Barbara Savage

25 countries, over 37,000 kilometres and I lost count of all the spare parts they went through! It started late 1979 from their home in Santa Barbara and ended two years later in Tahiti via New Zealand. Made of much sterner stuff than us mere mortals, they found the strength to continue and their story makes for unputdownable reading. The homesickness, the physical illness and the extreme personal challenges they endured were a severe test of their relationship and more than once they found show more themselves shouting at each other, threatening to go their seperate ways. The most enjoyable part of their time on the road was not what you might expect. It wasn't the scenery or the natural wonders of the world. It wasn't the new food and different cultures they experienced. It was the people, ordinary everyday people, they met and befriended along the way that made all their hard times bearable. They encountered real danger in some parts of the world, unimaginable things were thrown at them, days on end were spent cycling in conditions of lethal head winds, torrential rain, snow, or energy sapping heat and humidity. They had to deal with mind boggling traffic in countries like India and Thailand. They came down with dysentery more than once, more than twice! It's a credit to Barbara Savage that in spite of everything, she has written an excitingly powerful book, engagingly honest and I feel privileged to have read it. show less

The first bicycle touring book I ever read, and it is by far one of my top favorite books. Completely inspiring, witty, funny, and fascinating. It will make you want to drop everything, hop on your bike, and ride around forever! Barbara writes beautifully and, like others have mentioned, you never want the journey to end.

I think if you're a reader into world travel adventures, you are going to love this book. There are more than enough memorable scenes to go around. On the other hand, if you are into tour cycling with an eye for minimizing easily avoidable problems, this book will eventually wear you down. I mean the woman can really write, but who on earth would start out a cycling trip around the world without taking tools for simple bike fixes? I could go on and on and on. I'll admit I'm a "be prepared" show more kind of guy, but this bordered on bizarre. Nevertheless, the author and her husband, did actually go "miles from nowhere", so I have to give her credit for that. In finishing my reading of this book, I realized there were three types of stories she related: #1 Riding long tortuous miles, #2 Interesting interactions with native peoples and fellow travelers, and #3 Seemingly endless wallowing in pleasant surroundings doing pretty much nothing. Needless to say, I preferred #2. And I'm a guy, so I still don't know why women would prefer to talk about their problems rather than actually solve them, so #1 only frustrated me. And #3, well, you have to actually be experiencing utter pleasure to really appreciate, don't you? I really do not think you have to be into cycling to enjoy this book. In fact, I think it is probably better if you aren't. Enjoy. show less

One of my favorite books of all time; have now read it three times, and each time is like the first as it seems new each time. Her travels through Egypt, India and Nepal did NOT sound like fun (way too primitive), but I wonder if it's still like that 30 years later? I find it sad that she makes it around the world for two years by bicycle and then in CA, as the book was going to press, she is killed while training for a triathlon (I think she was hit by a car on her bike and suffered fatal show more head injuries). show less