Tough Girl Podcast Helen Dainty - Full time global hobo cycling the world on AU$100/week. 5 years in and 58,000 km cycled so far…
Jan 20, 2022
38:53
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!)" New episodes of the Tough Girl Podcast go live every Tuesday at 7am UK time - Hit the subscribe button so you don’t miss out. The Tough Girl Podcast is sponsorship and ad free thanks to the monthly financial support of patrons. Support the mission to increase the amount of female role models in the media. Visit www.patreon.com/toughgirlpodcast and subscribe - super quick and easy to do and it makes a massive difference. Thank you. 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