Bikepack Adventures Podcast

I’ve really enjoyed listening to this podcast. I found Bikepack Adventures upon returning home from my second bike tour (France to Istanbul) and it’s been really nice to listen to stories/ still feel connected to the bike travel community as my trip ends and I transition back to ‘regular’ life… and maybe start dreaming about the next trip!

This podcast led me to bicycle across Malaysia — so I give the biggest endorsement a podcast could ever achieve. I started listening to this when I was extremely new to cycling, and had only once in my life been on a ride that I enjoyed. (Before this podcast, I hated bicycling wholeheartedly). This podcast taught me first what bikepacking is, and then how to think about the logistics of existing on two wheels for weeks at a time. From small tips like using fishing line to secure a bike to a tent at night, to the type of equipment required, this podcast is filled with knowledge but in a way that is fun, engaging, and conversational without feeling at all like a textbook. The hidden tips embedded in the engaging conversations were more than enough information to equip me to bicycle 1600 kilometers solo for my first ever bikepacking trip, and I emerged addicted! The host is so humble, responsive, and engaging, and he even responded to my extremely naïve messages with specific tips and guidance on how to choose a bike, be safe, and exist (I didn’t even know how to use clip-in pedals before I arrived in Malaysia to begin). Last October I was injured training for a marathon at the same time as soon-to-be-graduating from university, and this podcast almost single-handedly gave me a goal, hope, and the sense of purpose that I needed to get through it. Listening to this podcast made me excited about biking in a way I never had been before, and brought me from being dead-last in a triathlon in Abu Dhabi to bicycling across two countries one year later. I am so thankful to this podcast for all that it is, and to the host specifically for encouraging and guiding me firsthand. He answered my questions based on his time living in Malaysia, connected me to the best bike shop in Kuala Lumpur where I bought my bike, and created a support system to look out for me by connecting me to the owner of that shop. I can’t emphasize enough how much I absolutely hated bicycling one year ago — and then now, I am in love with it and have brought my bicycle where I’m now working in Côte d’Ivoire, hoping to train for and plan a bikepacking trip from Botswana to Kenya next year. I am infinitely grateful to the host and to all the guests who inspired and guided me through many dark kilometers when I was struggling on my own in Malaysia— I never would’ve even taken my biking-across-Malaysia idea seriously if I hadn’t started listening to this podcast. And now looking back, it was the most difficult and absolutely the best thing I’ve ever done— all thanks to this podcast for the impetus to do it. Thank you so much for everything, and I am so excited for all that is to come.

Good practical information.

I’ve been meaning to take a trip for a long time and recently just bought a bike! I think it’s really nice to listen to peoples experiences on the road even if it is somewhere I likely won’t be touring for a long time. Really easy listening that someone with even basic biking knowledge can follow around with!