Introducing Beyond the Bike Live Shows - and Bike Adventures Taken in Colombia: Laura Harris

This week listener Laura Harris is taking us on her bike adventure in Colombia. She shares a day of her trip which actually happened on day no. 2 of her current bike adventure. Laura is currently on a huge journey in South America - end destination of Ushuaia! You can follow Laura's adventure via her instagram channel - @laurainwildplaces

I'm also excited to announce our upcoming Beyond the Bike Live Shows! 

Join me, and a lineup of incredible past podcast guests for a special live event in London on May 14 & 15! Each night will feature a panel discussion, film screening of Jude Kriwald's Award Winning Alone Across Gola Film as well as audience Q&A. We will be celebrating the spirit of adventure, bike travel in all its forms and the incredible places you can get to on two wheels. I hope to see you there and meet you in person.

🎟 Tickets are limited and go on sale soon. Sign up to the Seek Travel Ride Newsletter to be notified as soon as they release or keep an eye on our instagram page - @SeekTravelRide 

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:25

Hello, listeners, and welcome to another midweek mini episode of Seek Travel Ride. Bella Malloy here, host of the show, and I am super stoked to be sharing another one of our listeners' experiences during one day of their trip. These mini episodes are all about stoking your fire, wonderlust, and inspiration to take your own bike adventures on. And today I'm going to be sharing a story from an adventurer from the UK called Laura, who is currently in South America, and she's going to be taking us all the way to Colombia. It's a pretty impactful day that she's going to be sharing, and I can't wait to bring it to you. Firstly, I've got a couple of news items to share with you as well. Now, if you follow Seek Travel Ride on Instagram, you may have seen a few posts which talk about a new Seek Travel Ride logo. This logo was put together in collaboration with a fellow listener of the show, Annabelle Golden. Thank you, Annabelle, who's also a very talented graphic design artist. Pretty much I wanted something that really spoke about the show, and so the new logo shows a bike all geared up for adventure, looking into a landscape, a rolling road, beautiful environment, and a lovely rising sun there. And to me, looking at that image just really invokes the spirit of what this podcast is about. So keep your eyes peeled because you will probably be seeing that new logo appear in many different ways, including in the very near future, some Seek Travel Ride merch. A few fans of the show have been asking me for ages, Bella, when are you going to provide us with something that we can show our support for the show? So it's coming, it's coming. Now, second news item. If you love the conversations we got here on Seek Travel Ride, I'm pretty excited to share with you that for the first time ever I'm going to be bringing them to a live audience. I'm thrilled to announce Beyond the Bike. It's a special live event, and we have got dates happening in London on both the 14th and 15th of May. So on each night I'm going to be joined by a different panel of past podcast guests. People who've tackled ultra races, people who've cycle toured across entire countries by bike, some of them all around the world, but all of them embracing that spirit of adventure which comes with bike travel. The evening is going to involve a panel discussion, film screening. I've got Jude Crywald's Alone Across Goal of Film to show you all, which I know is epic and you will all love. And we're also providing an opportunity for you in the live audience to pose questions to our guest panelists and myself as well. We're going to be sharing stories, insights, practical advice from the road. So whether you're thinking about your first overnight bikepacking mini adventure, or you want to go for a long cycle tour, or if you simply just love hearing real bike adventure stories, this is going to be a fantastic night to come along, meet other riders, meet me and be part of the adventure. So I'm going to be sharing more details soon, but in the meantime, save those dates. You can join us on either May 14th or May 15th in London. We are going to be coming to other cities as well, so keep your eyes peeled for that. You can come to either night or you can come to both if you really want to. To hear more and to learn about how you can buy tickets and when they go live. Make sure you'll subscribe to the Seek Travel Ride newsletter. I have got a direct link in the podcast description. So if you go to your podcast player app, you'll be able to pick the link up there. Or another way is to simply follow me on social media. My handle there is at SeekTravel Ride on Instagram. I cannot wait to see some of you there. It is going to be a night of fun. So yeah, be on the bike. If you're in London, I'd love to see you there. And if you're not, but you've got friends in London, make sure to tell them all about it. One of the best things about this podcast is the community that has grown up around it, and I cannot wait to meet and see you all in person. Okay, well, with those two little bits of news items done, it's time now for us all to get taken to Colombia and listen to Laura share one day of her trip. Take it away, Laura!

SPEAKER_01 4:49

Hello Bella. I'm Laura from England and in January 2025 I landed in Colombia to set off on my first big bikepacking trip through the Andes to Patagonia. Now I feel to share the second day of my trip. So I've woken up in a lay-by, which is not where I'd anticipated waking up that morning. I was hoping to either get to the next town or there was a camp spot I'd identified as well. But yeah, I'd either completely underestimated how challenging the terrain would be and just how steep it was as well, or overestimated my physical capabilities at that time. Maybe a combination of both though. I'd also run out of water. Suffice to say, my first 24 hours of bikepacking in South America had not gone entirely to plan. But then again, having been on the road for a few months now, things not going to plan. It does seem to be a bit of a common theme of bikepacking. So I packed up my camp that morning and continued to push and haul my bike up the rocky, steep dirt roads and uh cycling where I could. And there's one moment that morning which really stands out to me. So I'd come around a corner and in front of me the track was lined with these huge majestic trees. And it was still quite early at this point, so the light was really soft and hazy. And one of my favourite things about Columbia actually is the sound of the birds. There's so many different bird songs, but together it somehow sounds like a beautifully orchestrated piece of music. And I just remember stopping and feeling this huge sense of spaciousness. Like I was able to just take a big exhale. Perhaps this is relatable, I I imagine it is, but in the months prior, especially to this journey, I just found it to be really quite stressful. Kind of the preparation to-do list, which seems to increase in size rather than decrease and tying up a job, moving out of my flat and everything that comes along with that. Yeah, despite feeling quite overwhelmed at that point by the physical demands of this journey just to be amongst the trees and the bird songs, just felt so peaceful and like I was exactly where I was supposed to be at that moment in time. I eventually arrived into the next town, Magottez. And I was quite hungry and thirsty, so I was on the lookout for a restaurant or cafe of some kind. And I initially cycled past, but I did a U-turn when I realised there was a restaurant there. So I wheeled my bike in and asked for a table. And just as the waitress was looking for a table for me, there was a family that called me over and they invited me to join them for lunch. And initially I felt a bit awkward, like I was interrupting them, which is a bit of a strange thing to think, given that they invited me, but perhaps that's just in indicative of the fact that that just doesn't really happen in England. Yeah, I I pulled up a chair, and it was a family of a grandmother, a mother, and a son, and the son spoke really good English, which helped me out a lot because I'm still trying to learn Spanish. So I was able to have a conversation with him. And he was asking me about my trip and where I'm heading to. And then he talked of how he likes to go hiking in the mountains and practice bushcraft. I also really felt the presence of his grandmother. She just had such a warmth about her, really warm eyes, a warm smile, and yeah, she just made me feel really relaxed and welcome. So I asked if I could know a little more. Her name is Adelena, and she's 96 years old. And she's lived in Mogotes for her whole life. So I asked what the secret is to a long and happy life like hers, and I was told it's a combination of eating from the back garden, having a strong family and community around you. I don't imagine there's many people, if anyone, in that town that doesn't know Adelena. The next is to have a job that really lights you up and fulfills you. So Adelena was a tailor by trade. She loved to make clothes. And then the final one was an occasional drink of Scotch whiskey. So Adelina's late husband worked with people from the UK. So through this, she had the opportunity to try Scotch whiskey, and she won't drink anything else now. Yeah, I then asked if I could have some photos with the family, and Adelina said, Yes, of course, but first I must put my lipstick on. So we had some photos together, and then as the afternoon drew to a close, they insisted on paying for my lunch, and then on parting ways, each family member gave me a really long, tight hug and said, Hugs give you strength. And I really remember that, and I really remember how it made me feel. I'm just so grateful for this family for their kindness and for their humanity. And I feel really fortunate to be able to say that this was just the first of many similar interactions that I would encounter as I continued my journey south. This one does stand out just that little bit more though, because of how early it was in my journey and my time in South America. Having never travelled alone for an extended period of time and having never gone on a bikepacking trip for longer than ten days. And I've also stayed relatively close to home over the past few years. I really came to Colombia holding a lot of fear, but each time someone has offered to help me, invited me into their home, or offered me a place to camp on their land, I've really felt that tightness and that weight of fear just continue to melt away. And I now feel really safe and well looked after in Colombia. It also made me realise that despite this being a journey with a lot of solitude and time alone weaved in, travelling by a bike really opens up a world of opportunity to be on the receiving end of people's kindness and willingness and humanity. I'm really thankful and excited that over the next year I'll continue to explore the beauty of the Andes and continue to make these incredible connections with people along the way.

SPEAKER_00 12:48

Thank you so much, Laura, for sharing that incredible day and those incredible moments from Columbia. There were a few things you said there which I absolutely loved listening to, because I think it's stuff that I intrinsically have felt myself. The idea that before you set out on an adventure, it's like your to-do list just seems to be growing more than it's shrinking, and it can fill you with, you know, sometimes that feeling of overwhelming anxiety and maybe some doubts, but hopefully sprinkled in with a healthy dose of excitement of what's to come as well. And I could really feel that with you when you were sharing about, you know, just the idea of setting off the first time you're away, far away from home, into a distant land and you'd not gone that far before, and you'd never travelled more than ten days on a bike before. So to set off on a crazy big adventure like this, I love it, I love it all. The other thing you talked about was, you know, the reality v expectations of what it's like on the road and what perceptions might have been before you set off and how far you might even be able to travel each and every day. That sort of seemed to kick in quite early too. But overwhelmingly this story is about the human connections that you are making there. And personally, for me, I think this is the best part of bike travel and it's breaking down through those language barriers and the deep connections you can make with complete, total, utter strangers. I often feel solo cyclists get these insights even more and this moment of connection that you had with this beautiful family, this beautiful grandmother, and her tips. I loved her tip about drinking Scotch whiskey. That was hilarious. But but she also mentioned something there which has come up on the show many times and that is the power of community and that idea of social connectedness as well. And then the idea that you felt the strength from each of their hugs and you've carried it forward now into your journey. Now, listeners, can you resonate with what Laura has shared with us today as well? No doubt you can. I encourage you to follow her. I've provided links to her Instagram account where she's sharing on her stories and providing updates as her adventure continues through South America. Thank you so much, Laura, for sharing your experiences here on the show. Now, listeners, I'd also like to give a special shout out to you, my super fans, who have sent me through some awesome messages, encouragement, and also bought me some coffees. Firstly, I actually want to share some recent reviews that I've had. Reviewing the podcast on your podcast player app is a great way to keep the podcast high up in the charts and it also acts as sort of social proof. So if people are discovering the show and they wonder, oh, I wonder whether this is worth listening to, they see reviews of the actual show there of dead set legends like you saying what you think about it, and it really, really helps. So a recent review I received on Apple Podcasts in the United States from a user called DVNC73. And you said, inspired to ride, Bella and her guests open up the world of traveling and seeing the world by bicycle. She covers the spectrum of cycling approaches and does an excellent job of getting the best stories and of information from each guest. I'm finding inspiration to expand my cycling through this podcast. Thank you so much, DBNC73. I really love that you are tuning in to get inspiration for your own bike travel, and I often feel that's a common thread amongst many of our Seek Travel Ride listeners in this beautiful community of ours, and it is a privilege for me to be able to share these stories with you. And then I have another one from Moto Sludge, also an Apple podcast in the United States, and Moto Sludge says, inspiring. These are the people I want to know in real life. Bella is a great interviewer and all of the guests are inspirational. This podcast reminds me that the world is not all that bad after all. Ah, thank you so much, Moto Sludge. I tell you what, they're the people I want to meet in real life as well. And as I said before, it's such a privilege to share these stories and these experiences with you all and to give you that dose of wonder last and inspiration for travel. And if it's anything that r hosting this show has taught me, it is that indeed the world is full of amazing people, just like in Laura's story earlier, strangers giving you those dose of kindness, the big hugs that we need sometimes to keep us going as well. And it's been a real massive lesson for me as the host of the show. So that's just a couple of reviews I've recently received. And of course, I can't do a midweek episode without giving a shout out to my recent Buy Me a Coffee supporters. You Deadset Legends, actually buying me some virtual brews on my Buy Me a Coffee page. This week I would like to shout out Karen H who says, I love what you are doing, Bella. Thank you. Thank you, Karen. Short and simple there, and I love that you are enjoying listening to the podcast. Thank you so much for buying me some coffees. And listeners, if you want to show your support for the show, you too can buy me some virtual coffees. Simply head to buymeacoffee.com forward slash seek travel ride. Buy me a few virtual brews, but most importantly, leave me a message and let me know what is it that you love about tuning in to Seek Travel Ride. And now remember if you are in London or close by and you would like to meet me and a few of our previous podcast guests for a night talking all things bike adventure. We will be in London Town on the 14th and 15th of May. Tickets will be released very soon. Either follow us on Instagram at Seek Travel Ride or be signed up to the Seek Travel Ride newsletter. The link is in the podcast description show notes, and you will be the first to be notified when tickets are released. I hope to be able to see some of you listening to this there. And until the next episode, I'm Bella Malloy. Thanks for listening.