Want more adventure in your life? Hear real adventure travel stories and practical insights from people who explore the world in bold and meaningful ways by bike, on foot, and close to home.
Seek Travel Ride is an adventure travel podcast for anyone curious about travel and looking to bring more adventure into their everyday.
Host Bella Molloy chats with adventurers and everyday people about bicycle touring, cycle touring, bikepacking, long-distance cycling, and other human-powered adventures. You’ll also hear slow travel, cultural discovery and micro-adventure stories that show adventure can happen anywhere.
Expect travel stories, helpful advice and practical tips you can use to shape your own adventures, whether you’re dreaming of world travel, planning your first bike travel journey, or starting small with something close to home.
Remember it doesn't need to be epic to be an Adventure!
Kindness on the Road: A Warm Showers Story from France - James Palamarchuk
•Bella Molloy•Season 2
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Ever wondered what it would be like to be hosted by a Warm Showers host? Well this week listener James Palamarchuk shares his experience of being hosted by a lovely couple during his recent cycle tour through France, Switzerland and Italy.
You can see more of James' bike travel adventures via his YouTube channel - @JimJamm18
To listen to the episodes of the guests I featured today check:
Hello everyone, it's Bella here from Seek Travel Ride. Welcome to another midweek mini episode where I share what it was like for you, one of our listeners, during one day of your trip. In this episode, we're going to be listening to James Palmarczak, who is going to be sharing what it was like for one day of his journey on a bike adventure that took him through France, Switzerland, and Italy. Before we get into that, I want to know, are you tuning into Seat Travel Ride dreaming about experiencing the magic of your own bikepacking adventure, but you're not quite sure where to start? Or perhaps you're looking for a fun and supportive group to share an incredible journey with? I'm pleased to announce that I've recently launched the Seek Travel Ride Lightweight Bikepacking Tour happening at the end of June 2025 in the stunning foothills of the Pyrenees. I've curated a six-night adventure, which will be the perfect way for you to immerse yourself in the joy of bikepacking without the stress of having to carry heavy camping gear or needing to cook every day. The tour will be starting and finishing in Toulouse, and as a group we'll be exploring scenic routes, going to soak in breathtaking views, learn some local history along the way, and also really lap up the camaraderie that comes from being out on an adventure with like-minded people. I've got you covered in terms of hotel accommodation. All your meals and snacks will be fully catered for, and I'm purposefully taking all the stress out of it because I want you to be able to be focused 100% of enjoying the fun of slow travel. I want to help you discover the beauty and varied terrain on some of the most amazing roads in the Pyrenean foothills. Riding with you each step of the way, you're going to have two ride leaders, one of them's going to be me, and our job is to ensure everyone is supported throughout the journey. Now, I'm purposely keeping group sizes on this tour small because I don't want to dilute the experience by having you feel like you're just one person in amongst a huge crowd. The likelihood is you're going to have an amazing time with me and you're probably going to end the adventure making a few new friends as well. Spaces are limited, so if this sounds like the adventure for you, you can visit the link which I have included the show notes, or simply head to seektravelride.com forward slash bikepacking dash Pyrenees to find out more and secure your spot today. I'm really keen to help more of you make 2025 your year of adventure. Perhaps this is your open door opportunity to do exactly that, and I cannot wait to ride with you. Okay, with that all done, let's listen to James Palmarchuk share exactly what it was like during one day of his trip. Take it away, James.
SPEAKER_03
Hi Bella. My name is James Palmarchak and I want to share one day about our trip in 2023 to Europe. However, I'm gonna cheat a little bit. I'm gonna tell you about the last half of our first day and the first half of our last day, combining it together to make one amazing day. In 2023, my partner and I decided we were going to go bike touring slash packing in France, Switzerland, and Italy. And we flew into Paris in July. And initially our plan was to stay at a hotel near the airport, put our bikes together, get a good sleep, and then take off the following morning. But after giving it a little more thought, I noticed we arrived in the early afternoon. So I thought, why don't I see if there's any warm showers east of the airport? As that was our direction headed towards Switzerland. We found one about 40 kilometers away, sent them a message, and next thing we knew, instead of staying at a hotel, we were heading off east. We landed, got the bikes together, and made our way. We very quickly entered quiet country roads, pedal through farmland, and instantly I just knew that this was exactly what I wanted to be doing. We continued to navigate our way over some cobblestone roads, through a farm, and through several small, small towns which had almost no people out in them. I actually wondered, does anyone even live here? But perhaps it was the time of day. We continued to make our way before heading onto a small pathway which spit us out right along a river. I knew we were close, but I wasn't sure how close. And as we were cycling up, we came back up onto a pathway along the river where it intersected with a canal. So you can think of kind of a cross. And on the corner of that canal there was a big house with blue and red. And I wondered, is that our house? I kind of thought it might be, but I wasn't sure. And as we rolled up, we heard this big cheer from the window, and that was from Beatrice. We were staying with Beatrice and Michelle, uh a retired couple. And we rolled into their house, which is actually up on stilts because it's an old boat factory from the early 1900s, and that's why it's along the canals. We went in, started to chit-chat, immediately they got us settled into their very unique and cool home and settled in. We then proceeded to spend the night out on their balcony looking across the two canals, having delicious food. We had cheese, we had wine, we had crackers, and Beatrice's husband, Michelle, made a dish, and I I would have to describe it like a stew, but it was one of the best meals I've ever had. Homemade stew thing he just whipped up from his head. We went upstairs to our bed after a long night of chatting with a lovely couple and drifted off to sleep. Awoke the next morning and headed out on our journey. But not before cheese, bread, and coffee. That was our introduction to Beatrice and Michelle. An extremely inviting, very warm, and fun to chat with the couple. We exchanged information and they let us know if we ever needed anything to send them a message. So as we traveled our way through eastern France, Switzerland, Italy, and then back into southern France over the next five weeks, we had sent them pictures and just shared with them our journey. And they actually invited us back to their place at the end of our trip because we were flying back out of Paris to our home in Canada. So we finished up our journey, we spent some time in Paris, and then made our way back to Beatrice and Michelle's for a couple of nights to get ourselves organized, get packed up, and do everything that we needed to do in order to get back home. We spent a couple days at their place, and our last night we had again uh probably two of our best dishes of the entire trip, and we ate out at restaurants or at their house. We had like fresh ceviche, we had swordfish steaks for dinner, and I can't even remember what else, but we were just besides ourselves with the amazingness of the food. And I know you appreciate a good meal. And so we talked to them and they they actually agreed to drive us to the airport on our last day because initially we were gonna cycle back into Paris, find a couple of boxes, and get ourselves on the airplane. But what we actually did was we got our bikes into boxes in Paris, took a train to the town near where they lived, they picked us up, brought us to their house, and then they borrowed their friend's van in order to fit both boxes on the way back, because they actually shuttled two trips because we could only fit one on the way to their house. So the last morning came again. We spent it out on the balcony, a beautiful summer day, drinking coffee, eating cheese and bread and yogurt. A really pleasant lifestyle and much, much different than it is in North America. Our flight was in the evening, and so our bike boxes were all packed. We had gotten the van and loaded them in, and then we had the day to wait, and so the last thing that we had, which was quite a treat and surprise, was Michelle as a hobby. He flies small planes and owns one. And he offered to take us up in his plane before we were headed off to the airport. So we drove about the 20 minutes to the local small airport, got everything organized, pulled his plane out of the hangar, got it all spun up and ready to go. I was in the back, my partner in the front with Michelle, and we took off down a grass runway. And he took us out for about an hour just on a lovely tour. He showed us some World War I memorial sites, a really unique lake. We got to see a castle that was owned by I think it was someone from the Middle East, but a castle nonetheless that they had bought. And then a couple other things. We went down to his friend's house and we kind of flip did a flyby. He floats down quite low and banked, and I definitely could feel things in my stomach turning a little bit, but I was able to hold it together. And then my partner actually got to fly the plane for a short period of time, which is pretty pretty amazing. And we ended up coming back. Got back to the house, had a final meal, got to say our final goodbyes to Beatrice before Michelle drove us off to the airport. And we got taken to the airport. And there's many days in our trip that stick out, and many hosts to for that matter. We did stay with several hosts, and they were all very, very wonderful. But those two stick out particularly in that they started our trip, they were so welcoming, the food was amazing, they just they really showed us, I think, what our French culture is like, and then the kindness to offer to bring us back, to take us up in the plane, to drive us to the airport. And it's just as many people on your show have said, it goes to show that people out there are kind. And I think it's the best part of traveling on a bicycle is are are those people that you get to meet. Yeah, so that is two half days combined to make one day of our trip. And I just wanted to say that I I really, really appreciate your podcast. I live vicariously through it every day and hopefully maybe I can be on one day for a long form adventure to talk about my adventure to come, if it ever does, which hopefully is Alaska to Argentina, but there are many, many things that can get in the way of that. And so only time will tell. Thanks, Bella.
SPEAKER_00
Thanks so much, James, for sharing that day. Or as you cheekily did, two half days. I really like that idea, by the way. And I love that these were the bookends of your whole journey there. What you have shared though is probably one of the best facets of bike adventures, and it's something that I've heard with from so many guests. It is that the people that you meet along the way and them extending such amazing hospitality and kindness to you is a thing that impresses you as one of the biggest highlights of a journey. And listening to the kindness shown to you there by this French couple, Beatrice and Michelle, I absolutely loved it. And of course I love that you talked about the food that was cooked up for you as well. You know me, I'm a food lover, and and I can just imagine what those tasty dinners must have been like. I have to admit, James, there's a big part of me that's thinking, I need to find out who this Warm Showers couple is and actually plan my own tour to stay at their place. Thanks so much for sharing your journey and oh my gosh, definitely keep in touch with me and keep that dream alive. Alaska to Argentina, what an incredible adventure you're dreaming of. I hope all things line up for you. Life can get in the way sometimes of taking the leap into these adventures, but if you can manage to make a start on it, that would be truly incredible, and of course, I would welcome you as a guest of the show. Okay, listeners, I've recently been sharing messages from previous guests to let me know what they think the best thing about taking a bike adventure is. This week I've got some more of those audio clips to share with you. The first one is from adventurer Peter Gostolo. I featured Peter twice on the show. He is someone who has taken many amazing journeys, and he's been doing this for the best part of almost two decades now. Let's hear what Peter has to say.
SPEAKER_02
Hey morning, Bella. I'm just leaving a voice message from a beach in Greece trying to decide what the best thing is about bike adventures. I guess there are lots of great things. Best thing about bike adventure, all the unforeseen, amazing places you end up camping and also, I don't know, drinking a beer at any time of the day and not feeling guilty. Anyway, congrats with all the hard work you've done with the podcast. I'm here on Crete for about another week and then I'm taking the ferry back to the mainland.
SPEAKER_00
Thank you so much, Peter. Oh, I do love your answer there. And the little quip of having a cheeky drink. Now, listeners, Peter sent me this message when he was still in Greece. I can give you a nice update now because he is back in Africa in Kenya, and definitely tag along and follow him through his journey. And uh who knows, Pete, maybe episode number three will be coming out in a few months' time, and we'll hear all about these adventures as well. Next up, I have Giacomo Turko, who I featured just recently on the podcast. Giacomo is from Italy and he's currently on an epic South American adventure. Let's listen to what Giacomo has to say.
SPEAKER_01
Hi Bella, so I think that the best thing for me about backpacking is the uncertainty in the sense that you don't know where you're gonna camp, you don't know who you're gonna meet, you don't know anything about your day. So I think maybe that's what really makes you live 100% every day because it's still like a story that you have to write with some luck and with some a bit of adventure as well. And yeah, that's really the magic, I think.
SPEAKER_00
Thanks so much, Giacomo, for sharing your idea of what the best thing about a bike adventure is. Uncertainty, that is so apt coming from you. And listeners, I think you need to check Giacomo's episode out if you haven't already done so to see why I've said that. Giacomo is someone who embraces adventure and has learnt that uncertainty and problem solving goes hand in hand with taking on these journeys as well. Giacomo, I'm definitely going to be keeping an eye out on you in 2025 to see where this South American adventure continues to take you. Okay, listeners, as you know, the other thing I love to do with these mini episodes is give a shout out to my amazing super fans who have once again shown the podcast some love and bought me a coffee. Today I'd like to shout out Joseph Monger, who has said, I do a lot of driving around New Jersey, USA for work and actually enjoy being stuck in traffic while listening to Seek Travel Ride. It's a bummer when I get to my job site and have to interrupt your work with my work. Uh Joseph, thanks so much for those kind words and for supporting the show. I'm glad that I'm keeping you company in those traffic jams, and hopefully these podcast episodes are giving you fuel to inspire perhaps your own bike adventures to come. Sorry about the work getting in the way. Thanks for supporting the show. And next I would like to shout out Dara Poon, who says, I love your insightful questions that help us understand the mindset of your guests. Your interviews are so much more interesting than just an itinerary and a sequence of events. Well, thank you so much, Dara. No gosh, I need to say, is it Dara or Dara? And I'm so sorry if I've pronounced it incorrectly, but uh either way, thank you so much for supporting the show. I'm really glad that you like the style of the podcast. I always say they're not so much interviews as long-form conversations because I feel that's the way that my guests are able to share their stories so profoundly and share their insights and experiences from taking these amazing adventures. I'm really glad that you love this style of the podcast and thank you once again for supporting the show. Now, listeners, if you too would like to support the show as Joseph and Dara have done, you'll find a link to my Buy Me a Coffee page in the show notes. Click the link, show some support, but most importantly, send me a message and let me know what it is that you love about the show. Until the next episode, I'm Bella Malloy. Thanks for listening.
