Praise for Miles from Nowhere
“If there’s a timeless intimacy to be found in long-term bike touring, then it’s multiplied by Barbara Savage’s words. She takes us along on her two-year adventure and instantly we are her trusted companions. As we ride with Barbara, she doesn’t waste time romanticizing the landscape or looking at the world through rosecolored glasses. Instead, she gifts us the privilege of her honesty. And with that, we lucky readers gain a window into the struggle, triumphs, and laugh-out-loud moments of human-powered travel in unexpected places. It’s no surprise that Miles From Nowhere has lived on these past 30-plus years and inspired others to take to the road on two wheels. In these pages, Barbara lives on, too. I’m left with the unshaken belief that there’s real, unfiltered life to be found out there, and, perhaps most importantly, true kindness.”
—Gale Straub, founder of She-Explores.com
“A valuable reissue, reminding us all about the joys (and sometimes sorrows) of seeing the world by bike.”
—Susan Spano, former New York Times Frugal Traveler and Los Angeles Times Travel Correspondent
“I read Miles from Nowhere by Barbara Savage in 2010 while on my own bike tour across America, which I think says at least something about how good it is—that I still felt like reading about biking even after I’d ridden a couple thousand miles. It’s another book that’s great because of both the writing and the scale of the adventure it captures.”
—Brendan Leonard, creator of Semi-Rad.com
“A long, long time ago, I read this book and went straight out and bought myself a $250 Specialized bicycle and started my first bicycle tour. Changed my life. I came home and wrote a book about the experience and gave credit where credit was due: Barbara and Larry Savage inspired me, giving me the courage for that first step. A lifetime has now passed, but Barbara’s words are still fresh to me, as stirring, thrilling, and humorous as the first time I read them. Many things may have changed since their round-the-world journey, but our human hopes and fears haven’t. We are all so much richer for preserving the gift Barbara left us, Miles from Nowhere.”
—Andrew X. Pham, author of Catfish and Mandala
“Told with grit and good humor, this charming travelogue is a testament to why it’s worth hitting the road—whether on a bicycle, or through the pages of a book.”
—Kate Harris, author of Lands of Lost Borders
“From the swampy Everglades to the snowy Himalayas, Barbara’s love of travel shines through. If you enjoy pedal-to-the-metal adventure, you’ll find it here.”
—Rick Steves, author and founder of Rick Steves Europe
“I cried until I laughed, and laughed until I cried at Barbara Savage’s gorgeously written story of her cycling tour with her husband, Larry. Miles from Nowhere is the best of the best, a grand exploration of the world and its people by two wildly adventurous hearts in love with each other and life itself.”
—Gail Storey, author of I Promise Not to Suffer
“As with much of the best travel writing, it’s the voice that makes readers want to stick with a writer over a long journey, and Barbara Savage’s voice is that of the best kind of travelling companion: honest, unpretentious, brave, and funny. She talks frankly about challenging aspects of cycle-touring, especially couples cycle-touring, that are usually played for laughs or omitted altogether from these kinds of books. The petty fights in the ditch, the unabashed yelling, the temper tantrums. But she also describes the small acts of kindness, the making up, and the profound intimacy of living within a few feet of one’s partner for most of over two years. The passages where she casually mentions ‘lovemaking’ (how 70s!) in their tiny tent are utterly disarming. In another writer’s hands, they’d be corny, but not Barb’s. The magic of this book is how, in her telling, the Savages come across not so much as cyclists or adventurers but as genuine human beings—adventurous, vulnerable, yet resilient—who happen to be riding bicycles.”
—Dave Buchanan, MacEwan University and blogger at The Dusty Musette
“Inspiring—a masterpiece of bike-travel literature!”
—Claude Marthaler, cyclonaute and author of Voyages sellestes
“A sprightly story that will appeal to any armchair traveler…”
—Publishers Weekly
“An entrancing tale … extremely entertaining narrative…”
—Library Journal
“Over 300 pages of the most delightful travel literature I have ever read.”
—Santa Barbara News-Press
“The adventure makes us sigh with pleasure to recall this is truly a world of opportunities, if we are only brave enough to go after them…”
—Women’s Sports
MILES
FROM
NOWHERE
A ROUND-THE-WORLD BICYCLE ADVENTURE
BARBARA SAVAGE
FOREWORD BY TARA AUSTEN WEAVER
MOUNTAINEERS BOOKS is dedicated to the exploration, preservation, and enjoyment of outdoor and wilderness areas.
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Copyright © 1983 by Barbara Savage
Foreword and Conversation © 2020 by Tara Austen Weaver
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form, or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
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Printed in the United States of America
Distributed in the United Kingdom by Cordee, www.cordee.co.uk
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Copyeditors: Diane Hammond and Kirsten Colton
Cover and book design: Jen Grable
Cartographer: Martha Bostwick
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file for this title.
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ISBN (paperback): 978-1-68051-036-2
ISBN (ebook): 978-1-68051-037-9