Cycle the world!!!

If you are planning to go to Japan, read my blog. Its not finished yet but i will finish it. Its called Japan in Spring and its on cgoab. I was there for two months this year. Spring and Autumn are the best times to be there.

Are you 'newislander' on CGOAB? I'd love to make it as far as Japan - `i have a good reason to visit too, as a cousin of mine lives in Kyoto with his Japanese wife and their two young boys. Off to look you up right now :-)

Well - there's a coincidence. Found your blog on CGOAB and have already visited earlier this week (and loved your photography). I searched for 'solo woman' IIRC as I'm intrigued by how other women manage - and it seems we manage pretty well!

Oh yes, you found me. Thank you for the compliment!

Funny, i had you for a man. This happens on TT. EVeryone is assumed to be a man unless there's a hint to the contrary. There's also a site which features women cyclists. I can't remember the name of it but you might find it. Yes women do manage very well and as you are a woman, and an older one, you'd love Anne Mustoes book, I think. She was 54 when she left home.

Seems you've got excellent reasons to go to Japan. Kyoto is a good place to visit. Even better if you have people there. Its quite a small size city geographically but there's tons to do. And its an easy city to be in.

http://www.skalatitude.com/p/wow-women-on-wheels.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josie_Dew has cycled much of the world.
In my travels (many countries, often the more precarious ones) I've met a lot of women, as in very many, cycling solo. Often as not they are older as that's the age they are free and develop a sense of adventure. They all seemed pretty happy. Figure you don't hear so much of them because they just do it. Often in places some would consider dangerous.
The guys you hear most of as they seem to want to make a lot of noise about it.
None of the women have told of undue unmanageable bad experiences, often of being well looked after because they are women on their own.
You may be aware of recent bad publicity of Couch Surfing. Seems there has been a high incidence of rape, often of the drugged variety there. A predators paradise. Theft apparently happens. Just something to be aware of. (Personally I've always avoided them. On the theory that you get what you pay for.
As a solo male I've learned solo is often safer. The person you know you can trust. Safety is unisex. And solo you are more aware of where you are, whats happening. Too many times I've had invites to join in a - - Get to hell out of there fast. Your instincts usually tell true. We all need switch them on when traveling - anywhere.

Hi Tutleymutley & Newislander

I wrote earllier that we've spent just over 3 years cycling from northern Norway to Japan via the Stans (currently resting in Laos). We haven't met many solo females out there but they certainly exist. There's a Facebook Group that you might be interested in called Bicyle Travelling Women - it's for any women on bikes , solo or otherwise. We spent 5 months of this year in Japan and loved it (mid Feb to mid July). We found Japan to be very easy and definitely the safest country we've ever cycled in , we free camped for most of the time as accomodation isn't so cheap. We did not meet many other foreign cycle tourists (shame we didn't meet you Newislander....will check out your blog after this) in Japan but through Central Asia we met loads!! Cycling the Pamir Highway was a highlight for us....we have also cycled the Karakorum H'way (when visas where a bit easier for Pakistan) and they're both epic rides. If you go that way you're likely to meet many others. We've been to Iran a couple of times and at the moment it looks like the visa situation will change for Brits, back to what it was in 2014. We paid a lot for the visa, Brits always have done but it is a fascinating place to visit. Many cyclists leave their bikes in Tehran to explore further south by bus because of time constraints and not wanting to miss the cities of Esfahan, Shiraz & Yazd (my favourite). To get to Japan we went through a small corner of Siberia, then across Mongolia, into China, ferry to Taiwan, flight to Okinawa. When we first reached Japan it seemed very dull after all the places we'd been but we quickly realised that it's wrong to compare countries....yes, Mongolia is a very adventurous place to cycle compared to JApan but Japan has it's own highlights. It' just depends what you want...in the end we spent 5 months in Japan, it was just what we needed.....I recommend joining Warm Showers and Couch Surfing. We've used them a lot in every country and only had positive experiences. For us they were a great opportunity to make new friends, sometimes we stayed for many days with hosts. It's worth taking time to search for hosts that you think you'll have something in common with - especially on Couch Surfing. If you want to visit the Stans and India without having to fly it is possible by going through China, Laos, Thailand, Burma, India (because Pakistan visas can only be had in your own country unfortunately).
One final thing.....I want to put in a good word for the new edition of the Adventure Cycle Touring Handbook (recently published by Trailblazer in Bristol)- a book that covers just about everything you may want to know about cycle-touring. We contributed to the book writing the chapters on Mongolia, Central Asia and Russia so I'm a bit biased!!
We're stopping for a while here in Asia to earn some more cash to continue our ride....I could easily ride back the way we came as it was so fantastic. Just remember to so slow, take the small roads, got the long way round......spend winter somewhere warm!!
Best Wishes
the Sloths on wheels
www.slothsonwheels.blogspot.com

Hi Newislander....just found your blog, looks great, what a shame our paths didn't cross there.....but I checked your map and we rarely in the same place - so many choices!!
Best wishes!!

Hi Gayle. lol at Japan being dull. Yes it didn't feel adventurous like say India did but I didn't find it dull (except Kyushu i suppose). Probably because I wasn't on a long voyage and maybe also because my route took me to what I thought would be the best bits. Perhaps I need to go somewhere more challenging next time I go overseas. What about Kenya? But I'll keep Mongolia in mind too. The thing is, these days, I want the food to be quite good because when its bad, it can really wear me down.

As to warm showers, I guess you have to have a functioning mobile and a free itinerary. I suppose warm showers is much more important when you are on a really long trip.

Thanks for the tip about the facebook page.

PS Can you tell me the exact name of the facebook page please.

Hello again newislander......ok, I didn't really mean to say that Japan is dull although that was certainly our first impressin when we arrived. I guess it was the most like home that we'd been to for more than 18 months, everything was pretty normal, it was developed, wealthy, people were riding bikes......for sure it was coming from China, Mongolia, Central Asia that made us feel like that. After 5 months in Japan we were sad to leave....our favourite islands were Shikoku & Hokkaido....and no, it doesn't always need to be challenging...!! I completely agree but somehow when I think back over the last 3 years especially the most challenging bits I'm thinking wow I did that! Have you thought of China? The food is great......Korea too (and with new bike paths), food in Mongolia is not really worth mentioning..... Yes, Warmshowers is great for long trips but even on a shorter journey it's a chance to stay with locals for example when we first reached Okinawa we were hosted by a Japanese family for a few nights and that was a perfect introduction to Japan. We've not go a mobile phone and have survived the last few years without one and we also host cyclists when we're at home which is nice.
The facebook page is here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BicycleTravelingWomen/
I haven't cycled in Africa....the book I mentioned above has some information about cycling through Africa and route ideas.