Planning a bike adventure through South East Asia? Olly and Ellie just rode Thailand into Malaysia, dealt with Ramadan closures, ferry logistics, and hit some gnarly climbs. Tune into this episode for intel on what it's like to go bikepacking in South East Asia plus a masterclass in pivoting when ferries only run once a month.

Follow Olly's adventures on Instagram - @sagas.of_olly.hargreaves

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This week we're re-releasing one of our favourite episodes. 1,500 kilometres through Arctic Norway on a fully loaded bike. Our guest Slauka had never done a bikepacking trip before this but she didn't let her lack of experience get in the way of a good adventure.

Slauka's journey took her from the Lofoten Islands all the way to the North Cape

In this episode we Cover :

• Why May could be a perfect time to go bikepacking in Norway
• Wildcamping in Norway
• Preparation, testing gear in bad weather, and packing strategy
• Why flexibility in your schedule matters more than having the perfect plan
• An Italian photographer who rode her bike up a mountain for her
• Cycling through the North Cape Tunnel

GUEST: Slauka Macurak (Instagram: @allridegirl)

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We are going to hear what it's like to spend a month cycling in Ireland thanks to the latest update from Brian Sampson who just completed a 1500km loop around Dublin and Belfast that proved tougher, more beautiful, and far more rewarding than expected.

After cycling through England and Wales, Brian discovered Ireland's slower pace, where he enjoyed cycling on empty farm roads. The standout moment was a hike to Comshagan Lough, a glacial crater lake. He skipped the touristy Dingle Peninsula due to the busy traffic and 40mph wind gusts, opting instead for the quieter Sheepshead Peninsula.

Key takeaways: the Irish hospitality is peak (work crews offering shelter, locals offering directions), the scenery rivals NZ and Tasmania, and yes, the weather will get you wet every morning. Cycling in Ireland may not be easy, but it absolutely is worth it.

You can keep up with Brian's adventures via his instagram - @brian.sampson4 and also his personal blog https://justfeltlikebiking.blogspot.com/

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Katy and Alan spent five years dreaming about this adventure and then went ahead, put their careers on pause and spent a full year cycling 20,000km around the world. Halfway through the adventure, a monotonous desert section through Central Asia nearly broke them, so they threw out their initial planned route and let the trip become something even better.

These are the key lessons from their journey:

• You don't need to wait for retirement to take a big adventure
• A plan is a starting point but it's ok to change and adapt them
• The less you know about a place, the more it can surprise you
• People will help you, almost everywhere, almost every time.
• Asking for help is a strength, not a weakness.
• Fear of the unknown is usually worse than the unknown itself.
• Shared goals matter more than shared stats.
• Hard days don't last, but you will have hard days on big adventures
• You don't need a year to have an adventure.

Be sure to give Katy and Alan a follow via their account @CycleTheLongWayHome

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When we last heard from Milica, she was in Northern France and just a few days into her ride from London to Croatia. In this update, she reflects on what the bike adventure has actually looked and felt like across the weeks in between. Milica shares about:

• What her worst day on the road looked like
• Why keeping yourself fed is actually one of the most important things you can do out there
• When a bad day turned into a genuinely good one
• Why she loves Austria
• Insights from riding solo across Europe
• Cycling into Croatia knowing her family had to flee the same villages she's now riding through freely

Follow Milica's adventures via her instagram page - @2Wheels1Milikov

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Dreaming about taking a huge bike adventure? Then this episode is for you.

Ellie Mitchell-Heggs shares her insights from her solo journey where she cycled 10,000 kilometres across Africa from Rwanda to Cape Town. All up her trip was nine months long and took her across ten countries. It was also a ride that was layered with both a personal family connection to Africa and loaded up with a huge sense of purpose as well.

Alongside the cycling, Ellie spent time in every capital city meeting with over 100 local NGOs, social enterprises and community organisations working in education, youth empowerment and gender equality. Ellie shares how those conversations, got her through the toughest stretches on the road.

In this episode we cover:

• How Ellie got into bikepacking starting with the Vélodyssée down the west coast of France
• Why she chose to start in Rwanda and ride south
• The communities and landscapes that shaped each country, from Uganda's warmth to the brutal isolation of Botswana's flat roads
• 70 kilometres being swarmed by tsetse flies in a Tanzanian national park
• Canoeing four days down the Zambezi river as a mid-trip reset
• Grieving her father on the road
• Cycling through Namibia with two fellow bikepackers.
• Food poisoning two days from Cape Town, and the unicycle escort into the city
• What made those NGO conversations so energising

Find Ellie on Instagram: @ProjectCycleAfrica

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Daragh Cronin is back with a wild update from his Cork to Everest Base Camp ride. This time he shares with us the extraordinary hospitality of Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan. Then every bike travellers nightmare, a flat refusal at the Federal Iraq border crossing derailing his plans for his route.

This led Daragh to have to re-route through Dubai and Kuwait City where the intensity of the trip got turned to the max when he found himself trying to cycle through the desert in extreme heat leading to a stint in hospital to be treated for heatstroke.

Follow along with Daragh via his instagram - @roaminwithcronin

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This is a live show, recorded on stage at the Antique Bar in Melbourne. Joining me on stage were three guests who between them have cycled through some of the most remote, challenging and eye-opening places on earth, Fergal Guihen, Em Hulbert and David McCourt.

Fergal cycled from Roscommon, Ireland to Sydney via Mauritania, Iran, Afghanistan, the Tibetan Plateau and beyond. Em Hulbert is mid-journey on a solo ride around the world, delivering water filters to communities in need through her project The Water Cycle. David McCourt set off from Melbourne bound for Northern Ireland, taking a route through Central Asia, Iran, Bangladesh, Nepal and Turkey that took years and produced stories he'll be dining out on forever.

In this episode we cover:

• Going from thought bubble to turning pedals
• Luxury items on the bike and what actually earns its place
• Perceptions versus reality: China, Iran, Bangladesh and Thailand
• Getting drugged and robbed in the Iranian desert
• A sex dungeon in rural Thailand at 4am after 250 kilometres
• The Nullarbor without music, podcasts or any distraction at all
• Solo female bicycle travel and the extra layer that comes with it
• The spaces in between and why that's where the magic happens
• Why the hardest moments are the ones you'd go back and relive

Want to hear the full individual episodes with each guest? Find them here:

• Em Hulbert: Ep. 127:
• David McCourt: Ep. 99: and Ep. 120.
• Fergal Guihen: Ep. 144 and Ep. 145:

Follow the guests on Instagram:

• Em Hulbert: @emhulbert
• Fergal Guihen: @rossi.to.aussie
• David McCourt: @longwayhome__2022

Check out the Manzanita Cradle from Old Man Mountain

Support the show

Buy me a coffee!

I’m an affiliate for a few brands I genuinely use and recommend including:

👉 CycPlus– ePumps (enter code STR for 5% off!)

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Follow us on Social Media!

• Instagram - @SeekTravelRide
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• YouTube - @SeekTravelRide

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