Cycling from the UK All the Way to Thailand!: Olly Hargreaves

Imagine cycling all the way from the UK to Thailand? Well that is exactly what guest Olly Hargreaves is going to be doing and I'm thrilled to say that we will be tracking his journey all along the way.

This is the first part in what will be a series of updates about Olly's journey. In this episode Olly gives us details on his preparation and motivations for this journey as well as what he is looking forward to. Over the next few months we will be receiving updates from Olly letting us know what it's actually like out there on tour!

You can follow Olly's journey via:

Instagram - @sagas.of_olly.hargreaves

Facebook - Olly Hargreaves

TikTok: - @OllyHargreaves1

Find out more about his charity fundraiser for Alzheimers Research UK here

Arev and Mathias' YouTube Channel is here - @AmazingWorldBikeTour

Head over to Old Man Mountain and checkout the Manzanita Cradle 

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:24

Hello listeners, Bella Melloy here, host of Seek Travel Ride, and welcome to another midweek mini episode where I share the stories from our listeners to fuel your fire and stoke your level of wonderlust for bike adventures as we get our way through the week. Today I'm really happy to be saying that I am sharing the story of Ollie Hargreaves, and Ollie has agreed to take us along for the ride on his upcoming adventure. Very shortly, Olly is going to be leaving his home in the UK near the Peak District, and his destination is Thailand. So in this episode, we're going to get an introduction to Ollie, his motivations for taking this journey, and then also what he's looking forward to the most and what he thinks lays ahead for him. And then periodically every three or so weeks, we're going to be featuring updates from Ollie as well on the road and seeing what it's all been like in reality. So let's get into today's episode. Ollie Hargreaves, welcome to the show. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_01 1:28

Hi, I'm great, thanks. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_00 1:30

Ollie, I am super pumped and super excited. Listeners and fans of the show, you may recognise the last name Hargreaves, is because Ollie is Jamie Hargreaves' brother and Phil Hargreaves' son, and he is about to take on his own super duper adventure as well. Ollie, adventure clearly runs in your family.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

Yeah, definitely. Yeah. Everyone's got their own kind of stories and different different adventures. So yeah, finally going off to make my own.

SPEAKER_00 1:58

When you say finally getting off to make your own, I guess first and foremost, what's the adventure you're about to set off on?

SPEAKER_01 2:04

So the plan is to cycle to Thailand. I did actually have a bit of a backstory to it because I wanted to go off kind of the same as Jamie and go straight from uni, but when I finished uni, it was all COVID. The idea was originally to cycle to Australia and do the kind of a similar trip to what he's doing, but because of COVID, everything was shut down and all a nightmare, so I decided not to do that and get a job instead. And then it was nightmare getting a job, so I wanted to get the years' experience in what I was doing, so that when I come back, I've obviously got that to kind of fall back on to get a job, and then other things kind of happen, and I've ended up with my girlfriend now, and she wants to travel. So it's a compromise on our part to obviously, I've got this bit to go off and do the the more crazy stuff, because as much as you know she is adventurous, I don't think she could be convinced to cycle all the way.

SPEAKER_00 2:56

Because you're taking an adventurous route there as well, obviously.

SPEAKER_01 3:00

Definitely something, you know, parts of that that she wouldn't be comfortable doing. So I say it's a compromise on that, and then you know, I get all the the wild stuff of you know sleeping in not very nice places. And then uh we'll meet her whilst we're in Thailand and then go off and do our thing.

SPEAKER_00 3:16

When you say sleeping in in not very nice places, have you had much practice of doing that? I know that your dad, Phil, and uh Jamie definitely uh expert experts in dirt bagging, dare we say it, you know, sleeping in bus shelters and supermarket trolley bays and whatnot. What about yourself?

SPEAKER_01 3:32

Yeah, I I think I think I'll probably be end up doing something similar, you know, going out with obviously dad and stuff when I was younger, you know, we used to go like climbing a lot and out into the mountains, and so we used to bivvy quite a lot. I remember I remember one particularly bad one. We went up to do Freundenhorn or something in Switzerland, and we ended up bivying out, and it was I was with one of my cousins as well, and it absolutely tipped it down all night, and we were like sleeping outside under this little like bivvy shelter getting absolutely so I think I was probably like 12 or 14 or something at the time, uh having an absolute nightmare, not enjoying it at all. So yeah, I've definitely had a had a fair share of weird and wonderful nights.

SPEAKER_00 4:17

Oh, I know when I spoke with Jamie, he sort of said that it's those harder times that he looks back the most fondest with, and they're the stories that you share, and I just think they're straight away as a 12-year-old freezing, pouring with rain like a drowned rat on the side of a mountain, and here's this story already.

SPEAKER_01 4:36

Yeah, exactly. I'm sure there was once before there as well.

SPEAKER_00 4:39

Fair to say you grew up with stories both from your dad and also your mum. Hi Allie. Fans of the show will obviously know your dad's story, but your mum's pretty adventurous as well.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

Yeah, she didn't cycle, but she went off on on different expeditions, going, you know, she went over to Nepal, she went to Borneo, um, and trip around Africa on an old bus with like 20 other people. So yeah, she's she's very well travelled and you know, got adventures of her own.

SPEAKER_00 5:07

Yeah, and I guess between her and your dad have just instilled this adventurous spirit. You're the older brother there, and I can't imagine what it must have been like for you to have this idea to go travelling and then the pandemic hits and you're sort of locked in, aren't you? Like you you're ready to go and have to reassess.

SPEAKER_01 5:25

Yeah, it was a bit of a nightmare because I I was actually at uni at the time when COVID hit, so it kind of hit at the end of second year, and then the whole of my third year was in COVID, so couldn't go out and do anything. And then it was still kind of in play when I'd finished. Yeah, all the countries were locked down and stuff.

SPEAKER_00 5:42

So how did you feel that part of your adventurous spirit in those days? Like what sort of trips were you taking during COVID to sort of give yourself that little bit of energizing burst?

SPEAKER_01 5:52

To be fair, I I think I was I was going on bike rides, I was doing more of like mountain biking at the time, and then kind of when when all the lockdowns had lifted, you know, we we go out more walks and you know, go over to Wales and Lake District and stuff, but not not a massive amount really.

SPEAKER_00 6:08

Was there ever a point where you nearly just even gave up on the idea to go travelling at all?

SPEAKER_01 6:12

Not to go travelling, I nearly didn't end up going on the cycle trip because I say, you know, that was my original plan to do, and then not to do with COVID, but because I ended up with my girlfriend, um, we did talk about setting off to travel together, and then you know, that kind of wrote off the idea of cycling. So we were just kind of gonna travel from here and kind of make our way over. But so I I said when I got into my job that this is the time that I kind of wanted to leave. I wanted to get that experience and then go and we were talking about it last year, and then she wanted to get obviously experience in her job as well, so she wanted to wait till the end of this year. So we kind of like talked about it and thought, well, if I set off earlier, I get my kind of mad adventure type thing and and go out of the way. She can meet me out there and we can do that bit we were saying together. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:08

I love the master plan. In the lead up for heading away to Thailand, what a mad concept, by the way, you leave your driveway destination Thailand, like it's a fair way away. Yeah. But in the lead up to that, have you taken some mini sort of shorter bike trips and have you been some practices getting used to a bike loaded up and what it is for day-to-day sort of cycling day in, day out?

SPEAKER_01 7:31

Yeah, so I've I mean I've I've not got out probably as much as I should have, I must admit. I need to kind of load up all the panniers and stuff and get all that sorted and you know, actually properly load up the bike still, but I say I've still got a bit of like gear that's um arriving, so I need I need to wait for that to properly pack it up. But I've been going on like some longer bike rides and stuff just to get used to the bike because I you know I bought a new bike in September and stuff. It's all got like different gear shifters and all sorts of stuff, so getting used to that at the moment.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

You'd have some pretty cool places to ride where you're based there up in the UK as well.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

Yeah, definitely, yeah. You know, I have I have been out and and ri ridden all over the the shop in the UK anyway. Like me and me and a mate went and did uh have you heard of Land's End John O'Groats?

SPEAKER_00 8:20

Yeah, good old Lajog.

SPEAKER_01 8:22

Yeah, the uh top of yeah, well, the bottom of England to the top of Scotland. So we did that the year before COVID. I think that's probably also what it kind of you know convinced me to do it because it's such a nice kind of feeling being able to do it by bike and see everything on the way that you know it makes you realise I think how small the world is because you're like, Oh, I've just cycled here and it it's not actually I think we did it in twelve days or whatever it was, and it was like, well, it's not actually taken us that long to cycle, and we've seen all this kind of stuff on the way, and it's been you know really good. I mean, I we were quite fortunate with the weather as well. We only had one day of like horrible, you know, rain in your face, but the rest of it was really nice. So I think that's played a part.

SPEAKER_00 9:07

Yeah, you know that feeling it never leaves you. It was funny, I I thought of two separate things where I totally relate to that, and both of them have to do with doing a ride like that and then looking at it on a map, and you sort of scroll out and just sort of actually see it more easily. And the first one actually wasn't a huge ride. Well, actually, I take that back, it was a huge dride for one day, uh, but it wasn't a huge ride as in you know multi-days, and it was it was a post-COVID ride. My husband and I, we were moving to France, but we were stuck in Ireland, and we were meant to be in Ireland for a few months, and because of lockdown, we ended up being there for 18 months.

SPEAKER_01 9:43

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:43

Anyway, that's another story. But we had this idea that we just wanted to break free, and Ireland had these horrendous lockdowns, you know, we were locked down within 2K's or five K's, and then we couldn't leave our county, and we just wanted to go, and we finally county borders opened, and we thought, oh, let's head to the other side of the country. So we did a ride from Dublin to Galway, and we did it all in a day, and we did it horrendously. And what I mean by that was I didn't have any pannies or anything, and all our gear, our camping gear and stuff, couldn't quite fit greatly on our bikes, and like we both set off with like eight or nine kilos on our backs and backpacks, and I think it was like 260 kilometres or thereabout. And I remember distinctly after that trip scrolling out on a map and going, Whoa, that's so cool. We crossed like a whole country in a day, and it was exactly that concept of it's actually quite small when you think of it. You can do it. And then the other time was a couple of years ago, my husband and I we crossed the Pyrenees mountain range from the Atlantic over to the Mediterranean, and that's still the best trip I've ever done. And exactly what you were saying, Ollie, like you look at it on a map and you go, Wow, the ocean of the Mediterranean Sea is pretty cool. You're gonna be zooming on a map for far longer by the end of this trip, though.

SPEAKER_01 10:54

100%.

SPEAKER_00 10:55

But it's the same concept, and that's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 10:57

Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_00 10:58

I have to ask you, you said you've got gear that's still to arrive. I want to know, is there a luxury item that you're taking with you on this trip? Something that you know you could probably do without, but you can't do without, like just mentally more than physically?

SPEAKER_01 11:10

Yeah, I was I was actually asked about that, and I've not really thought about it much, I can't lie. I was trying to think of like think, you know, things of what I might put in as you say, as a bit of a luxury, but I can't really think of of anything really that you know I'm gonna have to take kind of thing to in order to get me by. But I'm taking I don't know, obviously, you know, mum's an artist. Yes. So one of the things I wanted to do was that you know, do some sketching and stuff whilst I'm away. So I've got a little like sketchbook and some pencils and stuff like that. Um, but that that's probably the closest thing.

SPEAKER_00 11:46

Oh my gosh, I feel like challenging you. You know how we're going to be doing like little audio updates along the way.

SPEAKER_01 11:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:52

I challenge you to do a little sketch, every audio update, and send it through. I'd love to see what the that would be brilliant. Oh, virtual handshake. Listeners, we get to look forward to this. I love that idea. In a way, it's almost like your mum's travels and your dad's travels are sort of culminating in the one trip there, like your mum's artistic flair and your dad's adventure and stuff on the bike. So that's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_01 12:13

Yeah, yeah, definitely. I say it's it's something, you know, I did used to sketch quite a lot when I was growing up, but it's something that has kind of fallen out. And uh obviously I do with my job being a designer, I do, but it's obviously it's a completely different kind of drawing. So I think it'd be really nice to kind of get about, you know, what when I'm camping or whatever, and I've got like a nice view of something just to have a bit of a sketch.

SPEAKER_00 12:34

Oh, I can't wait to see them. Listeners, I'll share them on our Instagram, so make sure to follow us there at SeekTravel Ride. Something that that comes to mind there as well is you're clearly a lover of the outdoors and you've got some epic scenery that waits you. What are you looking forward to the most? I know there's going to be lots of unexpected things happen along the way, but what are the areas, places, landmarks, or milestones that you can't wait to see for yourself?

SPEAKER_01 13:00

Yeah, so there's a couple of bits that I'm quite looking forward to. So one of my ideas is because I've got this kind of time restraint, is to kind of go through Europe like relatively quickly, just because from the UK obviously you can get a flight out fairly easily to most places, uh, just for a weekend or whatever, and then kind of when you get to Turkey onwards is where it's kind of like, alright, you need to kind of go for a week in order to make it worth it. In Europe, I'm really excited to go through the Balkans, because obviously that's a bit further afield, and not a lot I I don't think a lot of people go and see these countries, and you know they look really, really incredible, really. And you know, completely different scenery. I quite like history as well, so you've got all the history around the area, got like crusades going through and sniff things to do with the wars and stuff like that. So you know, in Bosnia, you go to Sarajevo, I think it is.

SPEAKER_00 13:56

Sarajevo, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:58

Yeah, and that's obviously where Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, so there's there's all sorts of bits to see around there. So that that'll be really nice. And then obviously Turkey's got loads of history, so you know, I really excited to see Turkey because I've never been. And then the next one is is definitely the Pamir Highway. That's something that's definitely kind of top of the list to see. That's gonna be you know an incredible stretch of the journey.

SPEAKER_00 14:21

Oh, absolutely, and oh, I feel like I've travelled there so many times just uh only through guest stories and experiences. I often wonder, I wonder when I'll do that.

SPEAKER_01 14:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:33

You got some awesome food to look forward to along the journey as well. Are you looking forward to that element of the of the trip?

SPEAKER_01 14:40

I think so, yeah. Yeah, I'm I mean, as a kid, I know my my parents would definitely say I was a bit more of a fussy eater, but kind of growing up, I I've definitely taken a turn to like I'll I'll eat anything and try anything that's given to me. So I'm really excited to kind of try local cuisine and stuff like that. Things, you know, things that are really different be really interesting.

SPEAKER_00 15:00

And then I guess at the other end of the spectrum, it's not so much about trying different things. There'll be days where the only thing to eat is the same thing you had the day before and the day before and the day before. I think there's a section um through the desert. Do you want chicken with rice or rice with chicken? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:17

It'll be that for for a while.

SPEAKER_00 15:19

Yeah, yeah, yeah. In Nepal. Dal bat on the menu today, breakfast, lunch, dinner.

SPEAKER_01 15:23

Yeah. Well, that's yeah, that's another bit that I'm really excited for, obviously, is Nepal. Yeah, I I want to spend a decent amount of time there. It's just what time I've basically got from from when I leave dad doing the Palmet Highway.

SPEAKER_00 15:35

I guess it's also the time of the season, because I wonder what time of the year you'll actually be in Nepal. I mean, it's mad to think about like what date are you setting off here? We're not far away from setting off at all.

SPEAKER_01 15:46

No, so setting off on the 17th, so next Thursday. So I've got, I think, 10 days, not even that, nine days today.

SPEAKER_00 15:52

That's mega. I'm gonna try my absolute best to get this episode out before you set off. So, listeners, hopefully you're hearing this before time. And if I don't, please forgive me, but it'll be like the week after.

SPEAKER_01 16:03

Yeah, yeah, no worries.

SPEAKER_00 16:05

Because I I think Nepal, from what I know, best time of year hiking season's around October, November, if it's not at this time of the year.

SPEAKER_01 16:13

Yeah, so that is gonna be around the time that I'm gonna be there. I think, like we're doing the Pamir Highway through September, and then the plan is again because of the time restraint, I'm gonna have to fly from either Tashkent or Bishkek to New Delhi, and then cycle from New Delhi up to Nepal, and then hopefully spend a bit of time, so it will probably be mid-October. Well, I say that, you know, it depends how long it takes me to to kind of do that, because I like to see the Taj Mahal and stuff on the way. So but yeah, maybe the end of October, start of November, maybe.

SPEAKER_00 17:54

I think one of the best things and what I'm most excited about doing these type of esp episodes, Ollie, and listeners, is to see what happens. This is the pre-planned model of what I want to happen, and I I can't wait to see how this trip moulds and massages into its own different route and permeations and things you didn't know that existed that change your mind about places and stuff like that as well, Ollie. It's all part of the adventure, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 18:18

Yeah, it's it's it's it's all good saying one thing, you know, it's it's that old saying, you know, the best laid plans always kind of change, don't they?

SPEAKER_00 18:26

So absolutely. But hopefully only because of good things.

SPEAKER_01 18:30

Yeah, fingers crossed.

SPEAKER_00 18:31

No doubt you'll have problems to solve. Every bike traveller does.

SPEAKER_01 18:35

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:37

Looking at, say, your brother, for example, Jamie, and also with your dad, like your dad left with two mates, and Jamie, I think, left solo, but you know, he's done a fair bit of this trip now with other people, and he's spent a lot of time now through Nepal with Malachi. Are you open to the idea of buddying up and fast friendships on the road, or are you really looking forward to a solo adventure?

SPEAKER_01 18:58

Uh yeah, definitely. I I think I've I quite like the idea of both, so I do enjoy my own company, so I don't think I'd struggle too much doing it on my own, but at the same time, you know, I've had a few people message me on Instagram and stuff saying, you know, we're doing a similar thing and stuff like maybe see you on the road type thing. And it'd be, you know, it would be nice to kind of bump into people that are doing something similar. The only thing is because I'm pushed for time, I've got to kind of stick to what I like where I'm going and when. Um which is a little bit of a shame really because you know, as you say, you go and you meet people and they go, Oh, you're going down here. Oh, that actually sounds really nice. Like I I'll tag along with you. And you end up diverting from what you originally planned, and you go off and see something else, which I unfortunately don't think I'm gonna have the opportunity to do, which I say it is a shame, but it it's one of those things, it's a bit of a compromise, really.

SPEAKER_00 19:54

Yeah, and sometimes you have to make those compromises. What I will say, and maybe it's a thought I put into your head, and it's after interviewing so many bike travellers, Ollie, is that idea of trying to allow flexibility and serendipitous moments into your travels and allowing those moments of meeting strangers who allow you to see something you didn't know about. The other thing, and it was previous guest Tristan Ridley, who FYI just Tristan just literally celebrated two thousand days on the road.

SPEAKER_01 20:20

Oh wow, for good a while.

SPEAKER_00 20:22

Absolutely. Um his adventures were so big we covered them in two episodes, much like your dad's. But he started out on his journeys having to do uh it's called the EFI principle where you have to cycle every effing inch. And he he's now turned his mind differently to that and accepted that sometimes to see the best places to get to them, there's not much in between, and it's actually okay to skip ahead with a bus or a hitchhike here and there as well. So maybe that's something you can have in the back of your mind. Like, do you in the back of your mind want to be the person that says I I cycled all the way to Thailand? Or do you want an experience of cycling to Thailand predominantly on the bike, and every now and then there were little things along the way, like a hitchhike here or a bus ride there?

SPEAKER_01 21:06

Yeah, I definitely take that opportunity to go off and see stuff. As you say, you know, it's it's you know really good saying you've gone all the way, but I I know Jamie said stuff about this because obviously when he cycled up through Kazakhstan when he was going through the desert, he said he wishes he he hadn't done that bit because there wasn't really anything to see while he was doing it, it was just the same thing every day, as much as I'm sure he's you know very proud that he's he's done it the whole way at the moment. It's obviously that that thing of not being really seeing stuff on the way.

SPEAKER_00 21:37

It's funny because it was actually that section of the route that I was talking to Tristan about and that that very question, like would you do those sections again? And he he sort of said if he had his time over, probably not. And another section that Tristan definitely wouldn't do again. I think Tristan, if I remember correctly, it was the Kalahari Desert. That was all very same-same and uninteresting as well. So it'll be interesting to see how this route sort of manifests and unfolds. Are you taking a similar route to Jamie and your dad, or are you doing something totally different and individual on your own there?

SPEAKER_01 22:07

So though I think there'll definitely be places where I'm cycling through like the same places, especially through through this side of Europe, through Germany, through Salzburg and Munich, uh sorry, Salzburg's in in Austria, but going that direction. That's kind of where I get to Croatia, is where I'm kind of diverting off. Like Jamie went all the way down the coast, and instead of that I say I'm I'm going through all the like the Balkans and and going through there, kind of more m more midland. And then it's the same with Turkey as well. He kind of followed the coastline down, whereas I'm kind of cutting through. I do quite want to go down and try and see Troy, because that'd just be like a little bit of a diversion once I get in from Greece, so it would be like a couple of days. Quite like to do that and then go up to Istanbul, but then I'd be kind of cutting right through the middle of Turkey rather than going all the way around the edge. And then again, you know, doing the Pamet Highway and stuff is is a bit of a different route.

SPEAKER_00 23:07

And there's different options there as well, there's different valleys you can do. I didn't realise this until recent guests, like the you know, there's the Wakan Valley, there's the Bartang Valley, and there's different routes. So it'll be interesting to see what you decide to do there. In fact, actually, if you have time and you want to fill your cup of wonderlust and really boost that anticipation dial right up, I highly recommend the Videos from previous podcast guests, Arev and Matias from an Amazing World Bike Tour. I think I've got that right. They've done some pretty detailed videos of their whole journey, but they've got a series which is totally on the Premieres.

SPEAKER_01 23:43

Oh right, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:44

Each episode is like 30 minutes, and you will see the Premieres in proper detail. It is brilliant. I can't give it a bigger shout out. Listeners, I will link it in the show notes and I'll send it to you, Ollie, just in case.

SPEAKER_01 23:54

Yeah, that'd be great. Thank you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:56

Ollie, something else that you're doing is this is a I guess a adventure with a purpose because you are fundraising on this ride as well, aren't you?

SPEAKER_01 24:05

Yeah, well, so I say, you know, I've I've had this trip planned since a kid, and I was kind of um in an R in it with the idea of doing it, you know, whilst I'm doing this kind of thing, you know, it's a perfect opportunity to help help raise money for a charity. So yeah, I decided to help raise money for Alzheimer's Research UK. Something that my nanny, dad's mum, she suffered with Alzheimer's, and we were only kids like kind of growing up with it, but it wasn't very nice to see. It's something that you know people do think that can be cured. So any you know, any kind of donations are uh helpful to that. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:41

Oh, and I applaud you for doing that and highlighting it. It is definitely a charity that sadly too many of us can sort of have a personal connection to as well. Yeah. I like seeing people actually use these sort of things as a way of actually drawing attention to it and putting good to it. That's it, you know, this is a journey that's going to change you and shape you and give you all these experiences, and to think that maybe by the end of it it will have also contributed towards that research that maybe helps find a cure as well. That's pretty cool to look back on as well.

SPEAKER_01 25:13

Yeah, it was that kind of opportunity. I was like, well, I'm doing this trip, why not kind of do a bit of good uh and help along the way?

SPEAKER_00 25:20

So I guess the next question, people are gonna want to follow along, other than getting a hit of Ollie Hargraves' voice memos and letting us know how you're going through the Seek Travel Ride podcast, how else can people follow your journey? How can they see what's going on day to day, week to week for you as well?

SPEAKER_01 25:35

Yeah, so I'll I'll be posting hopefully every day, or at least when I've got service, I've got accounts on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. So it's sagas of Ollie Hargreaves on Instagram and TikTok, and then I think it'll just be Ollie Hargreaves on Facebook.

SPEAKER_00 25:52

Awesome. And listeners, I'll provide links to all of those social channels for Ollie in the show notes as well. So if you go into your podcast player, bring up the description for the episode you're tuning into, you'll see it all there for you as well. Ollie, before I wrap things up, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get some questions for you from someone in the Hargreaves family who's pretty adventurous. And the default could be, oh, is it your dad or is it Jamie? But no, I've actually chosen your mum. And I asked your mum, who's got her own sort of following in a way.

SPEAKER_01 26:23

Yeah, she does.

SPEAKER_00 26:24

I asked her to send me through a question or two that she thought of, and I've got a couple from her. The first one is it's sort of a bit tongue in cheek. Obviously, you know I like making my mum comments on Jamie's posts, and I've started to do this on yours as well. Do you think they will contribute anything to your posts?

SPEAKER_01 26:44

I think it would definitely be nice, obviously, you know, not being at home and being able to see them and stuff. I think it would definitely be a nice addition to every everyday seeing mum's post, her little comments underneath.

SPEAKER_00 26:57

There you go, Ali. Keep them coming. I I think there'll probably be something that's similar. Like I remember Jamie commenting, your mum's posts are the most liked comments on all of his posts. They're always default up the top.

SPEAKER_01 27:08

As you say, she's literally got her own little um following on Jamie's account.

SPEAKER_00 27:12

She does. So um she'll be prompting you to eat bananas and apples and stuff like that as well. Okay, and last question from her is Oh, I like this one. What do you think you will miss the most about home apart from your mum?

SPEAKER_01 27:27

Um I I think friends, to be fair, you know, like friends and family. I've got some quite close mates here that you know we we try and hang out every, you know, every so often and try and get together occasionally. I think that'll probably be one maybe one of the harder parts about going away because obviously I I'll be going away for about three years possibly. The idea is you know hopefully they're gonna come out and meet me somewhere uh along the way. I know a few of them have said they want to come out a couple of times, so it'd be really nice to see them, but yeah, I I think that'll probably be it.

SPEAKER_00 28:00

The benefit of this time in our world is we are able to keep in touch with people. Technology is there to help us feel connected. It'll be so mega for you though when you see them face to face in a journey. Especially, you know, Thailand, seeing your partner as well come along and join you for your own travels, that will be uh that'll be a major milestone as well.

SPEAKER_01 28:20

Yeah, definitely. I say it's it's almost like the kind of the trips being kind of split up into segments, which is quite nice because I get to do all the different bits of you know cycling, then travelling through Asia, then working in Australia. The idea is then to kind of get a um get an old like camper van or something and do like a bit of a road trip of the States, although I I don't know how that's how that's gonna go at the moment, but and then yeah, kind of work our way up to Canada and do a ski season. So it you know it's all these kind of big things all in one, which should be really, really cool.

SPEAKER_00 28:53

Mega. In fact, previous podcast guest Steph Devry, absolute legend. Many listeners will know who I'm talking about here. Uh Steph's just finished doing a ski season up in Canada as well, so there you go.

SPEAKER_01 29:04

Oh nice. Yeah, yeah. I know mum's got some contacts, so hopefully I'll be in in touch.

SPEAKER_00 29:09

Very, very good. Who knows? You might go to Canada for a ski season, you might then go to Japan for a ski season. There's uh all options for you, right?

SPEAKER_01 29:16

Yeah, well, uh hopefully, so you know, when we travel around Asia, we're gonna have a look at maybe getting a flight from Vietnam to Japan, and that'll be in the height of the ski season, so there might be an opportunity to go out for a couple of days there, because all the videos, especially from this year, you know, people have been raving about it, saying it's like some of the best skiing in the world. So if we can make that happen, it'll be amazing.

SPEAKER_00 29:37

Oh, I love that you've got so much to anticipate and look forward to. That's not just about Thailand and getting there itself, there's so many things beyond that as well. Ollie, as I wrap things up for this little mini episode, I actually want to ask you a couple of questions, and the ones that I ask all my guests at the end of their longer episodes, and the reason I want to ask them to you is when we do catch up for a full session, I'll be really interested to see if these answers have stayed the same.

SPEAKER_01 30:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:03

The first one's gonna be you've got a choice one day. You can go down the most roughest, bumpiest, constant washboard, corrugated road of your life, and I mean constant washboard, it's not like you've got five minutes of smooth, it is constantly. Or you can go the other way, and it's a beautiful smooth road. Maybe it's even a bit downhill, but you have got a constant headwind. Which one are you gonna choose?

SPEAKER_01 30:25

Um, I think the corrugated, because you can kind of do things to mitigate, like you could choose a bike which has more suspension or something.

SPEAKER_00 30:33

Such a design engineer.

SPEAKER_01 30:35

If you've got a headwind, it's just the same answer Dad gave, you know, it's just demoralizing it trying to go against you, feel like you're just getting nowhere. It's yeah, it can be really, really tough trying to do that.

SPEAKER_00 30:47

The next one, you'll have to reflect back on the bike adventures you've done so far to give me an answer to this, and I'm really keen to see how much this will change when we do catch up at the end of this journey.

SPEAKER_01 30:56

But tell me and finish this sentence for me the best thing about taking a bike adventure is I think it gives you the opportunity to take yourself off to other places, even if it's like a few a few days' ride or whatever. Like if if you're just walking around, the idea of you know getting somewhere a hundred kilometres away is like oh you know, you need to get a bus or you need to get a train or whatever. If you're on a bike, you've got that option to go off and cycle, which is really nice because you don't feel like stuck, you feel like you've got that freedom to literally go wherever you want to, which I think is really nice.

SPEAKER_00 31:33

I like it, and it's a new individual answer, and I can't wait to see how that answer may or may not change when we catch up and and and see what what you have to say about it when you reach Thailand. Well, Ollie Hargreaves, what an absolute pleasure. Listeners, keep your eye out in these midweek episodes because periodically I'm going to be updating you with Ollie's updates from the road. Thank you so much for agreeing to do this, and I wish you a bon route, a awesome journey. May you have tailwinds, smooth roads, epic views always. Sunshine at your wild camp spots, but maybe a little bit of suffering in between, dusted in amongst that, because they're the ones that'll bring the biggest stories out, right?

SPEAKER_01 32:16

Yeah, that'll that would definitely make for the more interesting stories.

SPEAKER_00 32:19

Awesome. Thank you, Ollie.

SPEAKER_01 32:21

Yeah, thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_00 32:24

So let's see what is going to play out for Ollie on this monumental journey of his. And as I say, keep your eyes out for updates every few weeks as we share the experiences that Ollie is having on the road. I definitely encourage you to check out his social media channels and give him a follow because if it's anything I've learned, often the images that go along with these stories, well, they literally do tell a thousand words themselves. Now, for those of you who find yourself near London or in the UK on the 14th or 15th of May, please come and join me and some previous podcast guests as we present to you Beyond the Bike. It is a live show event all dedicated to adventure cycling. This is a collaboration with previous podcast guest Jude Creewold. He and I are going to be joined by two other guests each night. It's a different panel on the 14th and the 15th, so two totally different shows, and we're going to be talking about our experiences and stories in all modes of adventure travel. We're going to have film screenings and we finish the shows off with an awesome audience QA session as well. The venue is Peckham Levels in London, and to get your tickets, simply click the link in the podcast description show notes, or head to the Eventbrite website and search for Beyond the Bike in London events. I really hope to see you there. I can't wait to meet these Seek Travel Ride listeners face to face. Grab your tickets before they sell out. Okay, listeners, now it's my favorite time of these midweek episodes, and that is where I give a shout out to you, my super fans, for buying me a coffee. I love getting these messages hit my inbox when you've bought me a few virtual brews. And today I would like to shout out John PB66. And John says, Hi Bella, I completed a two and a half month bikepacking trip in the United States from Seattle, Washington to eastern Iowa, covering approximately 3,000 miles in 1992, and it was such a great experience. I discovered your podcast last November and I love hearing about the adventures from your guest. I'm so excited to hear that people are still bikepacking. The first episode I listened to was with Alistair Humphreys, which inspired me to read his book Mood of Future Joys. I've listened to many other episodes since then. Your podcasts and Alistair's book has inspired me to purchase a Surly Disc trucker. I'm entering a new phase in my life and I see bikepacking adventures as a big part of this new phase thanks to Seek Travel Ride. I can't wait to hear another interview. John from Iowa, USA. John, this message filled me up with so much joy. I am so excited about the adventures that await for you and your new surly there. My mind is blown to wonder which bikepacking routes you're going to be taking to. Thank you so much for supporting me and the show and buying me some virtual coffees. And do me a favor, keep in touch and keep me posted on where your bike adventures take you. And listeners, if you would like to do as John has done and support me and the podcast, you can head to buymeacoffee.com forward slash seek travel ride. Buy me a coffee, a few virtual brews, but more importantly, leave me a message and let me know what it is that you love about the podcast. Until the next episode, I'm Bella Malloy. Thanks for listening to the video.