Helen in her own words:
“Full time global hobo cycling the world on AU$100/week creating vlogs, blogs, and photo’s as I go.
On the road in one form or another since 2004. I left the UK with a round-the-world ticket on what should have been my ‘year out’ but never properly returned.
Living out of a backpack ever since, I taught English in South Korea, travelling back overland along the Silk Road before emigrating to Australia in 2007 where a travel fundraising job meant I continued to move from place to place every week or two.
In Australia I took up bicycle touring and in 2016 set out on an ambitious first bike tour through the outback along the Gibb River Road, Tanami, and Oodnadata tracks.
In 2017 I returned to work for a year while training for and running the New York Marathon, before returning to full-time bicycle touring.
In spring 2018 I set out into The Beast From The East to ride a loop of the UK coast and down to Sicily and back.
In 2019 I rode up the Norwegian coast to the North Cape and back through the Baltic states.
In early spring of 2020 I set out to Istanbul getting caught in lockdown in Germany, waiting and changing course as borders closed and reopened, finally arriving in Istanbul a year late in September 2021.
Totalling 58,000kms over 5 years so far..
From here the plan is to continue on riding to Africa, via the the Middle East (pandemic & borders permitting!)"
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Show notes
- Being a full time global hobo
- Where she is at the moment
- Her childhood and growing up in the UK
- Living in Australia for 10 years
- Going on a round the world gap year at 26 years
- Why she’s never stopped travelling
- Taking up cycling over the past 4/5 years
- Taking the train from Asia back to Europe
- Finding a job teaching English in Korea
- Travelling back to the UK along the Silk Road
- Making the move to Sydney, Australia
- Not being into sports or fitness at a young age
- Getting into running in her early 30s
- Living on her bike since 2018
- What are the realities of travelling on the road full time
- Her day to day routine while riding
- Cycling in the desert in Australia
- Enjoying her own company
- Magical moments from her trip
- Enjoying the type 2 fun
- Interacting with people from different countries
- Using Warmshowers
- Safety while travelling
- Using a spot tracker in Australia but not in Europe
- Getting robbed while in Greece
- The lessons learned from the experience
- Insurance…and the challenges of getting it while bike touring
- Bike gear and equipment
- Learning bike maintenance
- Wanting to spend time in Africa
- How covid impacted Hels while travelling
- Starting up Youtube and how it’s going
- Travelling on AU $100 per week
- Living off savings and earnings from Patreon and Paypal
- Keeping costs down and budgeting
- Staying in her tent or Warmshowers hosts
- How she’s uses her mobile phone and the power of free wifi
- Sharing her story on social media
- Being supported and encouraged by people online
- Thoughts while cycling
- Quick Fire Questions
- What to remember when things are getting hard
- Advice for wanting to be a full time Hobo and travelling full time
- Why you should start of small
- How to follow along with Hels and be kept upto date with what she’s up to
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