Category: News
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Everything Will Be Fine. Here’s Proof.
Today’s guest post is from former English teacher Jamie Bowlby-Whiting, whose success adventuring on an absurdly low budget has made even my best attempts feel decadent. He’s developed two core principles for his adventures: 1. impossible is nothing, and 2. everything will be fine (until it isn’t). This story reminds me so very strongly of that first carefree summer I spent crossing Europe in 2007 (particularly the ever-popular Eastern European arrest), and so it’s not without a little pang of nostalgia that I publish this post. Take it away, Jamie… A few months ago, I found myself working as an English teacher at a… Continue reading →
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What Exactly Is It That Stops You Following Your Dreams?
This is a guest post by Fraser Baillie, who last month took the giant leap of jacking it all in and hitting the road. Today he shares some retrospective thoughts, 3,000 miles from home at the far end of Europe, about the turning point that made his dream into the reality he now lives every day. What Stops You From Following Your Dreams? The single thing that made a difference for me that day — about 19 months ago now — was a subtle change in belief. Continue reading →
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The Surprising Truth About Cycling Across A Continent
Yesterday, Tim & Laura Moss went for a bike ride. They set off from Tim’s place near London and pedalled across the Surrey Hills for a few pleasant hours beneath glorious sunshine. In the evening, they stopped riding and pitched camp. This morning, they got up, had breakfast, and packed away their tent. (Or so I assume. They might well be having a lie-in.) Imagine they’re now cycling back to Tim’s place. Some would call what they’ve done a #microadventure. Others, an S24O. Most of us wouldn’t bother with silly buzzwords and would just call it a bike ride with a… Continue reading →
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How This 2‑Minute Clip Won The ACA’s Bicycle Travel Video Contest
This year I was asked to be a judge for the Adventure Cycling Association of America’s first Bicycle Travel Video Contest. Like many of the other judges (whose number included Dom, Alastair, Friedel & Andrew, Russ & Laura, Michelle, and Ryan), I watched a lot of videos that were kind of OK. I watched a few that were quite terrible. I watched a handful that were really good. But Stefan’s winning 158-second clip was far ahead of the pack. Watch it and see why. What was it about this video that I found so compelling? Continue reading →
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Therm-A-Rest NeoAir XLite Ultralight Camping Mat: Long-Term Review
A detailed write-up of this impressively light, compact and comfortable camping mat, used on multiple expeditions since 2012. Links to best deals included. Continue reading →
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Folding Touring: A Review Of The Tern Link P24h
A long-term test and write-up of the Link P24h folding touring bike from Tern, its fully-loaded and long distance performance, and its portability in the real world scenarios. Continue reading →
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Inspiring, Informing & Connecting Overland Adventure Travellers: HUBB UK
I don’t normally dedicate entire blog posts to a single event, but this is one that deserves special attention. Because there aren’t many events in the UK calendar that deal specifically with the planning of long overland adventures. HUBB UK, however, is one of them. Spawned from the hugely popular Horizons Unlimited overland travel bulletin-board, and covering cycle-touring, motorcycling, 4x4-ing and other forms of overland independent transport, this is much more than a handful of lectures: it’s a full-on festival lasting four days (with camping and beer and everything), consisting of over 200 sessions of talks, demonstrations, workshops, Q&As, challenges… Continue reading →
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The Weave Of The Ride (or, Janapar from Andy’s point of view)
In the summer of 2007, my best mate Andy Welch and I set off from my front door. We’d called our expedition ‘Ride Earth’, and were all set to cycle round the world. But the experiences that followed changed all we thought we knew about, travel, adventure and cycle-touring. Weave Of The Ride, Andy’s own account of that eight-month journey from England to Armenia, offers an alternative perspective on the story that ends with Ride Earth’s disbandment and the beginning of two new solo adventures. In this guest post, Andy goes into detail about his new book. Continue reading →
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Microadventure: Swim to an island. Sleep on it.
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 →
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Touring the UK with Janapar: dates & cities
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 →