Seek Travel Ride

What is it really like to bikepack the Tour Aotearoa on New Zealand’s North Island? In this midweek episode, Rebecca Gross shares her experience riding the TA, including the Timber Trail, Warm Showers hospitality, lush North Island scenery, and how well the route is managed with clear detours for trickier sections.
If you are planning your own TA ride or curious about what makes this route so unique, Rebecca's update offers up great practical insight into terrain, logistics, the NZ Bike Adventure community, and what to expect when riding the trail.
Later in the episode I also share where our Seek Travel Ride listeners on Instagram are planning to ride in 2026 
Also be sure to check out the  Snailblazers events happening in Ireland by @SnailBlazers.cc - You can sign up for more info about them via their contact form.
Check out Old Man Mountain for the perfect way to carry gear on your bike.
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Seek Travel Ride Music Playlist available now on both Spotify or Apple Music

What would you do if you suddenly had four months free to take a bike adventure?
For London-based outdoors lover Anna Ruddiman, the answer was simple: buy a touring bike off Facebook Marketplace, catch a ferry to Spain with her girlfriend Fran, and start pedalling east across Europe.
In this episode, Anna shares how that idea turned into a four-month ride through 11 countries, wild heatwaves, Balkan backroads and dreamy alpine passes. Along the way they wild camped in secluded spots, rerouted around wildfires, dodged territorial shepherd dogs, and survived on a heroic amount of pesto pasta.
We cover:
 • The serendipity of both losing work & suddenly having time
 • Buying second-hand touring bikes for the trip
 • Why rigid planning doesn’t work for long bike travel
 • Ferry crossings, river valleys & heatwaves
 • The wild camping learning curve (and mysterious eyes in the dark…)
 • Mechanical drama & flat tyres in Albania
 • The shepherd dogs outside Athens that forced a 60 km detour
 • Finishing the trip in Turkey and what comes next
 • Why comparison steals the joy from adventure
Route Highlights:
UK → Spain → France → Italy → Slovenia → Croatia → Bosnia → Montenegro → Albania → Greece → Turkey
Follow Anna on Instagram - @annaruddiman
Music Pick:
Anna adds “Oysters In My Pocket” by Royal Otis to the Seek Travel Ride playlist.
Check out Old Man Mountain for the perfect way to carry gear on your bike.
Support the show
Buy me a coffee!
I’m an affiliate for a few brands I genuinely use and recommend including:
👉 Zorali
👉 Helinox
👉 Ombraz
👉 CycPlus– ePumps (enter code STR for 5% off!)
Follow us on Social Media!
Instagram - @SeekTravelRide
Facebook - Seek Travel Ride
YouTube - @SeekTravelRide
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Seek Travel Ride Music Playlist available now on both Spotify or Apple Music

This week I'm  sharing some awesome bike adventure gear hacks from those of you in the community. 
I also have an update from Giacomo Turco, who is currently on a huge ride from Cape Town to Italy. Giacomo is updating us from Benin and sharing how the journey has been so far on his bikepacking adventure. He talks about the intensity of the trip, how each day comes with new experiences, and also challenges. 
He describes the challenges of getting visas for countries, a crazy experience of being invited as a guest to a wedding, and also the scary moment of being assaulted while in Cameroon, and how it nearly made him stop the journey.
Giacomo also candidly discusses how despite the finish of his trip being almost a year away, he is already finding himself concerned with thoughts of dealing with post adventure blues. 
You can follow Giacomo's journey via his instagram page - @cycling.beyond and also find out more about his work on the Water Cycle. 
Check out Old Man Mountain for the perfect way to carry gear on your bike.
Support the show
Buy me a coffee!
I’m an affiliate for a few brands I genuinely use and recommend including:
👉 Zorali
👉 Helinox
👉 Ombraz
👉 CycPlus– ePumps (enter code STR for 5% off!)
Follow us on Social Media!
Instagram - @SeekTravelRide
Facebook - Seek Travel Ride
YouTube - @SeekTravelRide
Seek Travel Ride Newsletter
Leave me a voicemail message

Seek Travel Ride Music Playlist available now on both Spotify or Apple Music

In Part 2 of my conversation with Irish cyclist Tomas Mac An T-Saoir, we continue his nine-year journey around the world by bicycle. We begin in Syria and Afghanistan, where Tomas shares what it was like to travel through regions affected by conflict and have frank, human conversations with the people who live there. One powerful story includes an Afghan woman who was permitted by local authorities to guide him through her city, offering him a rare window into daily life under restrictive laws.
From the Middle East, our conversation shifts right back to New Zealand, where this chapter of Tomas’s journey actually began, and where Covid lockdowns meant he ended up staying far longer than he ever expected. His time in New Zealand eventually led to Australia,  and onward to Timor Leste and Indonesia, where he dealt with blistering heat, remote roads and even a major earthquake on the Indonesian side of Timor.
We also explore something many long-term travellers quietly struggle with: finishing. After nine years of life on the road, how do you return home? What happens to your identity when the bike stops moving? And how do you make sense of everything you have seen and experienced along the way?
If you are interested in bikepacking, long-term travel, culture, human stories and round-the-world cycling, this episode offers an honest look at both the extraordinary and the everyday parts of life on the road.
Follow Tomas on Instagram - @anbotharfada
📍 Listen to Part 1:
Meet the Irishman who Cycled Around the World — Tomas Mac An T-Saoir (Part 1)
Episodes mentioned during this conversation:
Peter Gostelow - Part 1 and Part 2
Heinz Stucke - Part 1 and Part 2
Check out Old Man Mountain for the perfect way to carry gear on your bike.
Support the show
Buy me a coffee!
I’m an affiliate for a few brands I genuinely use and recommend including:
👉 Zorali
👉 Helinox
👉 Ombraz
👉 CycPlus– ePumps (enter code STR for 5% off!)
Follow us on Social Media!
Instagram - @SeekTravelRide
Facebook - Seek Travel Ride
YouTube - @SeekTravelRide
Seek Travel Ride Newsletter
Leave me a voicemail message

Seek Travel Ride Music Playlist available now on both Spotify or Apple Music

This week I'm sharing a recap from our recent live shows which were held in Melbourne with guests Emily Hulbert, Fergal Guihen, and David McCourt. We  discuss tips on facing fears head on, wild camping, and the importance of leaning into adventure during these long kind of travel journeys. The kindness of strangers shines throughout our panelists stories and Em Hulbert also shares her perspective of travel as a solo female.
Want to hear my full length episodes with these guests? check them out below:
Emily Hulbert
Fergal Guihen - Part 1 and Part 2
David McCourt - Part 1 and Part 2
You can also follow them on their social media channels below
Emily Hulbert -@emhulbert
Fergal Guihen - @Rossie_to_Aussie
David McCourt - @longwayhome__2022
Check out Old Man Mountain for the perfect way to carry gear on your bike.
Support the show
Buy me a coffee!
I’m an affiliate for a few brands I genuinely use and recommend including:
👉 Zorali
👉 Helinox
👉 Ombraz
👉 CycPlus– ePumps (enter code STR for 5% off!)
Follow us on Social Media!
Instagram - @SeekTravelRide
Facebook - Seek Travel Ride
YouTube - @SeekTravelRide
Seek Travel Ride Newsletter
Leave me a voicemail message

Seek Travel Ride Music Playlist available now on both Spotify or Apple Music