From the Library: Cycling Home from Siberia

In my early teens I did a backpacking trip into Death Valley over, what they then called, Easter Vacation. The temperature dropped below freezing one day and through the night. I know it did because it snowed. It was Death Valley, it was Spring, so I was hardly prepared and, though I survived, I swore to forever hate cold weather. Having thus far lived my entire life in southern California that has not been a difficult promise to keep. So, cycling Siberia in the middle of winter? A great adventure, I am sure, but perhaps not the most pleasant of times.

That said, Lilwall's journey only partly involved Siberia, after that came Korea, Japan, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Papua-New Guinea, Australia, various countries of southeast Asia, India, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Turkey, Europe and home to England, a journey of 30,000 miles and more than three years. If travel is the best education a person can have, as many believe, then the author is well ahead of us all because this was not your typical tour bus / fancy hotel touring. No this was tents, miners' cabins and the generosity of strangers touring. A great adventure and some good reading.

Lilwall, Rob  Cycling Home from Siberia  New York, NY: Howard Books, 2009