Stories from People Who've Cycled All Over The World | Melbourne Live Show Highlights

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

Head over to Old Man Mountain and checkout the Manzanita Cradle 

Transcript

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SPEAKER_01 0:25

Hello everyone, Bell Emalloy here, host of the show. Welcome back to another midweek episode where I am continuing to fuel your fire and stoke for bike travel adventures. Now I have just come off an incredible week last week. I was in Melbourne where I hosted two live shows with three previous podcast guests. Those guests were Emily Hulbert, Fergal Guyan, and David McCord. And across two nights in completely sold-out venues, we got to share the stoke and experiences from their incredible adventures. Now I appreciate when I do these live events, there are a lot of people who tune into the podcast who would love to be there in person, but unfortunately cannot. And so I want to let you know that I recorded those sessions in full. I've actually even done some videos of them as well. It'll take me a while to work through all the audio and the video there to put that content out for you, but I thought as a special treat this week I wanted to share a snippet from those live shows. So I can tell you now you're gonna be taking on some great stories. We're gonna be talking about things such as being thankful, facing up to fears, wild camping, and of course food. Because how can I do a podcast that doesn't mention food in some way? So here you go. Here's an excerpt from Night Two from those live shows. I want to talk about leaning into adventure, taking the adventurous route, choosing the harder path. There's a concept where, you know, I think a fair few amount of people in this room would have heard of type two fun. The stuff that you absolutely hated to endure in the moment is the stuff that you look back on the absolute fondest and sometimes want to go back to. Fergal talks about siphoning through the Taclamachan desert in China in minus 15 degrees is the hardest thing he's ever done, and he has Stockholm syndrome because he'd go back. And I have a theory that the deepest lows sometimes on a trip on reflection become the best moments. And I want to discuss that and see your thoughts

Leaning into Adventure

SPEAKER_01 2:34

on it. David, how do you feel about that hypothesis of mine?

SPEAKER_03 2:37

Yeah, I'm I'm definitely no stranger to but uh type two fun. I think yeah, if if it was easy, everybody would be doing it, and it maybe would be a little bit less, I don't know, maybe less meaningful. And so a bit of struggle, I think, is really good, like in yeah, weird kind of way, because in in in print uh in the face of it, you're thinking now, well, why would you put your through yourself through something hard? But there is something to be said for doing something hard and then the reward of finishing that thing. So something that comes to mind, it probably won't come across as a reward to you. But I was thinking of cycling in the Bartang Valley in Tajikistan. I've been in the Palmeirs for about a week and a half at that stage, about about 4,000 metres. It was November, so it was getting pretty cold. Nice and sunny during the day, but then at night time the temperature would just plummet down to like minus 12, minus 13 degrees. I remember putting my tent and my hands were getting so cold after the sun had set that my fingers would basically freeze every like 30 seconds. So I'd have to go down to my hunkers and put them behind my kneecaps to just sort of defrost my fingers, so I'd have the dexterity to like do my tent pulls again. So I was trying to get the tent up as fast as possible to get into the tent, into my sleeping bag, and then have some warm dinner. Unfortunately, my stove decided not to play ball that night. I'd been having some struggles for the previous few days. Uh, it was something to do with the dirty petrol. I'd been feeding it for the last few months, and um I got the stove out to try and make a nice bowl of pasta, and nothing was happening. So there I was at like 4,000 plus metres in minus 12 degrees, every single layer on in my sleeping bag, and all I had for dinner was like a piece of steel bread and a can of tomato paste.

SPEAKER_01 4:11

And so miserable. It wasn't even pastada.

SPEAKER_03 4:15

It's not exactly a three-course meal, but you know, I was actually so grateful for that in the moment, just to be warm and out of that cold and just having something with flavor. At least it wasn't just the bread, I had the tomato paste to really bring it home, you know.

SPEAKER_01 4:27

Sort of like a dry rusk. Was it that stale? Like was it crunchy?

SPEAKER_03 4:30

The bread was stale when I bought it because I don't know if you you know you guys haven't been to Central Asia yet, but uh, bread's very popular there, but it goes off. It like becomes like a rock basically, so you need a bit of moisture to try and like soften it up before you try and eat it.

SPEAKER_01 4:43

So nuts. Fergal, you you come across as someone who leans into adventure. Actually, with that thought of the hardest moments being the ones you're most fondest of.

Challenges and Triumphs

SPEAKER_01 4:54

I know we've talked about China and the desert, but I actually want to talk about what about the moments that have maybe the hardest have tested you mentally? And are they ones that you're really proud and fond of as well?

SPEAKER_02 5:06

Well, I would have tested myself uh my physical limits multiple times on this journey, but the hardest thing I did was before I left on this journey, and I was actually leaving, like getting everything in place, but also the fears you would have had. You didn't know what was ahead of you. But also, like I have a big family. I have uh four siblings, and my parents who when I told them about this journey, they really didn't know what to think because I never camped, I never cycled before, so uh they really weren't really on board with it to begin with. So they kind of just plumaz me along, and they were like, Okay, grand, but then as got the charities on board, and then a guy came to the house to record a promo video. I could barely even cycle a bike because I was recovering with my knee, and my dad, I remember him we were in the backyard and you know, recording me in the tent. Um, and my dad was just breaking down in tears. He'd be a very emotional man, and uh he was just like, like, how can you sleep in that tent for the next like year of your life? And I I said to him, like, I don't I don't have an answer, I don't know, but I said I'd rather try and fail than to not try at all. And um eventually, like my parents, anytime I did say it to them, they would be negative towards it because he obviously didn't want me to do it for their own sake. Um, but there was one stage, I think it was this time two years ago, I would often go down to the nearby lake and I go for a dip there, and the parents think I'm crazy. So I remember brought them down, got into Loch Allen, I got out of the lake, and um I remember saying to them, just how look, you're negative about this journey, but no matter what, I'm going on it. So, like every time you say something negative about it, that's me doubting myself too. So I don't know if it's possible, you don't know if it's possible, but I'm going on it, and I said I'd rather try and fail than not try at all. And from that moment on, they just kind of held back their fears or in expressing their fears to me. And I remember at the gable of the house before taking off on the bicycle, my dad couldn't even be out on the road. He was, you know, very emotional about it. But now that I'm out the far side and I met them in Perth there, I seen the far side of it where I met them in Perth before cycling across Australia to here. Um and I just came to terms with the level of anxiety and fear and stress I put them under. And it really, I guess it was a lot for me to come to terms with because I had to ignore that for the last two years of my life. But coming face to face with my parents who have been feeling that fear just as much as I have been in a different way was really difficult. But to them, I guess they're really proud of what I've done too. Just like David's parents here, I'm sure, are very proud to to the journey he did. And I wouldn't be sitting here, I mightn't even have been done my journey if David didn't start his. So it's amazing the people you meet along the way, and I think there's a a lot to gain from leaning into discomfort and doing the hard thing.

SPEAKER_01 8:02

Talking about fears there and also the fears of those that you're leaving behind when you cycle home, we do have uh David's lovely family here with us. Thank you so much for coming along to the show. Absolutely awesome. And you know, if I was to talk directly to you and look you in the eyes, I I can feel the fear that you had when when David took on the challenge, took on the route he did. I joked on the podcast actually that I think you you you might have lit some candles for him when he went into some certain c many candles. Like a good Irish mammy. But fears from others can often actually multiply the own fears in your heads too, and can actually put more doubts and and questions to you, perhaps stop you. M,

Solo Female Travel

SPEAKER_01 8:45

I feel very strongly that solo women who take on these type of adventures have an even big even bigger burden on their shoulders from other people's fears placed onto them. I want to know how that's been to navigate for you.

SPEAKER_00 9:01

Yeah, it's a good question. Um and a common question. Traveling as a solo female bike packer definitely is a completely different realm to the boys. Not to say they don't have similar situations occur and challenges. However, it's it's the reality is that it can become a little bit more difficult. Um and I have stories to sort of just to demonstrate the the challenges that come with it. Um and it is unfortunate, and it definitely puts uh a few question marks on my route to come as I head towards Europe. However, I tend to trust myself and my gut um on these. I had so many people warning me off of India, and I actually had an amazing time in India. I I didn't have too many uh negative situations, however, I was aware all the time, and I think it's like that hyper-awareness. I didn't camp as much as I would have liked to. I had a one bad experience camping um up in the Himalayas, um, which was very unfortunate. However, it, you know, the amount of amazing experience I had definitely clouded this negative experience. But um, as you've interviewed so many female solo travelers, they would all sort of say that I think that we have to sort of travel in a little bit more awareness. Um, do you have pepper spray? Do you have uh a knife or anything? And I hadn't even thought about it for a long time. And then I started, probably because of all these questions, I started wondering maybe I need some protection. And so I sort of had to temp peg a little closer. However, I don't want these sort of uh fears to to affect me too much where I decide to completely change my route. I think I'm gonna trust myself on that, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:41

Yeah, wild camping as well, like that's something, regardless, man or woman, that can be something that you're quite fearful with too. Some people take to it like a duck to water, some people, you know, it's just not. I I put my hand up unashamedly. I love wild camping, I love the places that it's taken me, but holy crap, I don't think I've actually had a full night's sleep whenever I've wild camped, and it's just all the stupid demon thoughts in my head that you know what's logically just long grass brushing against my tent flies, like someone out to murder me, or something like that as well.

Wild Camping Experiences

SPEAKER_01 11:14

I want to know, do each of you feel at ease with wild camping now?

SPEAKER_02 11:18

Yeah, before I left, I guess I never camped, but I love camping now. Like it's uh one thing my tent was broken for a long period of Southeast Asia, and I'm a very ignorant man, and that's the term I put on it.

SPEAKER_01 11:32

Were you ignorant or tight? Because were you just determined to fix it, or were you just like oh no? Ignorant.

SPEAKER_02 11:39

Ignorant So I I actually had a broken tent for a long time, but I still just love the stories and the people you meet when you camp. So that was that. I was still camping outside in 100% humidity in Thailand and Malaysia. But I remember when I left um China, I was four months in China after bracing the minus 22 degrees temperatures. I was cycling with someone every day since my incident in Iran when I was drugged and attacked. So um I met at the Vietnam, the north of Vietnam, and it was my first time back by myself, and I just couldn't wait to wild camp again. And I was going towards uh Hajiang Loop and I put up my tent beside these rice fields, and I was on the phone to my dad as I was like just cooking dinner or about to cook dinner, and next thing this small little uh Vietnamese man comes out of nowhere, and it's like just night time. I'm beside, and I wasn't too fearful, but it's a bit like okay, what's he gonna say? And he started talking to me in Vietnamese, um, and he just keeps telling me, Come with him, come with him. And I I ended up just trusting my gut and just being like, Okay, I'll I'll follow him. So I kind of like kind of packed away some stuff. I left my tent there, but brought the valuable stuff with me on the bike, and his house is just the other side of the rice field. And he brought me into his home, and there I spent the rest of the evening along with him and his three grandchildren, and we were just playing games, we were uh like eating dinner together. It was probably one of the most wholesome interactions I had in the entire trip, and I would have made a video on it too, and it's one of them moments that just sticks with me throughout the whole journey. Like it's being able to be invited into a house in a random country like that, and that's where I hope that you know back home in Ireland that someone in the West of Ireland would do that for someone else. Uh it's just incredible that these people had so little, but they were still willing to give me accommodation, giving me food, and share in uh evening together. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:34

It's powerful because I imagine there's been a few instances where everyone here has done exactly that, planned a wild camp, and then just actually, well, as it turns out, you've been invited and you've actually been hosted for a night instead, David.

Acts of Kindness on the Road

SPEAKER_03 13:46

Uh the times, uh countless times I was hosted by people. I knew from the stories that Tom told me there was a good chance I would get, you know, invited to people's homes, and that started uh for the first time when I hit Port Ferry in Victoria. But uh I have lost I've lost count of the number of times that people invited me to their homes and fed me, watered me, gave me t-shirts, shoved wads of cash into my hand. People who are much poorer than we are and just insistent on just giving something uh in no matter how much you resist.

SPEAKER_01 14:17

Can I just ask quickly? I don't uh oh it would have been serendipitous if a photo of your bike was on there. But something I observed, David, was your bike had a hell of a lot of excuse the French shit hanging off the front of the handlebars, like draped over it. Was that stuff people gave you?

SPEAKER_03 14:30

Uh yes, and it was just my uh system that I had to go on.

SPEAKER_01 14:37

Everything has its place.

SPEAKER_03 14:38

Well, you know, when you start out your bikes are like, you know, clean and organized and stuff, and then you see after you know six months to a year, uh you start to collect little things that you know give it character where it's like a little trinket. Or I recall I found um I found a rubber duck with a pair of wraparound sunglasses and a high-vis vest on the Great Northern Highway in uh in the Northern Territory, and that became my unofficial mascot. So I had that that's one of probably the objects you're talking about, Bell, is it?

SPEAKER_01 15:04

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh no, I think actually it was like seeing your bike in you know the Pamers with it raving in snow, but it looks like you've got all different types of scarves and everything just hanging off the front.

SPEAKER_03 16:22

Yeah, people would give you stuff, so uh yeah, like uh there's often time you get a scarf or some sort of sash or something to wrap around your head anyway, and so you just tie that to the um to the handlebars.

SPEAKER_01 16:31

But then back to what you were saying before, like the idea that from Portaferry, if you've had that sort of people coming in throwing acts of kindness to you. Do you think it's a random question? I know I know I'm going around the houses a bit, but do you think like the amount of times you wild camped versus the amount of times you were hosted, did you have countries each of you where you didn't really wild camp that much because you kept getting hosted?

SPEAKER_02 16:56

Iran. Me and David would both testify that you couldn't put up your tent in Iran without someone inviting you into their home. Uh and you couldn't pay for a meal half the time without them like saying paying it for you. Do you have the same?

SPEAKER_03 17:11

Absolutely. Uh the j the generosity in Iran was next level. I heard it would be incredible, but then to actually go there and experience it, and that was after already having experienced so much kindness and generosity from people all over the world, like countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, the people over there were just some of the poorest people you'll meet, had uh the the I guess the most generosity and and were just so prepared to show you hospitality. But yeah, in Iran, um, as Firgo says, you could study someone every single day if you wanted to, and they'd say stay for a week, stay for a month. You go to the the corner shop to buy some fruit and veg or the or the bakery to buy some bread, and about half the time they would just say, Don't worry about it when you try to pay. And you'd be like, No, no, I'll try and pay, and they say, Welcome to my country, and then that's it. And that happened every single day in the in Iran. So just an absolute testament to the kindness of the people there.

SPEAKER_01 18:01

What about you? You haven't been to Iran, but is there a country where you know you'd find you weren't be we wouldn't be wild camping because you kept getting invited to stay?

SPEAKER_00 18:10

Yeah, I'd say I had amazing experience in Cambodia and China. In China, I could barely pay for a meal, rural China is amazing, and Cambodia was incredible. I remember one night I was like, I just really want to camp, and I don't actually want to go to your home. I'm so grateful, but I just want to be alone. Because when you're a guest, you're always you have to be a guest, you know. And sometimes you just want to just crash, you know, you're tired, it's hot. So I was on the Mekong River and I set my tent up, and a young boy he came and he brought his mum, and his mum said, No, no, no, it's not safe. Please come. Um, and so we compromised with me camping at the end of the driveway. She was worried that the actual bank was gonna break, and so I was like, Okay, maybe you know, I'll camp at the end of your driveway. They invited me in for dinner, and all they could uh all they had was rice, just plain rice. Um, so I shared some rice with them. And then I remember camping there, and at 4 a.m. there was just like flashlights on me. And I just remember waking up, like, what's going on? What's going on? And like it was like a mother's run club in like this rural Mekong River, and it was the mother and her friends like going for a run at 4 a.m. with flashlights, like, you do want to come, and I was like, no, I just don't want to sleep. And I just remember that being like really scary for a bit, and then like realizing that it was great, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:34

Wow, wow. You mentioned something there about food, and in that instance, the family's inviting you over for a very simple meal of just plain rice. But

China Noodles and Turkmenistan Kebabs

SPEAKER_01 19:43

um, I have a joke on the on the show, it's a running joke, that I can't do an episode of the podcast without talking about food because I love food. Food is I live for food, clearly. I want to talk about food. I just want to talk about like the first thing that you think of. It can be like the worst, most miserable meal. Not you, David, we've heard about stale bread and tomato paste. But it could be the most miserable, the most uplifting meal. Tell me about a food story, Fergal.

SPEAKER_02 20:07

Uh, the best food has to be in China. The noodles are exceptional there. Like the other day I was actually in the cross in St. Kilda, and I got some Chinese food there, but it's not really the Chinese food you'd actually get in China. It's um it's incredible the Chinese noodle and the broth that's inside it, and it they were so passionate about it. Through the Xinjiang province, which is where the tacklamackin is, it's a really isolated part of China, but they're so passionate about their noodles. They're like, Oh, your rumchi has the best noodles, and then I think it's Korla was saying, No, they have the best noodles, and there's a real rivalry between it. Um, but Afghanistan had some great food too. The best bread I ever had in the world was Afghanistan by far.

SPEAKER_01 20:50

I've heard that from everyone I've interviewed who's gone there. Not not that I've interviewed there's not a lot of people that have gone there, I just want to put that up. But they everybody has raved about the food there. Actually, they rave about meals that are cooked in pressure cookers there as well. Did you have those?

SPEAKER_02 21:04

No, I don't think I had them though. Awesome. You just get incredible meals there, and one man to describe a meal is David. Like David can describe every little spice in in the food to be thrown into it. So I want to hear your one.

SPEAKER_01 21:16

Actually, David, I want to interject, I'm sorry. I want you I want you to tell me about a certain kebab in Turkmenistan.

SPEAKER_03 21:24

Oh, I mean I mean the kebab itself is wonderful. Uh there's nothing wrong with the kebab, but so I um unfortunately when I was trying to travel through Turkmenistan, they hadn't started reissuing visas to travel independently there. So previous to COVID, you used to have what they call a five-day transit visa, which is just enough time for people who are traveling by bicycle to make it the 500 kilometers across the country, either into Uzbekistan or into Iran. But for me, I had to take uh a guided tour. I so I searched high and low for the cheapest one I could find. And for less than 48 hours in the country, I think I paid something like 360 US dollars plus another 100 US dollars from a visa. Anyway, so the story was I was to get a train, a night train from one side of the country to the other, and this guide, his only job was to get me onto that train. So he picked me up at the border, helped me with the paperwork, and then we backed to his house. The train wasn't till six o'clock or something, and he buggered off for the day and left me. I wasn't allowed to walk around. It's Turkmenistan's kind of like the North Korea of Central Asia, so it's very closed off and and uh very tightly controlled by the government. And uh this I was, you know, looking at the time, going, Jesus, it's five o'clock, Chris Man, you know. And uh he finally showed up again. He said, Do you want to have a cup of tea? And I was like, Well, maybe, but we should also think about going to this train. And uh he said, We'll have a cup of tea and then we'll go and then so we got the tea, and then he said, Well, do you want to get some kebab before you get on the train? I was like, Yeah, but also have we got time? He's like, Yeah, it's no problem, it's no problem. So we drove to get the kebab. It's now like half past five. We go to the kebab shop. The kebabs are still being made, so there's literally meat being put onto charcoal and there's a queue. And I was like, I'm starting to think, well, we're getting pretty tight here. And I, if anybody knows me, they'll know that I like to cut it fine as it is, but this is definitely even pushing my limit. But I figured, well, if he doesn't get me in the train, it's his problem, not mine. I've paid my money and they'll have to sort it out. So I think it was about 10 to 6, and the train was leaving at six when we actually got in the car again to then go to the train station, which was only a three or four minute drive away, but it was rush hour now. And then the guide was sweating bullets because he was you know slamming the foot down and hitting the brakes and slamming the foot down and got to the train. I was like planning okay, because my bike Bikes in his car with the wheels off, with the bags off, and I was thinking, all right, what is the fastest way I can get my wheels on and get my bike onto this train? The train, as it turns out, was about two kilometers long, and I had to put my bicycle at one end of the train, and then I had to get on a carriage that's the other end of the train. So I pedaled down to the carriage section, hoisted my bike on, got that got that gone, and then I was walking back to my section of the train, and then I noticed the train had started moving in the opposite direction, so now I'm like, shit. So I start running. It's like a scene from a movie where I have to literally jump onto a moving train, grab the bar, and like the bag's swinging off me, and you know the guy catches my hand. All for just a delicious kebab in Turkmenistan. That was wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 24:15

There we go, listeners. I hope that you enjoyed tuning in to what went on there in Melbourne. Uh, it was absolutely incredible

Listener Shoutouts

SPEAKER_01 24:23

for me, can I just say, those live shows full stop. Also, you know, I I can't understate how amazing it is as a host to actually meet guests in person and spend time properly with them. There were even some previous guests who came along to the events as well, and also meeting fans of the podcast too. But to have two venues, two completely sold-out shows, rooms filled with people just really keen on hearing these stories, these experiences, getting inspiration to put towards their own adventures, I think something I'm most proud of from those events were the number of women in particular who came up to me either during the intermissions or at the end of the shows, letting me know that yeah, they were thinking, why not try this out? In fact, during our first show, which was held at the Antique Bar, the uh awesome bartender who was behind the bar in the session, Anya, and uh she wasn't there as someone who'd paid a ticket to go. She was just at work, but obviously she got to hear what went on, and she told me that she is so stoked about this idea of bike travel, she's even considering travelling through Central Australia and the Outback herself now with some friends. How awesome is that? Someone who hadn't even had this on their radar, tuned in, heard these inspirational stories from these three very powerful guests, and now is using it for their own fuel and inspiration to put towards their own travel stories. I absolutely loved that. People, I am looking at doing more of these live events this year. I'm hopefully going to be doing some in Sydney and perhaps in Melbourne again before I take it back to the Northern Hemisphere in the UK and Europe. So keep your eyes and ears peeled in all our podcast socials and promos for future events to come, and I hope that you enjoyed hearing these stories from last week in Melbourne. Okay, listeners, now it's time for me to do my favourite part of these midweek episodes, and that is to shout out you, my absolute dead set legends of super fans, who have gone the extra mile and bought me some coffees. This week I would like to say a big thank you to Bikepacking for Life. You bought me c some coffees and you have said, Bella, I love your pod. Your way of interviewing is uplifting and encouraging. Thank you so much for sharing what you do. Ah, well, thank you. I'm really glad that you enjoy my interview style, that you're finding it encouraging and hopefully fueling your own adventures as well. I really love being able to share the Stoke. Uh it's a Stoke that's deep within me too, so I hope that that is coming across everybody each and every week. And I'd also like to say thanks to Steve White from White's Bikes. You have said, hey Bella, I thought it might be time to buy you a coffee as you were my number one listened to podcast on Spotify for 2025. Keep up the good work. Cheers, Steve. Oh, thanks so much, Steve. And listeners, a huge shout out to Steve White as well. He runs an awesome bike store called White's Bikes in Melbourne. And I actually met Steve when he was on his first little section in the first day of doing the Hunt 1000. It's an amazing event in Australia. It takes the off-road mountainous route from Canberra to Melbourne. Uh in alternate years it goes the other direction, so I can also go Melbourne to Canberra. And yeah, I met Steve with his good mate Cam, and they were both on the, you know, I think within the first 10Ks of that huge thousand kilometre ride. So uh Steve, it's awesome to meet a super fan, and uh thank you so much for supporting the pod. And I hope you're tuning into episodes to put towards the next big adventure. Thanking you. So, listeners, if you want to support the show just like bike packing for life and Steve White from Whites Bikes has done, if you want to show that you're a true super fan, you can do so. Simply head to buymeacoffee.com forward slash seek travel ride. Buy me some virtual coffees and let me know what is it that you love about this podcast and where is your next adventure going to take you. And until the next episode, I'm Bella Malloy. Thanks for listening.