Free Camping Entries
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The Way to Mongolia
Friday, August 27th, 2010As Tyler journaled this morning, I began doing some research about the next phase of our road trip: the Altay region of Siberia. As I did so, I noticed that Chuisky Trakt, billed as one of the most ...
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Morning Chai
Wednesday, August 25th, 2010It is a chilly grey morning. Heavy clouds hang overhead, threatening rain. Even so, we pack our camp at a leisurely pace, paying no mind to the potential deluge. Once everything is in order, I dir...
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Off the Beaten Path
Tuesday, August 24th, 2010Our last adventure in the Siberian countryside left us feeling like it might be a good idea to stick to the highway for at least a few days. Though off-roading in our LRC is exciting, we want to be ...
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Are We There Yet?
Thursday, August 19th, 2010Last night, another pesky cop pulled us over. During the time we'd normally spend searching for a safe place to sleep, we were patiently doling out our paperwork, tapping our feet surreptitiously, a...
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Yekaterinburg
Wednesday, August 18th, 2010We're on a major road in the outskirts of Yekaterinburg. The main highway has morphed into speeding city traffic – Tara is navigating as we make our way to the city center. "Okay," she instructs,...
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Home in the Woods
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010Yesterday, we left the Kungur Ice Cave and headed eastwards, driving until dusk. When we spied what looked like a tractor's path snaking into the hills nearby, we pulled off the main road with high ...
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Distractions
Sunday, August 15th, 2010Tyler: I possess a strange affinity for taking unassuming vehicles to places where they might not belong. For reasons I can't really articulate, I was ecstatic about driving off-road in our trusty l...
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Friendly Russia
Saturday, August 14th, 2010It seems that anyone who has traveled far and wide eventually comes to the conclusion that no matter where you roam, people are very much the same. Having heard variations of this idea my entire lif...
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VIGILANCE!
Friday, August 13th, 2010We milked our expensive hotel stay for all it was worth, working in the lobby on their wireless internet connection for most of the morning. After we published a few entries, we struck up conversati...
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Down for the Count
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010When I am writing, I sometimes imagine that we are talking to our families, to our friends, or maybe even to ourselves in twenty years. Occasionally, I like to pretend that our future offspring will...
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Russia's Golden Ring: Suzdal
Monday, August 9th, 2010The tiny town of Suzdal is purportedly the home of more than one hundred architectural monuments (and fifteen monasteries too). We're still a little unclear on what actually constitutes a monument, ...
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Russia's Golden Ring: Yaroslavl
Friday, August 6th, 2010We leave the Kremlin of Rostov, and hop in our LRC for some more driving. The next stop in our Golden Ring tour, turns out to be too big a city for our tastes. To do it justice, we'll have to spend...
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Absurd
Thursday, August 5th, 2010We dismiss Evgeniy's wise warning about traffic, and our own rule about not rushing, and leave Moscow at precisely the wrong time. We've stayed in the city until five o'clock, and are now running ar...
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Wild West: Moscow Bound, Part Three
Thursday, July 29th, 2010We're on the M10, the only major thoroughfare between St. Petersburg and Moscow. Night is slowly descending. We've decided to cover another hundred kilometers or so before stopping to find our first...
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Wallet Update
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010Not much happened today, since we spent most of it sitting at Hesburger planning for Russia and working. We did get some exciting news though. Our driver's licenses, debit cards, and credit card ar...
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Christmas in July
Monday, July 19th, 2010Santa's Village in Roveniemi, Finland was our big attraction for the day. Apparently, it rests right on the line where the Arctic circle begins. At first we were pretty disappointed, it was most...
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Time Lapse
Sunday, July 18th, 2010Last night, we taped our camera to the top of the car and set it up to take a time lapse series of the midnight sun. Around 4AM, I drifted just far enough into consciousness to remember our project....
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Norwegian Countryside
Saturday, July 17th, 2010We woke up this chilly morning to the interminable call of seagulls and other goofy birds circling around the bay. While packing up camp, Tyler and I took turns photographing some of them. Here are...
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Coastal Drive to Norway
Friday, July 16th, 2010In an effort to duplicate Swedish Pancakes from one of my favorite breakfast places in Champaign, I made crepes this morning, served with Lingonberries. My results were much smaller than the restaur...
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Saami Museum
Thursday, July 15th, 2010We stayed at our hotel late into the morning, sleeping restfully in the novel darkness afforded by closed curtains. When we finally roused ourselves around 10AM, our overpriced, stingy hotel redeeme...
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Roadside Oddities
Tuesday, July 13th, 2010Here we are, just drivin' through Finland, when we come to an abrupt halt because we've officially reached reindeer territory. There are loads of them, just milling about on the highway. Here they ...
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Up at the Cabin
Monday, July 12th, 2010The sun is intense in Finland this time of year. The flaming orb never leaves the sky, even at night. At our current latitude, sunset sort of occurs around 12AM, but it never actually gets dark. T...
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Lake Hopping
Sunday, July 11th, 2010Today, we are making ourselves at home in Finland. We've ditched the itineraries we found online, and are simply winging it as we head north towards the Arctic Circle. Feeling as free as we did on ...
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Sandcastles and Lakes
Saturday, July 10th, 2010Today, we left Helsinki and headed into the Finnish countryside. It was a relief to leave the expensive city behind, watching metallic cityscapes transition into woods and forest. For our route, Ty...
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Road Trip Begins!
Monday, June 21st, 2010We spent our last day with Nadine and Felix checking off the final items from our to-do list. These were mostly our shopping-related chores. Namely, finding them fun T-shirts, and finding us the th...
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Home from Work
Sunday, June 6th, 2010After a relaxing day of working, eating ice cream sundaes, and enjoying delicious, cheap Chinese food, we cycle back to our riverside free-camp along a string of nice bike paths on the outskirts of B...
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Into the Woods
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010Before leaving our pension this morning, I decide to visit one last thing before we leave Rothenburg-- The Craftsman' House. This is the oldest building in town, dating back to 1270(!) and is now fi...
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Altmühltal Cycle Route
Saturday, May 29th, 2010Like every other night in recent memory, it rained heavily. This morning, our well-shaded forest free camp was very chilly and very wet. Thanks to a perfectly timed downpour last night (which caugh...
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Fields of Green
Friday, May 28th, 2010We packed up after eating a breakfast of hearty meusli, and hit the road at the late hour of 12:30. Our string of late departure times for the last few days continues. On the road, everything felt ...
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Leaving Dachau
Thursday, May 27th, 2010We biked away from Dachau, once again at the late hour of 2PM. Feeling saddened from all we'd seen, we took to the German bicycle path leaving the site for a quiet, grey afternoon of meditative cycl...
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120 Kilometer Day
Saturday, May 15th, 2010As we were eating breakfast this morning (a heartier, double portion of yesterday's delicious sausage and egg feast), Lily informed us that today's weather was supposed to be "crazy". According to t...
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Draculas & Gypsies
Saturday, May 8th, 2010We awaken to the sound of horse's hooves clip-clopping outside our tent. Smashed together in a furrow of a field, our sleeping mats in a comical V shape, we're genuinely surprised by the restful nig...
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Ridges & Troughs
Friday, May 7th, 2010As he has every morning during our stay in Bucharest, Rob made us a delicious breakfast and gently rebuffed all offers of help. He even made us two extra breakfast sandwiches and packed them careful...
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Lazy Saturday
Saturday, May 1st, 2010Let's just face facts. We never get on the road before 10:00 AM. Okay, not never, but rarely. Even in the sweltering hot summertime, when it is prudent to get moving early to save ourselves from t...
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A Chance Encounter
Tuesday, April 27th, 2010This morning, while I was securing our camera to the back of my bike, Tara announced, "here comes a flock of sheep!" A shepherd and his menagerie were approaching, complete with several barking dogs...
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A Life Less Ordinary
Monday, April 26th, 2010The first day back on the road after a brief interlude of buffet breakfasts and silky sheets can be a little difficult, especially when it looks like rain. As we wheeled out of the Hotel Anna parkin...
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The Universe Provides
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010There are times on this trip when I question my abilities. Am I really capable of doing this? What are we even doing here? Why am I doing this? What is the value of this? These thoughts generall...
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Cave Hunting
Wednesday, April 21st, 2010A few weeks ago, we received a contact through our website from a Romanian who lives in Tara's hometown. He was excited to tell us all about the country he grew up in, and the things we shouldn't mi...
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Intruders on the Danube
Saturday, April 17th, 2010It must be 2AM when we are awakened by the sound of voices chattering in cryptic Romanian outside our tent. In moments, we are both wide awake. We watch intently as a shaky flashlight passes over o...
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To the Danube
Saturday, April 17th, 2010As I unzip the vestibule of our tent this morning, I let out a small gasp of delight and rouse Tyler to take a peek with me. Our free camp is enveloped in a thick, billowing white mist! A nearby ch...
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Into Romania
Friday, April 16th, 2010With a good attitude, relatively clean bikes, and the excitement that comes from approaching a new country, we breakfasted on our new staple of bread, butter, and honey, and set off towards a better ...
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Mud
Thursday, April 15th, 2010I spent the bulk of the morning giving our bikes a rare and thorough cleaning. The muddy excuse for a bicycle path we'd pushed and ridden along yesterday had left them several pounds heavier, compre...
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Rainy Riverside Ride
Wednesday, April 14th, 2010Getting out of large cities can sometimes be a pain. Thankfully, that was not the case today. After a quick, easy exit from Belgrade, we were back on the road once more. It felt so good to leave, ...
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Strawberries
Thursday, April 8th, 2010Today was one of those days that went on a little too long. Though we enjoyed our flat ride, we were ready to be done after 60 kilometers (we are slow). Unfortunately, no good free camps were pre...
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Homesick
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010It being a sleepy, rainy morning, we almost succumbed to the desire to stay put for one more day. Thinking better of it, we slowly pushed ourselves to motion, dutifully packing our things in a half-...
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Morning Has Broken
Sunday, April 4th, 20108:00 AM I wake up feeling happy and Easter-y with the Cat Steven's tune "Morning Has Broken" playing on repeat in my head. Birds are chirping, frogs continue their belchy song from last night, and t...
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Serbian Hospitality
Saturday, April 3rd, 2010Before we left, we received numerous warnings that Eastern Europe would be a dangerous, depressing, soul-suck full of steely thousand yard glares and ferocious dogs. So far, these stereotypes couldn...
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Springtime in Macedonia
Wednesday, March 31st, 2010Riding out of hilly Stip was a wonderful thing. Once we left the city limits, we were treated to a ever-so-slight downhill that lasted almost all day. A sky full of puffy clouds vacillated between ...
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Filling in the Blanks
Sunday, March 28th, 2010We awaken to the faint sound of drizzle and the whipping of our rainfly in a hefty wind. Yesterday's brilliant sun and balmy weather have gone, leaving us with rain and a distinct chill in the air. ...
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Hello Macedonia
Saturday, March 27th, 2010Our ride out of Thessaloniki was a non-stop parade of factories and industrial sites for hours. According to Tara, the road was full of "mammoth ferocious dogs bred with grizzly bears". Thankfully ...
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Boxcar Willie
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010Today's "ride" featured a lot of pushing and plenty of bleak-looking skies. Thankfully, the dark clouds that loomed overhead for the entire day only threatened to rain, and the terrain we practicall...
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On a Roll
Monday, March 22nd, 2010Today was our longest on record, 110 kilometers or about 70 miles. This is double the distance we usually plan to cycle in a day. Thanks to gorgeous sunny skies and a gentle downgrade leading to th...
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Macro Love
Thursday, March 18th, 2010Flowers make me happy. I don't care if it is cliché, they just do! When we got our first camera I was thrilled when I realized I could finally capture the beauty I see in them. When we get home I...
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Snoozin' & Cruisin'
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010We are getting very lax about leaving free camps bright and early. I used to set the alarm for the crack of dawn, wake up the instant the phone started buzzing, and hurredly wake Tyler so we could b...
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Out n' About
Monday, March 15th, 2010Somehow, some way, no matter how ho-hum the scenery or the day, there is always something interesting to see, no matter what. Maybe we are easily fascinated, or maybe we just know how to look, but i...
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24 Hour Rule
Sunday, March 14th, 2010My parents have a rule that says: If you do something routine-altering for a few days, you get a day afterwards to recover and re-adjust to life at home. It's called "The 24-Hour Rule", but the long...
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Climbing in Crete
Thursday, February 25th, 2010I drift in and out of sleep, in a very cozy morning haze. I think I hear a truck crunching over gravel... probably Pietro off to milk his sheep. Before I drift back into unconsciousness, the though...
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Pushing Through Paradise
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010We were thankful for the shelter of our tiki hut this morning when we discovered it had rained in the night. We really and truly no longer take having a roof over our heads for granted! Since the a...
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Donkey Day
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010Leaving cities is always hard. There is inevitably some navigation difficulty, as well as a handful of surprises like one-way streets, delivery trucks taking entire lanes, people double-parked hapha...
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The Little Things
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010In our "normal" lives, both Tyler and I are known for our easy-going demeanor. Our friends have even jokingly referred to us as "zen masters" on more than one occasion. While it is fine and dandy t...
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Coasting in Crete
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010We found a thin layer of ice crystals covering everything outside this morning. Thankfully the sun soon melted away the frost, showering the Lasithi Plateau with glorious, warm light. As we packed,...
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Lasithi Plateau and Dikteon Andron Cave
Monday, February 15th, 2010Last night when I downloaded our GPS tracks I was surprised to find that yesterday was our third biggest climbing day of the trip! The only two rides that topped it were Julierpass in Switzerland an...
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Celebrating Sunday
Sunday, February 14th, 2010I would never have imagined this to be true, but many of our favorite days involve slowly climbing mountains. As long as we bring copious amounts of food, start the day with a positive attitude, and...
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Knossos and the Coast
Saturday, February 13th, 2010Our first stop of the day was the ancient Minoan palace of Knossos, located about 7 kilometers from Iraklion. We got a late start, arriving around 10AM, just in time to meet a group of cycle tourist...
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What Matters
Saturday, February 6th, 2010We awoke excited about our plans for the day. Last night I'd discovered that just ten kilometers away was a town with a rack and pinion railway leading into the mountains. Our guidebook said it was...
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Exploring Again
Friday, February 5th, 2010Panniers full of food from a shopping spree yesterday, we cycled away from Patras under bright blue skies, lazily spinning our legs as we watched the coming and goings of everyday life in Greece. Ab...
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Coasting
Sunday, January 31st, 2010According to our database, after ten months on the road we've ascended 108,469 meters and descended 108,215 more. Imperially speaking, that is nearly 70 miles in each direction. We have officially ...
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Matera Sightseeing
Saturday, January 30th, 2010We started our day by making french toast with Matera looming in the distance. It was very windy and we were downright cold as I packed up camp while Tara prepared breakfast. Once again, thank you ...
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Matera Sassi
Friday, January 29th, 2010"Please don't be raining please don't be raining please don't be raining"... I repeated over and over while waiting for Tyler to come back from a quick trip outside to check the weather this morning....
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Brrrrrrr
Saturday, January 23rd, 2010In an odd change of perspective, every climb was cause for celebration today (and there were plenty of them: 800 meters, or over 2,500 feet in all). In lieu of hopping around madly trying to keep wa...
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Climbing in the Cold
Friday, January 22nd, 2010The day didn't start out very cold. In fact, the first twenty five kilometers of our trek east were just beautiful; much flatter than I expected they would be too! We cruised through non-stop civil...
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Field Recording
Thursday, January 21st, 2010During yesterday's ride, we enjoyed the Amalfi scenery on our second trip through it's unforgettable coastline. Though it provided spectacular views once more, we'd forgotten how mountainous the are...
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Amalfi Again
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010When Tyler expressed his desire to return what I call "the tunnel from hell" to do some recording, I was torn. On one hand, I was excited that he'd finally be able to capture the bizarrely intense d...
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What's Next
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010For some reason we can't quite put our fingers on, we've found stealth camping in Italy to be incredibly easy and rewarding. Last night's location and the views it provided this morning were no exce...
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Salerno
Monday, January 18th, 2010After a refreshingly hassle-free boarding process last night, we made ourselves at home on the ferry to Salerno. By making a mat on the floor out of the removable seat cushions, we were able to easi...
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Sandstorm
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010In central Tunisia this morning, it felt like spring was in the air. Tara was excited, snapping photos of the delicate little buds in celebration of the coming season. Here is her first "flower hou...
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Back to Work
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010Very excited about our first day cycling in almost a month, we were packed and ready to go in record time this morning. Before we left, Tyler ran over to Cafe la Corniche to say goodbye to Yousri wh...
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Exploring Kerkennah Island
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009I'm cozied up in our sleeping bag; Tara has run off to take pictures of the coming sunrise on our little desert island. Before yesterday, my only experience with the desert was sweltering on the sea...
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Under the Spell
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009We're not sure what to expect as we purchase tickets for the ferry to the Kerkennah Islands off the coast of Sfax. It doesn't really matter what it's like, though, the total cost is 1 dinar 800! We...
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No.
Sunday, November 22nd, 2009It is good to be on the road again. Everything has quickly fallen into sync: we had crepes for breakfast before breaking from our secluded free camp this morning, saw a giant spider and then made ou...
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The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009Most of the day wasn't bad. We narrowly escaped some rain while packing our olive grove free camp and then had a lovely uneventful ride along the coast. Cycling just feet from the crashing waves, w...
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Autumn in the Mountains
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009Our frosty free camp at 1,400m (4,500ft) was so cold we blew off our 5:30am alarm this morning. Cuddled in our toasty warm tent we hoped the sun would come out sooner rather than later. It didn't. ...
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Serendipitous
Monday, November 2nd, 2009It took a lot of willpower to leave our cozy sleeping bag this morning. Fall doesn't mess around in the mountains. It was cold! We both layered ourselves like onions in the tent before braving the...
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The Kindness of Strangers
Sunday, November 1st, 2009Last night's campsite was just what we needed. Free camping is fun, but it comes with a slightly tiring set of challenges: lack of bathrooms, showers, sinks, garbage cans, and most importantly: the ...
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Stealthy
Friday, October 30th, 2009This evening was the most blatantly public free camp we've ever attempted, easily trumping our most daring nighttime caper so far: sleeping in the middle of a highway. After a breezy fifty kilometer...
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Southbound Again
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009We took two trips this morning, both of us pushing one bike at a time up the steep and very slick winding road we'd descended last night to arrive at our seaside free camp. The climbing didn't end t...
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Free Camp Fun
Monday, October 26th, 2009Our first free camp was on the second night of our trip. We hauled our panniers by hand through the woods to a well hidden clearing and then returned for our bicycles, trudging through the brush in ...
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Blown Away
Sunday, October 25th, 2009Tara: Lately, when we have a few days off it takes a bit of mental cajoling to get back into the groove of cycling. Already feeling a little reluctant to leave the comforts of civilization behind, w...
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What Rain?
Thursday, October 22nd, 2009Bring it on nature! When it was time to pack our things in the rain this morning neither of us even flinched. Not soon after we left, the drizzle turned into a fierce downpour that didn't fully let...
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Run-Ins
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009Our first run-in of the day was with a man in an ANAS van (the Italian highway maintenance service) shortly after leaving our seaside free camp. He stopped us about 10km into a long ascent and did h...
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Short Day
Saturday, October 17th, 2009Saying goodbye to Melodie and Alex this morning felt very premature. We would have loved to spend more time with them but unfortunately, we're all headed in opposite directions. Before parting ways...
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Noisy Naples
Thursday, October 15th, 2009Tara: Before leaving our volcanic campground we stopped for breakfast at the bar/shop on site. As we ate we noticed there were several cats wandering around (at least seven by our count!). One of t...
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October's Bright Blue Weather
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009The warmth and manic weather (repeated bouts of sun alternating with downpours) of the past few days have passed, leaving a distinct drop in temperature and crisp, clear skies. It is the quintessent...
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Riding Sicker
Friday, October 9th, 2009Last night as we were too tired to put our food away properly, Tyler said, "in the REAL wild, we'd have to be a lot more careful about what we do with our food or animals would come and eat it." We ...
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Taking Care of Business
Wednesday, October 7th, 2009I was surprised to find myself enjoying our ride this morning as we made our way out of the tangled mess that is Roman traffic. The shoulder, if you could call it that, was a huge line of haphazardl...
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Ghost Towns
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009Apparently tourist season is over! Just yesterday, each town we passed was bustling with people. Crowds of tourists spent their sunny afternoons eating gelato and milling about little surf shops, p...
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Oceanside Free Camp
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009Tyler: This morning while we ate breakfast a pack of stray kittens wandered tentatively into our picnic area. They all seemed to be in pretty rough shape so I tossed a piece of bread their way to se...
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Back to the Mainland
Monday, September 28th, 2009Since yesterday was our day off, Tyler put off fixing his flat tire (which he acquired riding into Aquaviva Campground) until this morning. In no time at all, he had the tube patched and we were rea...
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Exploring Elba
Friday, September 25th, 2009Packing up our free-camp early this morning, a man ambled into the woods just as we were heading out. He didn't smile or wave, he just adjusted his floppy hat and tightened his grips on the stick he...
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Easy Road to Elba
Thursday, September 24th, 2009Often when we don't have a specific idea of where we are headed next, we choose a city located somewhere in the general direction we're traveling and use it as a waypoint in our GPS. Once the route ...
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A Hero's Welcome
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009Tara and I were a little overwhelmed last night as we looked at our maps, trying to decide where to go next. Until today we've had a fairly clear plan that defined where we were going, when we would...
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Tuscan Thunder
Monday, September 14th, 2009The morning began with a series of short but brutal hills; a not-so-gentle reminder that the Po River Valley is well behind us. The moment we reached the top of our first 200 meter climb the Tuscan ...
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Re del Po
Friday, September 11th, 2009Tyler often reminds me that we always find a place to sleep. No matter what circumstances present themselves during our day, we have and always will find a place to camp. I held that comforting tho...
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Working in Cremona
Thursday, September 10th, 2009After sneaking out of our trusty canopy-tree-free-camp this morning we headed to Chocolat Café so I could get some work done. With nearly a week off things were really starting to pile up. Most ...
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Cremona Museums
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009Packing up this morning, we both decided it would be nice to take a rest day and see the sights of Cremona. Crawling out of our fantastically shady and well hidden free camp, Tyler announced that he...
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More Free Camping
Tuesday, September 8th, 2009With each passing day we fall in love with Italy a little more. Maybe it is the cheap, delicious food clouding our judgment but we're almost certain that we'll pass through again on our way to Mosco...
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Po River Valley
Monday, September 7th, 2009With our late finish yesterday evening, a sleepless worrisome night of listening furtively for possible angry farmers, and a 6:00 AM departure from our not-so-hidden free camp this morning, I was mor...
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Amaretto Gelato
Sunday, September 6th, 2009True to his promise, our security guard friend was on patrol this morning. When we rolled out of the tent around 7AM he strolled over to talk with us. We did our best to communicate and this time w...
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Lago di Como
Saturday, September 5th, 2009Our taste buds are not ready for Italy. Yesterday we had grapes that were so flavorful (and cheap!) they were hardly recognizable as the fruit I've known my entire life. They had so much flavor it...
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Directions
Thursday, September 3rd, 2009It was a bleak and drizzly morning and I hadn't affixed the rain fly properly last night. Consequently, one end of the tent was completely soaked. Where normally I would have been fuming and frustr...
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Italy at Last
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009Before leaving town officially, we had one very important task to attend to. Velocity sent us complete wheelsets for both bikes and we were left with two perfectly good front wheels in need of a hom...
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Railway Wild Camp
Thursday, August 20th, 2009We left Luzern today to begin our final leg in Switzerland. As we rolled out of camp it was already very hot; 30 kilometers into our ride we were feeling (and smelling) pretty sour. Dripping with s...
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Wild Boar
Friday, July 31st, 2009"Tyler... TYLER!" Tara hissed at me. "Do you hear that!!?" It was still very dark outside our tent, and some large animal was making really loud noises not too far from away from us. In an effort ...
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Slowly, Slowly
Friday, July 31st, 2009We stopped at a huge bicycle shop, "Mondovelo" on our way out of town today, continuing our hunt for replacement skewers. No luck. I did find the cone wrenches I need to rebuild our hubs when the t...
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Free Camp Fears
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009The sun is just dropping behind the hills of our free camp. The wind has picked up a lot, it is easily more powerful than any I have ever experienced. It roars around the tent violently; I can even...
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Bicycle Shop
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009I enter the bicycle shop alone; Tyler is propping our bikes up outside, wishing we had kick stands. As I close the door, still wearing my helmet, two days without a shower, unknown days since our la...
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River Free Camp
Monday, July 13th, 2009It is 2am as I write this. I have been responding to emails and working in our tent for the last several hours. Two feet to my right there is a shallow stream rythmically babbling away. Directly t...
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Role Reversal
Saturday, June 20th, 2009Sticking to our early rising plan we set the alarm for six o'clock. By seven we were up and moving, albeit very slowly. We sometimes joke that we feel like Wall-E in the morning, stumbling out of b...
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Early Camping
Friday, June 19th, 2009Sometimes the hardest part of cycling around the world can be simply getting up in the morning. Actually, I think this is true for accomplishing just about anything in the simple sense that you must...
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Wine & Pizza
Friday, June 12th, 2009We left to cycle the last bit of the canal into Nantes today. As we rounded our first corner the path abruptly stopped. A man operating a nearby lock laughed at us and said there were two ways to N...
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Free Camp & Fire
Saturday, June 6th, 2009We went to bed feeling sick. Huddled together, we tried to fall asleep but were unable to drift off over the cacophony of our own hacking, coughing, sneezing, and trumpet-like nose blowing. Our nos...
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Hearth & Home
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009Once again, we waited out the rain this morning. When the alarm went off we promptly turned it off and rolled over, the sound of the raindrops in our ears. Tyler was fed up and decided that if it k...
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Pain in the Neck
Sunday, May 17th, 2009I woke up to the sound of the rain with a really stiff, painful neck this morning. I'm not sure what I did to it, but I could hardly move my head! I did neck stretches (while yelping) as we waited ...
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Lush Life
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009We woke up this morning and started packing up camp immediately. We were almost done when a very friendly park ranger came walking up with her dog with this to say: "You know what I'm going to sa...
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Goodbye Scotland
Thursday, April 9th, 2009Today was our last day in Scotland. I've joked with Tara a few times that of all the countries we've visited, Scotland is my favorite. Absolutely everyone we have spoken with has been friendly, the...
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The Cove
Wednesday, April 8th, 2009StumbleUpon Readers: Please click here for a message! Thanks for stopping by! This journal entry is the first of ours that has ever been "stumbled upon" and we wanted to say hello. As best we ...
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Stealth Camping
Friday, April 3rd, 2009David and I left this morning to pick up a 'dongle' that will allow us to have internet access basically anywhere in the UK that has cell service. It took a bit longer than expected so Tara and I di...