Travel as a human being - rather than a lister of place names
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This is a good first attempt at a travel book. It is very much a 'human' book about someones personal journey, as well as covering the places visited. So much better than the listing of times and dates of places visited that so many dull travel books resort to. Lacking the repeatativeness phrases of Josie Dew and the heaviness of Ann Mustoe, it is a much more fun read.
If you have a chance to see him give a talk do go along as he is very interesting and funny in real life too.
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Budget travel at its best!
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Alastair Humphreys spends four years cycling around the world... not just around, but London to South Africa via the middle east, the bottom tip of South America to Alaska, then, Russia, Japan, and through Central Asia and Europe before returning home.
The only detail missing in this book is "Why?" Although, I'm not sure even Alastair knows! The first book details the London to South Africa leg, with a large portion dedicated to various African nations. Alastair's writing, slightly patchy in early chapters, finds a rhythm by the second half of the book. There is plenty of detail on his see-sawing emotions, daily routines, strict budgeting, encounters with the locals and many humorous anecdotes. Alastair kept a diary throughout his journey and the level of detail is wonderful as a result.
The question of African poverty becomes more confusing as Alastair travels through Ethiopia and sees some of the negative aspects of aid and charity.
He saved 7000 pounds to undertake this journey and lived extremely cheaply. It is inspiring stuff.
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self indulgent book about Alistair
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I'm afraid I did not enjoy this book at all. There was too much of Alistair himself with an overall impression of a whine about this journey/lack of girlfriend etc and not enough about Africa. He travelled through so many fascinating countries but it was all about his endurance and bread and jam! Maybe this should not have been catalogued in the 'travel' section, but perhaps the personal/biography or even sports section. I may say that being entitled to a student loan and then managing to save it was certainly not the idea behind the government's student loan service.
AB
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Captivating Adventure
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A great book, especially for a first one. Very honest account, and catches the reader without any contrived embellishments which many travel writers seem to use to keep you interested.
It's not a 'how to' book for cycle touring, but instead is an exciting read for both cyclists and non-cyclists alike.
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Not quite as brilliant as hoped!
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I have nothing but respect for someone who can push themselves into long (very long!) distance cycling, and camping rough, in the way that Humphreys has; and then having the guts to self-publish books about it.
It is easy to read, and it did inspire me with the idea that long cycling journeys are something that ordinary people - like me - could actually do.
However, it is a bit short. It is printed in a large font, and there is a blank page between every chapter. There are also a lot of ingredients, which I don't think really add very much.
It is easy to understand why this is - the book was written several years after the experiences. It's good for a first book, and his next installments may well be improvements.
It was also a bit repetitive at times.
There are a lot of this genre of book available. The only other I've read was 'The wind in my wheels' by Josie Dew, which I have to say I enjoyed a lot more.
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