Alastair Humphreys

Refresh your life with a tiny little adventure that's close to home and easy on your pocket. Inspiration is abundant in this brilliant and beautifully-illustrated guide.

Local Discoveries for Great Escapes

Microadventures

Seasoned adventurer Alastair Humphreys pushes himself to his very limits - busking his way across Spain with a violin he can barely play. In 1935 a young Englishman named Laurie Lee arrived in Spain. He had never been overseas; had hardly even left the quiet village he grew up in. His idea was to walk through the country, earning money for food by playing his violin in bars and plazas. Nearly a century later, the book Laurie Lee wrote - As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning - inspired Alastair Humphreys. It made him fall in love with Spain - the landscapes and the spirit - and with Laurie's style of travel. He travelled slow, lived simply, slept on hilltops, relished spontaneity, and loved conversations with the different people he met along the hot and dusty road. For 15 years, Alastair dreamed of retracing Laurie Lee's footsteps, but could never get past the hurdle of being distinctly unmusical. This year, he decided to go anyway. The journey was his most terrifying yet, risking failure and humiliation every day, and finding himself truly vulnerable to the rhythms of the road and of his own life. But along the way, he found humility, redemption and triumph. It was a very good adventure.

My Midsummer Morning

Tom Morgan-Jones

Tom is a boy from England who dreams of being an adventurer. Everyone tells him he's crazy, so he decides to prove them wrong by going around the world on his bike! The first book of Tom's adventures follows him across Europe and from the top to the bottom of Africa.

On the Road to Africa

The Boy Who Biked the World

Whether at work or home, taking the first step to begin a new venture is daunting. This is the Doorstep Mile, the hardest part of every journey. The Doorstep Mile will reveal why you want to change direction, what's stopping you, and how to build an adventurous spirit into your busy daily life. Dream big, but start small.

The Doorstep Mile

Alastair Humphreys' round the world journey of 46,000 miles was an old fashioned adventure: long, lonely, low budget and spontaneous. Cycling across five continents and sailing over the oceans, his ride took him four years to complete, on a tiny budget of hoarded student loans. Moods of Future Joys is the story of the first remarkable stage of the expedition.

Moods of Future Joys

Adventure is a loose word, a spirit of trying something new, trying something difficult. Going somewhere different, leaving your comfort zone. Above all, adventure is about enthusiasm, ambition, open-mindedness and curiosity. Adventure is all around us, at all times. Even during hard financial times such as these. Times when getting out into the wild is more enjoyable, invigorating and important than ever. It is in this inspirational spirit that Alastair Humphreys introduces us to the exciting world of Grand Adventures the most amazing, life-changing, career-enhancing, personality-forging, fun adventure of your life. Grand Adventures looks at the scary, enormous obstacles that are stopping us and shows us that there are ways around them, if we choose to do it. The practical preparations for a journey are far easier than summoning up the cojones to actually commit, to make the adventure happen, to do something difficult and daunting and daring with our lives. Following on from his phenomenally popular Microadventures, Al here shines a spotlight on the things that are getting in the way, and crucially, how to get around them, including the financial commitment. He shows us that the most exciting adventures all begin with a single step. Whether you ve always dreamed of cycling to the Sahara, walking across Australia, or rafting the Amazon, the longest journeys really do all begin with a single step. They are nothing more than many little easy steps. The book is crammed with hard-won wisdom from people who have actually been there and done it. And they ve all taken that first step at one time or another. These are people who have undertaken extraordinary journeys, who have travelled by boat and boot, car and kayak, bicycle and motorbike. People who had one trip of a lifetime and then returned to normal life, or who got bitten so badly by the bug that they devoted their life to the pursuit of adventure. Young people, old people. Men, women. Mates, couples, families. Extraordinary, inspiring people. People like you. Saving your pennies, overcoming inertia, generating momentum, getting out the front door: if you want it enough, you can do it. Tiny steps. Grand adventures. Are you in?"

Grand Adventures

Tom is on the last leg of his journey where he continues to discover strange and amazing sights and meet a host of fun characters. He skids through freezing Siberia, and in Japan shares a steaming hot pool with some surprised monkeys. Based on the author's personal experiences, this book provides an immersive experience for young adventurers.

Riding Home through Asia

Boy Who Biked the World: Part Three

Alastair Humphreys walked across India, from the Coromandel Coast to the Malabar Coast, following the course of a holy river.Walking alone and spending the nights sleeping under the stars, in the homes of welcoming strangers or in small towns and villages, he experienced the dusty enchantment of ordinary, real India on the smallest of budgets. There Are Other Rivers tells the story of the walk through an account of a single day as well as reflecting on the allure of difficult journeys and the eternal appeal of the open road. Nominated for National Geographic's 'Adventurer of the Year' Reviews for previous books:- “Believe me, he can write, and rather well” - Geographical- “...displays a tendency for Big Hairy Audacious Goals that is almost unnerving.” - Treehugger.com Amazon: - “This book has it all: it's a great travel read, a look into the human soul and how most people, given enough determination, could attempt something like this.”- “No expensive equipment or 'fastest, strongest, quickest'; just a brilliant, understated story.”- “Simply outstanding.”- “If you prefer the comfort of your armchair these books will still stir your imagination and curiosity for the world.”- “An absolute must-read or any passionate traveller.” GoodReads:- “Wow... another great book by Alastair Humphreys.”- “One of the best adventure travel books I've read.”

On Foot Across India

There Are Other Rivers

Discover Africa by bicycle in book one of a delightful children's adaptation of Alastair Humphrey's journey around the world. In this charming caricature of Alastair Humphreys' infamous circumnavigation of the world on his bike, children are swept along with the character of Tom, an adventurous boy who feels there must be more to life than school. The first part of The Boy Who Biked the World follows Tom leaving England, cycling through Europe and all the way through Africa to the tip of South Africa. Along the way, young readers are introduced not only to the various fascinating landscapes he passes through, but also to the various people who so happily embrace him as he traveled on his journey. With engaging illustrations and journal entries throughout, this book provides an immersive experience for any young adventurer.

The Boy who Biked the World Part One

Continues the bicycle tour adventures of English student Tom, describing his encounters in North and South America, where he experienced the natural elements and the hazards and cultures of the Andes and the Amazon.

Riding the Americas

Alastair Humphreys' around-the-world journey of 46,000 miles was an old-fashioned adventure: long, lonely, low-budget, and spontaneous. Cycling across five continents and sailing over the oceans, his ride took four years to complete, on a tiny budget of hoarded student loans.

The Incredible Struggles of 20 Great Adventurers

Against the Odds

Tom dreamed of being an adventurer. But people told him he was crazy, so he decided to prove them wrong by cycling round the world! The first book followed Tom across Europe and through the mysterious landscapes of Africa. In Part Two, Tom pedals north from the tip of South America up through the Americas towards Alaska. Based on the author's personal experiences and with engaging illustrations, maps and handwritten journal entries throughout, this book provides an immersive experience for any young adventurer. He must contend with deserts, jungles and the massive mountains of the Andes. He meets grizzly bears, fascinating locals, and even a memorable guinea pig. Tom learns about the world, and himself, as he tackles this epic journey.

The Boy who Biked the World Part Two

Follow Alastair Humphreys on his epic bike trip around the world, as he travels from South Africa to the UK, going through South and North America, Siberia in winter, Japan, and back through China, central Asia, and Europe Alastair Humphreys cycled around the world--a journey of 46,000 miles. This inspiring story traces the second leg of his travels--the length of South and North America, the breadth of Asia, and back across Europe, crossing the mountains and salt-flats of South America, canoeing the Five-Finger Rapids of the Yukon River, and braving a Siberian Winter with only the flimsiest tent to protect him from the elements. Alastair Humphreys left England in August of 2001 to cycle round the world. After more than 1500 days and 46,000 miles, spanning five continents and 60 countries, he arrived home, having spent his student loans (which funded the entire trip). His journey, as well as a quest for adventure, helped to raise the profile of the charity Hope and Homes for Children. When scores of people have visited the Poles and £30,000 is needed to get up Everest, Alastair's expedition was refreshingly original. Alone on the road for four years, in countries few people visit, Alastair survived on a total of just £7,000. This was an expedition of self-belief and optimism rather than satellite hook-ups and lucrative sponsorship.

Thunder and Sunshine

A Financial Times Summer Book of 2019 Seasoned adventurer Alastair Humphreys pushes himself to his very limits – busking his way across Spain with a violin he can barely play.

My Midsummer Morning: Rediscovering a Life of Adventure

Packed with motivational images, quotes, and sayings, a guide to completing even the biggest of life's adventures. Alastair Humphreys spent four years traveling around the world on his bicycle, a journey that covered 46,000 miles and five continents. During his trip he gave motivational talks and received thousands of emails to his website in which people asked what kept him going through the low-points on his journey. Collected here are the sources of Alastair's inspiration, including affirming quotes, insights, and unique photographs. As this inspirational resource shows, the lessons he learned while on the road can be applied to any goal in life.

Ten Lessons from the Road

Alastair Humphreys' Great Adventurers

Hand-selected by Alastair Humpreys, read about the incredible journeys undertaken by twenty of the most heroic and impressive explorers who ever lived, including Ibn Battuta (14th-century explorer); Apsley Cherry-Garrard (a member of Scott's Antarctic expedition); Michael Collins (Apollo Moon mission astronaut) and Nellie Bly (who travelled round the world in less than 80 days). A wide-spread selection of explorers from young to old, male to female and with a range of abilities, these explorers crossed land, sea and sky in the name of adventure and may just inspire readers aged 7+ to do the same. Alastair Humphreys was named National Geographic Adventurer of the Year in 2012 for his work on the concept of microadventures.

‘Enthusiastic, pleasingly madcap’ Geographical Adventure – something that’s new and exhilarating, outside your comfort zone. Adventures change you and how you see the world, and all you need is an open mind, bags of enthusiasm and boundless curiosity. Recommended for viewing on a colour tablet.

Alastair Humphreys

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