. Continue reading →

  • ‘Janapar’ is now available in paperback and eBook editions

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    [vimeo]http://vimeo.com/58449502[/vimeo] On the 17th of June 2007 I cycled away from my parents’ front door on a mission to cycle the world. I’d called my project ‘Ride Earth’. I was a cocky 23-year-old and I thought I knew it all. I could not have been more wrong. Continue reading →

  • Book Launch: Saturday 26th, central London. All welcome

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    View this post on Instagram A post shared by Tom Allen (@tom_r_allen) Just a quick note to let you know that there’s a free meetup happening in central London a week on Saturday. Officially it’s the book’s ‘launch party’ (because every book needs one) — the date after which the paperback will be on general release. But it’s also a good excuse for a get-together in a cracking central London venue. Entry for this evening event is free, as is the first drink for everyone who comes along. The programme of events is to show the film first, followed by… Continue reading →

  • More on honesty and deceit in travel writing

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    I remember reading an early draft of Andy’s book some years ago and complaining that events I witnessed alongside him were sometimes retold in a slightly different order. I was annoyed because he’d deliberately altered aspects of the truth, however tiny, to suit the telling of his story. Having now written my own book, I can understand very well why he did this. (Sorry, Andy!) Since my last post’s unintentional controversy I’ve been thinking more on the topic of honesty and deceit in travel writing. I can think of at least two big motives for the reworking of selected events in… Continue reading →

  • Truth and lies in narrative non-fiction

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    I have no idea whether it is a good idea to be putting the finer details of my personal life up for public scrutiny in a 400-page book. I am worried. Things exist in this story that a big chunk of my ego does not want anyone to know. And I know I’m going to be judged for things I did and decisions I made. Continue reading →

  • The Man Who Lived On His Bike [Video]

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    [vimeo]http://vimeo.com/35927275[/vimeo] This isn’t exactly a cycle-touring video, but I love it nonetheless. It’s just a masterful demonstration of the creative breadth of short film. As a filmmaker still very much learning the craft, I’m awed by the passion for the concept and the skill of the execution in this 3‑minute piece. No fancy visual bollocks, just jaw-droppingly clever storytelling. Practice, I suppose, makes perfect. Chapeau! (There’s a making-of video for it too.) Feel free to post links to your favourite short films here, even if they’re not exactly cycle-touring related… Continue reading →

  • What I Learnt From My Copy-Editor

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    Less is more. Continue reading →

  • A quick update on Janapar, the book

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    At 2am this morning I completed my last run-through of the edited manuscript, which I received on Friday night, and — all being well in the proofread — it is the last time that the text will change for this first paperback and hardback edition of Janapar that Kickstarter has made possible! At the beginning of the project, I posted my draft version of the opening chapter, so I thought that now would be a good time to share the edited version of the same chapter. Download and read the PDF This is not quite how the text will appear in the finished… Continue reading →

  • Lessons Learnt From Releasing A Stupidly Personal Adventure-Romance Documentary

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    Regular readers will have noticed that the blog has been rather quiet recently — specifically, since last Monday: the day before I launched Janapar. Continue reading →