Claire Wyatt Transcript

Rhona: Welcome back to The Rest Days Community Podcast. This is the first episode of season two, and it is an absolutely delightful one. In season two, our guests are such an incredible bunch. I feel so lucky to have had the chance to talk to all of them. This week's guest is Claire Wyatt. You may have heard of Claire because of the incredible adventures her bicycle has taken her on.

I won't lie to you, I heard Claire talk at an event and just wanted to hear more of her stories and bottle her beautiful, kind energy. We talk about all of her adventures with a rest day spin. We cover how she funded them, and the challenge of working alongside long-distance cycling. We explore how valuable finding your physical limit can be, but that once you have found it, you probably can't sustain it for very long.

This leads us to the different approaches Claire has taken on her trips, and how in the end she wanted to savour- the journey more than anything else. The thing that I love so much about Claire is how much she loves humanity. She reminds us to be decent humans first before all else. Throughout this whole episode, Claire inspires us to chase our dreams, but not neglect ourselves along the way.

I hope you enjoy 

Hi Claire. Welcome to the Rest Days Community podcast. I'm very excited to chat to you. I first heard you talking at a Sisters in the Wild Event where you're talking all about your cycling adventures. And selfishly I just wanted to hear a lot more about those. So, I've asked you to come on the podcast, but I think there's gonna be some really interesting, relevant rest day stuff.

Um, I ha we did already try to start this podcast and I managed to make a technical error, but, so I'm gonna ask you again, um, tell me about how cycling came into your life.

claire: Sure. Thank you so much for having me on the podcast. And yeah, I'm excited to share a bit more about how I got into it. Um, basically I was always been an out outdoorsy girl, but cycling didn't come into my life till like early twenties. Um, basically I studied criminology at university, thought I was gonna go into the police.

And halfway through my degree I was just like, this is not what I wanna do. Um, I finished my degree. And I just was yearning to travel. Um, so basically, yeah, I was lucky enough to find a job through Facebook. Um, had an interview and they were like, do you wanna come to Cambodia in two weeks time? And I just leaped at the opportunity.

I was like, yes, absolutely. So I moved to Cambodia at 21 with no idea, very little belongings, but it opened my world to all the possibilities. And I was out there for four years and, um, basically I got a job, I, a different job. While I was there, I found a cycling shop and I thought, oh, this looks really cool.

I sent them an email to see if I could get a job there and they hired me. So there was a lot of sliding door moments and just saying yes and taking opportunities. That got me into cycling. And yeah, basically I started working at this adventure cycling company and, and fell in love with touring.

Someone showed me what panniers were. I ended up cycling around Cambodia with my dad and then on my own. So yeah, it all just kickstarted in Cambodia.

Rhona: That's amazing, isn't it? It's just so funny how these tiny little things take you on this completely different path. You said you, you realised that you probably didn't wanna pursue going into the police or anything. Is that something that was ever on the cards for the future or is that completely gone from the, the ideas board?

claire: Yeah, completely gone. I just love people. I've had so much kindness. Um, and I think the police in England, you would see a lot of awful things and I really wanna help people, but I also don't wanna see how bad people are as well, because I've just had 10 years of travel and being so amazed by the kindness of strangers.

So, um, I'd quite like to keep it that way.

Rhona: Yeah, that is totally fair enough. And that's a really interesting thought actually, because I guess you went into something where you would see some of the worst of humanity potentially. And now what the biggest take home you have from the experiences you've had is that you've seen the best of it. Um, it is so funny how that's worked out.

claire: Absolutely. Like honestly, I've had no bad experience and someone called me out the other day, they were like, surely you've had a bad experience. And I was like, honestly, I've never had anyone threaten me any violence, anything on the road. And, and so to be able to tell people that after five years of quite intense cycling around the world is, is really cool.

Rhona: I think I definitely believe you in when you say that, and I, and I think the world is an amazing place, but I would say that probably you are also quite amazing and that you bring that a little bit because you probably just put out such a beautiful energy that people do give that back to you. And I think maybe there is a type of person that maybe wouldn't get that same experience.

Also, I think you maybe, you probably see things in a really good light, which is also says a lot about you. Um, and, you know, maybe there are people out there who would find it harder to feel positive about things and might have looked for a negative in it.

claire: Absolutely. And I, I totally agree with that. As soon as I made my decision to do a lot of the cycling around the world, I was like, I'm gonna go in with a positive mindset that nothing is gonna go wrong. Um, 'cause I think otherwise I just would've been too scared to sleep in my tent alone.

I emptied my mind of negative thoughts and what could happen and I totally understand that some women have had bad experiences as well, so it's not to like say that

Rhona: Course.

claire: bad people, but I've genuinely had a really good experience.

Rhona: Did you ever, when you first started, or maybe at any point in the middle, have nights where you did kind of hear a creepy sound or you weren't fully comfortable with where you'd ended up, was it all just plain sailing or were there still some times like that?

claire: There was still definitely moments where my gut was like, don't put your tent here, or you need to hide more. Or, but honestly, by the end, I was asking locals, someone gave advice, basically be seen by everyone or don't be seen at all. So instead I kind of went with the, I'm gonna ask, you know, a farmer, let's say in Slovenia, I remember asking a farmer, can I put my tent in your, on your land? And he said, oh my gosh, just come to our house. You know? So it was just, and in Kazakhstan I knocked on a door and it was ended up to be an English teacher who was like, please come in and, and talk to us. And, and we went to talk in English. And so I've had some amazing experiences. 'cause actually I went up to people and said, oh, can I sleep here instead of, 'cause I, I think. were some points where I couldn't find anywhere to put my tent that I felt safe. And yeah, you, I did have a few sleepless nights of worrying, um, more about animals. So in Kyrgyzstan, um, when I was going through it, I was being chased by winter. And all the locals, I would speak to them and they'd say, Hey, you know, you can't do that road because the wolves have come down from the mountains.

Rhona: oh,

claire: I had to sleep in my tent with the, with the thought that a wolf was outside. Um,

Rhona: wow.

claire: never, had that, but I did hear some howling in the distance. So yeah, there were definitely some moments of fear just from animals, but, um, yeah, no, it was, it was, I don't, I think I was so tired. I just slept

Rhona: Yeah, that's fair. If you tire yourself out enough. Well, I think the animals probably would scare me more than the humans too, actually, to be fair. Um, since you've come back, um, something I, I, I was thinking about recently, how, how have you found it asking for help in day-to-day life now your home, when everybody has these hectic lives and we're all thinking about the next thing and we're all like really focused in on our own sort of little bubbles, um, because.

I had this really interesting realisation recently that sometimes I travel purposely so that I can have really authentic interactions with people. Sometimes I put myself in situations where like, I want to get lost and stuck so that I have to ask somebody for help that they will remind me that humans are great.

I was like, wow, that's so weird. Why can't I just ask somebody for help at home? And I actually really needed some help from friends recently. And I was like, not wanting to ask for it. I was like, what? Isn't that so weird?

claire: Yeah.

No, I absolutely understand what you mean though. You get so much when you travel that you get so I dunno, more raw connections with people or so Yeah, no, I have found coming home's been so interesting, everyone as you say, is just living this hugely fast paced life. And I've moved my family all down south, my friends all in London.

Um, I've moved to the Lake district 'cause I know I need the isolation a bit and the mountains and the village life. So actually I knew no one when I came up, so I have had to look for genuine connections and that's been really fun actually. So I feel like I have asked for help or you know, getting a new job up here.

I've had to be sociable and meet new people and um, so that's been fun in a way.

Rhona: That's good. That's really good. Um, okay, so I've gone off on a big tangent, but I wanna go back kind of to the beginning before you took this crazy wild ride, moved your life to Cambodia and got into to cycling and going on adventures. What was your connection with outdoor activity before that?

claire: Well, that's a good question. Um, yeah, so growing up Mum there was, there's five of us, so it was pretty, pretty crazy. Um, I'm the young youngest with my twin sister. Um, Mum always encouraged us to be outside. I remember Mum always just being like, you can jump in that lake.

You can get as muddy as you want, but do not cry about it when you're cold. And that really sticks out to me as a, as from when we grew up. '. It was just Mum. My dad, um, was away. Like he, him and Mum split up and we still saw dad, that Mum did, you know, all week with us.

And she was so creative and, but we also all looked after each other. So it was, it was a fun, a fun household for sure.

Rhona: Oh, your Mum sounds incredible. What a amazing, also though, when your parents had their fourth child and it turned out to be twins, my goodness, they must have had a shock.

claire: Yeah. Literally I did, I think dad went to the hospital and he thought Mum was joking, and then she was like, no, seriously, it's twins and we've got five. And we were all super close in age, so it was like we were all like a year in, in, in between each other. So it was like five toddlers all at once.

Rhona: Wow. I mean, um, and that must have been pretty fun to grow up in. Did that make you quite hardy as well? Like you just got to fend for yourself a bit you know, you gotta fight for your place kind of thing.

claire: Definitely, definitely. I actually also, Mum also recently showed me a photo of her on a bike the day or two days before she gave birth to me and my twin. So she's like huge on the bike and I loved seeing that. I thought that was really cool. Um, but yeah, to your question about being hardy, absolutely. You know, it was, we had a lazy Susan, which is like, um, on the table where you spin it around to get the food.

So you would spin that and the boys would just try and get all the food and you'd be left with like a carrot. But do you know what I mean? Like, it was just a, it was a crazy household of, um, a lot of banter, a lot of fighting. But yeah, we're all super close, which is lovely.

Rhona: Well, at least that probably prepared you for those times when you were out on the road and you couldn't find food or you at least couldn't find food that felt familiar to you.

Okay. So you were, I guess, outdoors a lot then probably a wise choice from your Mum to keep you all out and active and not in her hair. Did you cycle, were you doing any organised sports?

claire: Yeah, so I played hockey quite seriously actually. I was loved hockey up until 20, to be honest. Um, thought I wanted to play hockey as a career to be honest, but, um, went to Loughborough University to play and just suddenly got there and the level was just insane and I was too lazy.

I remember just thinking, no, I don't have the oomph anymore to go for it, you know, gym was at five and I just didn't love it enough anymore to want to take it. Anymore, seriously. And I, and I drank too much beer and I just, yeah, I barely played much hockey at loughborough, which was such a U-turn. And I remember family being like, oh my God, what are you doing?

You're wasting time. Like, why aren't you playing hockey there anymore? And I, yeah, I just fell out of love with the game actually at uni. Um,

Rhona: That's so interesting.

claire: team sport. And now obviously to go into such an individual sport, I do find quite interesting as well.

Rhona: That is really interesting. I suspect you had the drive and hockey was the thing that was presented to you as a teenager, so you went with that, but maybe it wasn't actually the thing that suited you. I also find it interesting that you used the word lazy to describe yourself in that you said like, I know you kind of turned around and said that you fell outta love with, it kind of sounds like you burnt out in with hockey and that's fine.

You know, and it just wasn't your thing. But I, I'm sorry that you said the word lazy. 'cause I don't think it lazy sounds right for you.

claire: I was a bit lazy, honestly. I, I uni was, I had a lot of fun at uni. Um, yeah, I, I found out what alcohol and partying was and, uh, it was a good time, but, um, definitely the sport took a second.

Rhona: Yeah, maybe that's okay though. Maybe you needed that journey, I don't think we have to always be like at the top of our game all the time.

claire: True. Very true.

Rhona: And certainly you've proven yourself since to be not very lazy.

claire: I'll take that. Yeah. Okay.

Rhona: Hockey as well is, so, I guess really different, very structured, very organised team sport. And then suddenly you're thinking about cycling across whole countries. So you mentioned then you did this a first trip with your dad in Cambodia. Is that right?

claire: Yeah, so I was out there working, so he came to visit me. Um, and quite interestingly, me and my dad really fell out early twenties and I had a good six months of space from him. I was living in Cambodia and then he said, oh, can I come out? So he came out, which was supposed to be for two weeks and ended up staying for two months 'cause he fell in love with Cambodia so much as well.

So it was a really, really good trip for both of us. Just got to talk it out and just have a great time together. Um, so we, with the company that I was working at. There was a group of 10 of us, it was a guided tour. That one was in Vietnam. Um, so we, we basically did, um, ho Chi Min to Hanoi, we cycled, and then at the end, me and him did a half marathon together.

'cause he was more of a runner than a cyclist. It was a great holiday and um, it was a great thing to do together, actually. Uh, loved it. And that was my first experience of basically multi-day cycling.

Rhona: Yeah.

claire: and I got the bug for it, for it from there.

Rhona: Wow, that's amazing. Um, kudos to your dad to come into Cambodia to make things better, you know, and what a way to do it. You definitely, you know, a long day cycling together is certainly, if there's any issues in your relationship, you'll hash them out there.

claire: A Absolutely I do actually. I clearly remember a day where we were really having an honest chat and I think cycling's great for that. 'cause you're not sat at a table eye to eye, you're next to each other. We were, next to each other on the bikes and we were having a really difficult conversation and it was a great thing to be doing on a bike.

Rhona: Absolutely. Uh, yeah. Relationships can really be made in those side by side conversations. You take eye contact out of it. It's amazing how much easier it is.

claire: Absolutely.

Rhona: Oh, wow. Oh, I'm so jealous. I would love to do, a big backpacking trip in Vietnam. That's definitely on the list. For one day.

I just, mostly, I just want to eat all the food. Uh, I went to Vietnam, but not with cycling, and I just thought food was so good. Now I just want to go back and eat and cycle.

claire: Yeah, absolutely. I, I did a six month trip in Southeast Asia, separate to the last one. It was like Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, and Sri Lanka. And like they, the food that I ate in that six months and the whole trip was just a lovely trip. Southeast Asia's a, I think, a great beginner's trip or it's just a lot easier 'cause everything's so cheap.

Accommodation's cheap. If you don't wanna camp food's great. People are awesome. So yeah, I do really recommend Southeast Asia to people as a cycling trip. 'cause it's, yeah, the food is unbelievable.

Rhona: So good. So how did you get from there too? You just brought up camping and I was thinking that obviously by the, by your later trips you've been camping and really self-sufficient. Did you just slowly build up those skills and to be self-sufficient?

claire: Yeah, basically all just over a couple of years, so COVID hit, so I left Cambodia, um, as my final trip, uh, final goodbye to Cambodia. I did three weeks on my own cycling, south to north of Cambodia. And that was my first solo one. Got home, still had the itch. I worked for six months during COVID in London and was like, I can't do London again.

So I looked where it was kind of open in COVID and I booked a flight to Costa Rica and did Costa Rica, Nicaragua. Then I went and did Ireland and the uk. So basically just like every. Kind of year I was ticking a bit more off. And then I chose to do Australia, which was the big one where I learned really all the skills, um, regarding like camping and being self-sufficient.

'cause Australia's just so big. I tried to circumnavigate navigate Australia, so that was about a 14,000 kilometre trip. Um, so that, and I would say that was harder than my Mongolia to London trip 'cause you just had to be so organised with food, water, and the outback is so isolated, I cannot tell you. I learned a lot on the Australia trip that I took forward with me to the Mongolia.

Rhona: Wow. Oh my goodness. Okay. There's so many things that, that came up there that I wanna ask about. Um, central America. Yeah, that's one place. So I spent a while there doing some research in my master's and, um, I, unfortunately do have to say I have did have a couple of bad experiences there.

Definitely related to being a woman, mostly sexualised. What was that like bike-packing on your own then?

claire: I remember Costa Rica was fine and I do remember in Nicaragua getting a bit more attention, um, whether I blocked out or tuned out how bad the attention was. But it never got more to just hollering out the cars or things like that. So it never overstepped the line. But I do remember thinking, oh, Nicaragua, I got a lot more of attention whether that's, 'cause there was, it's was, it was quite a few years ago now, so I mean, they just got out of civil war.

Tourism wasn't really there when I was, um, there it was, it was starting to come, but, it was definitely post civil war time. So yeah, it was a bit more of a difficult trip Nicaragua then, I don't look back on it as fondly as a Southeast Asian trip. I rode a lot of heavy distances and yeah, I, I did enjoy it, but it wouldn't be in my top, top list

Rhona: Yeah, that's fair enough. They can not everywhere can be at the top of the list. I mean, beautiful places, but yeah. And this is the thing, you can meet one bad egg anywhere and can change it, okay, so yeah, Australia, this is something I've spoken to a few people who have done big trips in Australia.

Do you know? Does not appeal to me. Tell me why Australia, why? I mean, I like Australia as a country. I wanna go and drink their nice coffee and eat their peanut butter, but I just don't know about cycling these crazy long, straight roads in the middle of nowhere.

claire: Yeah now looking back as well, I'm like, why did you do it? For me, Australia was a massive physical challenge. I wanted to see what my body could do. I was going out there anyway. I had some friends in Tasmania, so the idea, I've kind of flew out and I thought, I'll take my bike 'cause it'll be fun to have in Tasmania.

The idea wasn't to cycle around it and then I got to Tassie, spent a month there and I was working online at the time, so I had my laptop and I asked my boss, I said could I cycle and work? And she said, yes. And I took that quite literally, and I was like, can I cycle around Australia and work? She was like, well, yeah, if you can get signal. So I worked the whole thing. So I had my laptop in my bags and I worked four hours a day. So it was a, it was a dreamy job, so two hours in the morning, so I was really strict. I'd wake up at 4:00 AM do two hours, and then I'd be on the bike all day, and then I'd check the emails at the end of the day at 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM and then I'd sleep.

I did that every day for a good 10 months.

Rhona: No, no, no, no. Oh my gosh. Wow. What? That's mental. Also, we have found the, the rest day's gems here. This is where it is at What? How the hell did you do that?

claire: I don't know, like looking back now, I honestly don't know. I was so driven and I was doing 150 km day. I wasn't going easy either. I just, I dunno what happened that year. I just thought, let's just see what this body can do. And I don't regret that. But like the last trip, I definitely slowed it down because I wanted to enjoy the experience more.

In Australia I saw some amazing places to camp, but I was so driven that I had to keep going that day. I missed that beautiful spot. So the, after that trip I was like, okay, chill it out a bit. I also lost 30 kilograms. I wasn't healthy after Australia. My Mum was like, you looked, I looked really gaunt I pushed myself too hard on that, but wow. I, it was incredible. Like, it was incredible to see what the, my body could do as well.

Rhona: Yeah, I mean, that's amazing. Obviously really driven and I find it interesting that some people can just make up our own goalposts. You didn't need to go and I know, get into, I guess, the sport side of things and compete against other people.

You were just like, I just wanna see what I can do. And then you went and did this and pushed yourself. Kind of like you say, pass sometimes maybe the point of enjoyment, I think that can be healthy. Just maybe not for too long.

claire: And I think out there, when you're in the outback, you're not gonna have a rest day just sitting in the desert. It was a little bit like why rest here? Like I'm not just gonna, was, and a lot of the outback is so you just see the horizon everywhere.

So there were weeks where I did just go at it and just try and get through these massive stretches of isolated terrain and, but they were the best. I remember just, you know, moments of just in the middle of the road with the bike, looking at the horizon and just being like, I'm never gonna be this alone again.

I loved that feeling. I was like, wow. And on any hard days, 'cause there were some extremely hard days. I had three weeks of headwind and I remember just crying into headwind, just thinking, I'm not moving. I was so physically drained. So like, there were awful days, don't get me wrong. But then I just kind of thought, you're gonna have a hot shower one day, you're gonna have a load of comfort. Just get through this discomfort. I kind of enjoyed it and that because of that.

Rhona: Wow, that is amazing. And you should be incredibly proud that you pushed through that. Um, I think if you had kept that up any longer, you probably would've put yourself into a big hole. Um, so probably the fact that it had a, I guess a defined end once you made it round Australia was good.

claire: Yeah. And, and I definitely slowed down on the last trip and I, and there's days where I wonder if I could get back to that level of fitness. 'cause I was at my peak fitness, but it wasn't healthy. So I don't think there's any, anybody thinking about that as well.

Rhona: Yeah, I think that's the thing is it's kind of a tight rope, isn't it? If you are at that level, you you can't sustain it for that long. But also probably you probably weren't fuelling as much as you needed. And like you say, you're not gonna have a rest day in the middle of the, out the outback. So I, you could probably now get to that level of fitness, but in a more sustainable way.

claire: True. Yeah. But I just couldn't, I remember just not being able to get the calories in for what I was doing and going to bed hungry and it was just hard carrying that amount of food for sure. I counted how I ate a lot of tuna cans out there 'cause I just put loads of tuna cans in my bag. But it was something over like 300 tuna cans and there was some fun statistics from

Rhona: What? That's how many you ate in the whole trip? 300 tuna cans.

What was the longest, the biggest number of days between resupply? So like what was the longest time you had to carry food for Without being able to buy more.

claire: Uh, quite a while, at least over a week. Definitely

Rhona: Oh, wow. That's huge.

claire: Yeah. Um, and then, but then I met some amazing strangers that, you know, there was people touring in their camper van. So I would ask them, could you drop 10 litres, 20 litres of water for me in this town at this place? And then so people dropped off food and water packages.

So yeah, people were very helpful in Australia and really super kind. If a car went past me, like they'd always, and like in the Outback, they would stop and say, are you okay? What you doing? You nutter and asking about my sanity and yeah. Um, but no, people were really friendly.

Rhona: Oh, that's awesome. It, it's just so nice to bring that side out of people, uh, and get to connect to people like that. The fact that you worked alongside that still kind of blowing my mind a little bit. What was the work, what, what work were you doing?

claire: So again, this was a real sliding doors moment. So when I worked for, the cycling company in Cambodia, I went to a travel um, conference in Bangkok called Arrival. It's just basically where loads of travel companies meet a new network and I remember having quite a few beers and I met a young woman similar age 'cause everyone was a lot older than us, so we must have been mid twenties.

And we kind of went towards each other 'cause we were the young ones. We had a, a couple of glasses of wine and I. Don't even think I, if looking back, I dunno if I could remember her name, but we somehow we'd added each other on LinkedIn and I hadn't realised. So then two years later after that event, I never go on LinkedIn ever.

And I downloaded the app, went on LinkedIn and her name was the first one, like her post, and it said Jackie and it said hiring for a remote position in Australia. And I just messaged just being like, any chance you remember me from Bangkok? And she just replied like, yeah, of course. I remember are you, do you want to apply for the job?

I applied for the job and I got it. So it was just another. Crazy moment. She was a big traveler. She owned her own business. Um, selling travel gift vouchers, so birthday vouchers, Christmas vouchers you'd buy your sister or hot air balloon or Skydiving Australia, or basically like a worldwide travel gift voucher company. It was just me and her working and she loved to travel. So took over her Australia hours and she was in South America, so we were basically on different time zones and we just answered emails and covered the inbox. Um, so it was so cool. It was the best. I worked there for two years, so she let me do all of Australia, all of Southeast Asia. And then I said to her, do you think I could do Mongolia to London working? And she was like, I trust you so yeah, if you want to. And I basically decided I didn't want to take the laptop to Mongolia. I wanted to just have this, I knew it was gonna be my last big trip, so I didn't want to be working. I wanted to completely enjoy it and switch off.

Rhona: Hmm. Plus surely that that first stretch there would've been the most, possibly the most difficult in terms of actually being able to be connected. Um,

claire: Yeah. Yeah,

Rhona: I guess now, I mean now in the world you can be connected in a lot of, in, in a lot of places, but there's still some places.

claire: Yeah, there definitely. Yeah, definitely would've been harder. I had, yeah, there was definitely times I didn't have signal on the last trip. So yeah, it was nice not having to, it, it was just nice not to have to worry like, oh, am I gonna get signal? 'cause that was the problem in Australia a lot. I might have half a bar signal and I'm trying to reply to customers and, and you're knackered from cycling.

And so yeah, it was, it was, but it was paying for me. I would never have been able to afford to do the Australia trip without working. So it gave me an income and let me do my dreams. So that was pretty cool.

Rhona: Yeah, I mean, that is basically an insanely jammy situation, only having to work four hours a day, completely flexible, and your boss knows that you're cycling around a massive country. That that is the, that is an incredible way to fund an adventure.

claire: It really was really, um, yeah, I feel like the luckiest person to have done it, to be, to have got that job and, and worked with her. She was just an awesome boss. And yeah, anyone that gives you that opportunity is a legend. So

Rhona: Yeah, she sounds like a legend. She sounds really cool. So then in your final trip, Mongolia to London, did you know maybe that's gonna be my last does in your head, are you thinking like that's the last big one of the set? Was there something about that that meant you think, you were like, I wanna, I don't wanna work, I wanna actually savour it, or were you just thinking, uh, I can't maybe sustain that level, those long days with the work on top of it?

What was the, the, what made you switch to just doing the cycling?

claire: I got home from Australia and had this burning desire to do central Asia. I'd basically read, Dervla Murphy's book, who's a legend in bike touring. She's sadly passed away now, but she cycled in the 1960s from Ireland to India and has written like the, honestly, genuinely my favourite book ever. I couldn't let it go. Everyone was like, come on Claire, settle down now you've done Australia. You know, the classic just chill out a bit. And I couldn't, and I just felt this really good momentum and I was like, I'm gonna keep going. I'm just gonna do it.

I did feel like I couldn't keep doing it at the load with the work. I couldn't do the workload on top of. The stress of logistics. I basically flew out to Mongolia and I was like country by country, so I didn't really know what I was doing past Mongolia.

And then as soon as I got to the border it was like, okay China now. And it was kind of, um, there was, 'cause logistically it is a nightmare and I didn't wanna overthink it. I didn't wanna scare myself out of not doing it because that border might be closed and I just thought I'll work it out as I go. Um. But yeah, to be, to try and be that organised and work, I think would've been really difficult to, it was a full-time job navigating the

Rhona: Yeah.

claire: um, and, and deciding which way to go and, and all of that. , I definitely feel like I made the right decision. Um, looking back, could I have worked for the travel, the company for years and years and years and traveled a bit slower?

So I do kind of regret losing the job because now it'd be an awesome job to, to keep going, but I'm, I'm one of those people that, you know, what happens, happens, and, and I got to do an incredible trip as well. So

Rhona: I think you'll find your way back to what? To to, to many more, jammy, situations.

claire: It's really funny you say that. My Mum is like, you are the jammiest person. For example on my trips, if I ever had a mechanical, like, in Australia I only had a very few mechanicals. One of them was five minutes from a bike shop and she was like, you could have been nine days from a bike shop.

Or I remember once losing a bolt and then just like looking on the floor and finding another one a hundred miles from where I lost the other one. You know, I always got super jammy and my mum was like, dunno how you do it.

Rhona: There are definitely some people who, uh, are like that. But again, I don't think it's just luck. I think it's a bit of perspective in that probably you just don't see your bad days as being, having been that bad, but you're really grateful for the things that went well. Um, and so that probably does come across, you know?

claire: Yeah, definitely. I think, think so.

Rhona: Yeah. But, uh, but it does seem like, yeah, you've had a bit of luck on your side, which is always helpful.

claire: I have got lucky tattooed on my left hand in Cambodian, so that might be something to do with it.

Rhona: Oh, really? That's it. That's definitely it. Wow. Okay. So, in your trip then Mongolia to London, did you, did you ever have any days where you didn't ride or did actually just take a rest? How were you looking after your body?

claire: Definitely I took lots of rest days actually. Um, there was some places I really wanted to visit and spend time being a tourist around. Whether that, was a beautiful temple in Turkey that I wanted to visit. In Turkey , I detoured thousands of kilometres 'cause I wanted to see the south of Turkey near Syria. Um, I also took a week off on a Greek island 'cause I wanted to rest and chill out a bit. So I definitely took this, the last trip more, uh, definitely more easy. I'd say I the first half of it. So, Mongolia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan. I did have to rush because of winter. So I left in August. I was waiting.

My brother was having his first baby, and the baby was two weeks late. So I waited and waited and waited. Um, I didn't even get to meet her because I was on the flight and I got a text saying that she had been born. So I was literally off. So I'd waited and I, I said to them, I've gotta go guys, 'cause the weather window is gonna change if I don't leave now, I'm going to get really stuck in a heavy winter. I got, to Tajikistan mid-October and everyone said not to try the Pamir Highway later than October and just said it'd be too cold. Um, but I found a fellow crazy British guy in a hostel that wanted to do it. So we, we paired up for the Pamir Highway and I got to do that with another guy and it was minus 20 snowy crazy temperature.

But we did it together. And I, I honestly dunno if I, I would probably would've turned around if it, if I was on my own, but having someone else there and he, it was his first ever bike trip, so he was quite naive, like, yeah, it's

Rhona: Away. Oh my gosh. I can't believe the first trip that somebody would be doing that.

claire: I know but his chillness like just rubs off on me So we had a great time Um yeah really really cool

Rhona: That's awesome.

claire: look after my family try to look after myself a bit more Um but for example after the Pamir Highway um I got like chill blanes in my toes Do

Rhona: Mm, mm-hmm.

claire: So waking up being like oh my toe's broken something's seriously wrong with my feet So I had a week off after the Pamir stuff like that So yeah I definitely took it more easy

Rhona: Yeah. Chill brains can be infuriatingly painful. They disproportionately painful, you know? So annoying.

claire: Yeah

Rhona: I get chill brains when it's zero degrees. How, how did you manage did you have all the gear for? Minus 20. I just can't even, I can't imagine riding in temperatures like that.

claire: Yeah basically I I wrote a few emails to some brands I basically said to them look guys I'm not very good on social media but I like to write and I like to write blogs Um you know I I I don't like this whole social media game I think it sucks So I tried to tell a story on an email and I barely got any replies Let's say I sent a hundred emails I probably got three four replies Um but they were from really cool brands that were actually super interested in the trip So an Australian company had seen me do the Australia trip and they sent some stuff all the way to England So that was a sleeping bag that was good for minus 50 So

Rhona: Wow.

claire: Sleeping bag would cost you know a grand or more So it was just getting some products donated that really helped me be able to fund the last trip Um cause I wouldn't have been able to get all that gear I got a few jackets some thermals stuff like that Um I just had to write a couple of blogs for their website cause I think still like some human written

Rhona: Yeah.

claire: So I was really fortunate to get some companies that were on uh on board Um

Rhona: Yeah, that is super important. 'cause I didn't even know you could get a sleeping bag that went that cold, but that's amazing that it does, you know? That's fantastic. Yeah.

claire: So yeah that that sleeping bag for example and then they gave me like um big ski mittens that I could ride for cycling that cause my hat you know to protect my hands So I I knew there was gonna I knew I was gonna face winter at one point So I did carry a lot of winter gear Um but then I don't know like the other night I slept in a bothy in the Lake district and it was minus one and I was there shivering

Rhona: Yeah,

claire: I was like and I was hating it and I was like how mentally how I don't know how I got myself into the zone

Rhona: that's exactly what I'm thinking because I'm imagining the nights that I've spent. Yeah. Like the zero and I'm like, yeah, I was really cold. So how did, how did you do that?

claire: Yeah me and Gobi were like snuggled up in this Bothy Gobi was freezing so she got into my sleeping bag and and I was just like you know what I I don't know I I can't really fathom or answer like how the hell I did it And I always get imposter syndrome I'm like I didn't do that Someone else did Um cause it really feels like a different version of myself could go to that level But I guess yeah I guess you get into the zone when you are doing something like that

Rhona: So interesting, isn't it? How you can have those two parts of you. Yeah.

claire: Yeah A hundred

Rhona: What about food on the road? I mean, obviously we talked about in Australia you couldn't get enough food just like you just couldn't carry enough and just couldn't get enough for what you were doing. But um, has there been times where you've had to eat things you really didn't want to eat just because that was what was there?

claire: Yeah definitely I stayed with a few nomads in Mongolia and they were just beautiful people but obviously there wasn't we there was no language between us so it was a lot of smiling and using your hands But they were so kind They let me put my tent next to their big yurt but the grandmother brought me inside the tent and she was you know giving me a cup after cup of goats milk And then they handed me some like fermented goats milk Um Like hard cheese and that that's quite a taste

Rhona: Yeah.

claire: soups that I just had no no idea what was in the meat but you know bones of meat Um but you know you're so grateful and and such an experience to sit with them and have an evening with them And that grandmother in particular she you know we'd had some goats milk and then she took me outside gave me a stool and a bucket and we milked the goats for two hours together

Rhona: Oh, she put you to work? Well done.

claire: to work and I was so bad at it and they were laughing at me so much cause they were getting buckets of milk and I could barely get any out but she taught me how to properly do it And uh again it was just such a cool experience Um but yeah definitely ate some weird weird things that I dunno what they were but that's okay

Rhona: I guess that that was more out of politeness rather than survival. Um,

claire: Yeah

Rhona: 'cause yeah. Did you have the horse's milk and the horse's cheese when you were in Mongolia? That's a really strong taste, isn't it?

claire: really strong really strong But in terms of like I'm just trying to think I remember on the border of Afghanistan we I stayed in an old army barracks I'd locked the door cause we were into Tajikistan but we were on the board of Afghanistan so there was lots of Army presence around And we'd asked them can we stay in there Um but anyway they knocked on the door and they had something that I can only describe as that I thought was like fried bat um because like it I dunno what else it could have been Um but I didn't eat it I just I we took it in and said thank you so much And um but yeah I didn't eat that one

Rhona: I think that would be a bit much also. I've got this idea in my head that maybe bats would have diseases and I'd be a bit concerned about that.

claire: Yeah

Rhona: Mm. Yeah.

claire: We smiled and took it but no I didn't eat it

Rhona: Yeah. Yeah. That's fair. That one's definitely fair. Um, was there any staples on the road that, um, you kinda had a lot of, and now you, you are back, you never want to eat ever again?

claire: Oh gosh yeah the Stan Stan's food is not is not that good Everyone gets ill into Tajikistan I didn't but the guy I was riding with did so he had to hitchhike several days so I actually rode a lot of it alone even though he would meet me every night but he was so unwell Um but staples wise there was just bread lot I've you know the circle breads that you get and like and we just got stopped so many times You know we were carrying bags and bags and bags of this bread Um so yeah I've definitely reduced my intake of bread since being home Um also out there actually I took a bag of huel the powdered hue Um cause I thought it'd be quite good to have in really remote places I can never ever drink that again Like I've just had too much of it So that

Rhona: Yeah.

claire: for me that's for sure Um yeah tuna cans stuff like that It's all a bit

Rhona: Yeah.

claire: me memories of the road

Rhona: Did you manage to get, um, away without having any terrible gut infections or did you have a couple of smaller ones?

claire: I got really ill So I actually so I did get hit by winter in Georgia So I was in Tbilisi and the roads were shut to Turkey So I was like oh okay maybe I'll just hang out in Tbilisi But Mum persuaded me she was like why don't you come home for two weeks do Christmas here all your brothers and sisters are back and like we're two of my brothers and sisters live abroad we hadn't had a Christmas in eight years so I was like oh I can't be the one that misses it So basically I flew back and I got home and I had a couple of Guinness in the pub on Christmas Eve I got rushed to hospital that night with uh obs uh bowel obstruction

Rhona: Oh my gosh.

claire: So I was in hospital for all of Christmas missed any family time so I was like I should just stayed in Tbilisi But basically the doctors were like it was definitely from the diet of the Stans and then coming home going straight into rich English food and I just had it they could see on the x-ray like a big bowel obstruction So yeah I did get quite ill

Rhona: so basically the, I mean, presumably just weren't able to get access to enough proper fiber when you were there and you just literally obstructed your bowels with bread from the Stans.

claire: Yeah Basically that's it Quite embarrassing to say really but um

Rhona: But did you get away with, did they have to put, um, a tube down down your nose and everything, or did you

claire: they tried three times to put a tube up my nose and they yeah they gave me like three nosebleeds and then they gave up um yeah it didn't go very well

Rhona: Oh gosh.

claire: As I was a bit better it did take away a while I was in there for two and a half weeks Um and then I said to doctors like I can go back right And they were like uh you should probably wait And I was like oh no no no Like it'll be fine So yeah they were like because it there's nothing from stopping it happening again obviously

Rhona: Hmm.

claire: Um so yeah but I went back after this I went back too early anyway and there was still snow Um and I tried to get into Georgia The road was shut into Turkey but the road was shut Um so I stayed in this tiny village for a week where the lakes were frozen over met all the locals and it was an incredible experience Um but yeah it was it was a bit of a crazy time

Rhona: Um, yeah. Wow. I think you could possibly have looked after yourself a little bit better there. Um, but,

but that's, wow. So you didn't have to have surgery for your almost bowel obstruction. You just, you just waited it out and they just pumped you full of laxatives or something.

claire: Exactly Yeah lots of laxatives Took loads of laxatives back with me to Georgia as well cause I was like just in case it happens So they put me on a liquid diet and then they were like we can operate with you cause basically I've got a scar on my stomach from an operation 20 years ago So it was all very interesting Um but yeah they were like the scar tissue was messing with it as well but they were like look it could happen again But um yeah luckily it didn't

Rhona: Wow. There you go. How very interesting your medical marvel. It's so funny though because you've had the opposite problem and basically everybody else is getting profuse diarrhoea and you somehow managed to get bowel obstruction.

claire: That's so true actually Yeah There you go

Rhona: Oh, dear me. That's so funny. So you did eventually get into Turkey and the weather got a bit better. Did it once you were there?

claire: Yeah it was still cold for like it's a big old big old place Turkey

I was like how am I gonna get like it took a good month two months to get through but I did take that longer stretch down to the Syrian border which was just beautiful The history down in kind of marden and areas like that And again Turkey is the friendliest country I think that I've experienced school teachers were taking me in and then they'd phone the next school and say there's a cyclist coming can you put her in the dormitory I had that for a good week so I got to speak to the students and it was just yeah it was an incredible time But also I I actually had a bit of guilt in Turkey cause everyone so interested by the story and the travel but they couldn't leave the country cause they didn't have passports or they're not and like Talking to young girls and them being like how are you allowed to do this does your dad let you do this Or you know where's your husband where's your family And having to kind of explain that yeah I am allowed to do it I I had this insane guilt as well Um and just

Rhona: Yeah.

claire: that means just pop over to where I want I I definitely did feel that um

Rhona: Yeah.

claire: as well

Rhona: I find that a very hard part of travel, especially, I feel like sometimes some of the best experiences and the most authentic times where you're connected with people are people who have so little and ha and don't have that the opportunity at all. And they're, not holding that against you at all.

They're just so interested and curious and like, how can we help you? And you think, oh my goodness, but it's so beautiful. But it's also so hard 'cause you can't repay that person in a way that feels in any way meaningful.

claire: A hundred percent you know you're so privileged to be able to just do it and Yeah I know I a hundred percent agree with you what you mean Like they they never want anything back They're not looking after you cause they want you to give them anything and they're just doing it cause they're genuinely kind people And yeah Um definitely has weighed on my mind and that that's how I want to live my life now Just paying kindness forward in any way I can Um cause of all the incredible experiences I've received

Rhona: Yeah. And it is true that the young girls who say, oh, how can you do that? Have you, who's allowed you to do that? But now that , they've seen you do that, maybe a little seed has planted, you know, and maybe they'll find a partner who is more open-minded and maybe their daughters will do something amazing and change the world all because they saw you cycle past.

claire: that crazy ginger girl

Rhona: You never know.

claire: you never know I hope I hope they took a little bit of something from it but Yeah no and and the good thing about social media I get lots of messages from the school girls that I met they've all got Instagram so I get lots of messages How are you how are you doing So it is really sweet to be able to

Rhona: That's

claire: that on as well

Rhona: really, really cute. 

How have you found it adjusting back after coming home?

claire: Yeah Look I think it's really tough one I have waves of where I'm absolutely fine because basically when I got back I just had this massive sense of relief that I'd done my dream I was so happy that I was just like you dreamt of this and you made it happen And I felt really content for a little bit And I still do I think travel was incredible but every day is exciting on the road even though some days weren't to me every day was pretty a pretty exciting challenge in your body And so then to completely slow that down and I've up here rented a place on my own Like I have bills now I've never in the last 10 years put any roots down to have proper bills So you know I am like oh gosh I need to get that money in cause you know this is really expensive council tax water electricity it you're like boom straight away I am like okay now I'm I've made the decision and I'm in this system and I'm gonna have to pay for it So I found that side of things quite difficult Um because for example Mongolia to London cost me 6,000 pounds for one year and like that

Rhona: that's incredible. You're a, you're good with your pennies.

claire: Just a bit bit feral really sleeping in a tent and uh yeah no but it it does Yeah I miss that simplicity of not having to spend much but I'm trying to make my life as adventurous as possible here Um I love the Lake district I really love Scotland so I'm gonna try to be up more in Scotland as well Um the physical challenge I miss the nine hours on a bike and the solitude And I found like really cool groups of cycling and I've met some other females that have traveled So you I'm meeting people that understand what I mean which is nice as well

Rhona: That is really nice 'cause you've definitely experienced things that most people haven't.

claire: Yeah It's just difficult to explain to someone who hasn't maybe toured and they think why have you done that And when you meet someone that understands it it's great

Rhona: Yeah.

claire: but yeah no I would say I'm fine That good I've obviously just quit my job but I was waitressing and it just wasn't fulfilling me in any any form

Rhona: Mm.

claire: And I just wanted to be outside I was constantly just being like let me out So this I'm in a bit of a wobbly time where I've just gotta find my feet try to find a job in an outdoor centre or an outdoor education doing something I love Um so I think when I can nail down the work and life balance that'd be really cool cause I I've got I love my life I just need to find a job that fulfills me as well

Rhona: I was about to say, based on all the things that, I mean, this is not me giving you career advice, but maybe guiding coaching, taking pe young people out sounds like where your, your skillset is. You know, because you love being outside. You love human connection. You love seeing the best in people.

Um, and I'm sure you could inspire loads of people with your stories.

claire: I I I I think I'd love it I'd love it but I just yeah I need to down some qualifications all

Rhona: Mm-hmm.

claire: and uh cause a lot of the centers won't take you without any qualifications So yeah I've gotta just invest in that a little bit

Rhona: Yeah.

claire: yeah it's exciting now I'm excited excited for what's next And I just love nature so for me there's nothing better than sleeping in a tent on a mountain um with my dog So that's gonna be pretty awesome

Rhona: And is It about nature that you know, do you just feel great? Sometimes it's hard to put your finger on it, but it's obviously just really sustains you, when you're out in nature, you're doing a lot of activity. Especially you're you.

But I guess what's it doing for your mental health?

claire: I was gonna say mentally I've never been calmer than when I'm on the bike I would say I'm a calm person but definitely went through some mental health wobbles in my teenage years and then to find this thing that just completely made me calm and a complete purpose Yeah For me nature just is incredible for healing for just finding yourself knowing yourself inside out when I'm on the bike I know you've got your nine hours in your head a day so I've I feel like I know myself pretty well

Rhona: Yeah.

claire: like that makes coming back easier because like I know for example I love friends and family but I'm not willing to give up nature and live in London for

Rhona: Yeah.

claire: I love them and I'll the train journey down but like for me I know now that I need to be connected to

Rhona: Yeah.

claire: and that's just from spending a lot of time on my own So yeah I think I honestly think being outdoors and fresh air is just incredible for everyone and yeah

Rhona: I think you might be about to hit your hardest challenge yet though. 'cause I think you kind of summed it up when you was talking about how it's really difficult once you have bills to pay, um, and you're tied to things. But also if you never have somewhere, a base to live in, in, in the UK where your people are, um, you can never really form deeper long-term connections with people and you can't really maybe make progress in some, we have to earn money that's just a fact of life, you know, to, and you might as well do it doing something that you enjoy.

But generally that means you have to invest in, like you say, qualifications and make some progress and stuff. And you just can't do all these things if you're always away riding your bike all the time. But also being away riding your bike all the time makes you feel really good and that, so it's very hard to balance those two things.

claire: It really is I'm yeah I'm trying my hardest But yeah no I totally do think I'm I'm up I'm gonna have a bit of a challenge this summer balance and everything But yeah I feel just staying calm about it but being motivated I need to realise I have to make it work So I have to if I have to take another job to pay the bills and I have to do that but yeah I'm still pretty clear with what I want and yeah just see how it goes but gonna be positive about it and

Rhona: Oh yeah.

claire: Yeah cause it can be scary can't it It can be very scary to think oh God how am I gonna make that work Um but yeah got lots of great friends Family are awesome So yeah I don't feel alone in it in that sense even though I live up here on my own My family are awesome at calling me and talking through things as well So now I'm lucky in that sense

Rhona: That is good, and I think you've got the right attitude. I mean, you've conquered enough things. I'm sure you can conquer this, but it's funny how there can feel more pressure to try and do everyday stuff at home than you know when you were away doing potentially, , very remote things can things, loads of things could have gone wrong on your trip, but actually, if you just get up in the morning and ride your bike and don't think about those things, that's a lot easier.

But at home, the pressures are much more in your face and people also sometimes put them on you as well. Mm.

claire: A hundred Yeah if I if I was really honest the easy option after Mongolia to London would've been all right I'm going to do South America it went through my head so I actually for once picked the harder option For me the hardest option was to settle and I was like I really didn't wanna do it but I've gotta face this head on at some point And I felt like if I went and did South America be doing it for the wrong reasons I'd be doing it cause I didn't wanna stop and I didn't wanna settle down and face a job But when does that stop and when do you try build a build a life that you are happy with as well So yeah it's such a weird balance isn't It's it's a hard one to gauge but I I feel like I'm doing the best I can and that's all we can do isn't it

Rhona: I know, well, normally, sometimes when I speak to people they're saying I just can't find the time to do the things I need to look after myself or the things that are good for my mental health or whatever. But I feel like in your cases, kind of almost, that you know what those things are and you would quite happily do them all the time.

But now you're now having to make yourself do some of the boring life bits.

claire: Yeah yeah definitely I think maybe I prioritise having fun and being outside a bit too much But yeah I think you know life's too short as well to uh to to completely do what you don't like and money in a way as long as you are working it comes and goes in different ways So um I'm not a big spender so like and I've I'm just like if you saw my house I have the bare minimum and everyone's like you need to get more stuff And I'm like but do I need it

Rhona: Yeah, stuff is actually an inconvenience because then if you want to go off and do something, the stuff is inconvenient.

claire: absolutely And yeah no but I'm very excited like I've got some cool things coming up and yeah we'll see you the next what what happens in the next chapter

Rhona: Absolutely.

claire: on that.

Rhona: Yeah, I'm,

claire: toes.

Rhona: so excited to see what happens, and they'll be really interesting to see how you find your balance. Um, thank you so much, Claire, for talking to me about your beautiful stories. Honestly, I feel like I could talk, I, I would've asked you questions for many more hours, but, um, I don't think anybody wants to listen to a five hour podcast, so I'll leave it there.

Um, but yeah, honestly, thank you so much. That's been absolutely fantastic.

claire: no thank you.

That was really fun to talk to you 

Rhona: What an episode. As always, we heard so many beautiful stories. When I finished listening to Claire, I felt very determined to get less caught up in small everyday things that can be so stressful and exhausting, but to find small joys because they are everywhere. I love her stories of human connection with people who lead totally different lives with entirely different purposes and drive.

They're a reminder that being able to push our bodies and do physical challenges out of choice is an enormous privilege that we should neither take for granted nor waste. Like many of our guests, she has become very self-aware, and it's clear that time alone in nature has sped this up for her. As we talked about, Claire might be about to face her most difficult rest days challenge, finding balance in a more conventional life in the UK.

But I'm sure she's gonna thrive because it's clear that she has found her priorities and makes space for what she needs to grow. I hope you enjoyed this episode. I'll see you next time