An unfulfilled physio goes for a stupidly long bike ride (aka where it all began)

There was no big sign. No voice from the sky. Just me, alone, thinking: what if I actually did this?

Turns out, the moments that change our lives the most don’t always arrive with fireworks. Sometimes they sneak in wearing plain clothes.

It was 2013 and I'd just arrived in the UK. I didn’t really know anyone yet. Everything was unfamiliar. Cold. Quiet.

I curled up in my tiny studio apartment near the hospital where I worked as a physiotherapist, with a bag of barbecue crisps from Marks and Spencer’s and a bottle of apple cider. I read Cycling Home from Siberia by Rob Lilwall, devouring it in a single sitting. I was immersed in the tale of Rob and his friend Alastair Humphreys riding their bikes all the way home from Siberia to the UK.

Before I read that book, I thought adventure was for big muscly men. Not for pale ginger ladies who get sunburnt sitting under a tree.

But page by page, my mind shifted and transformed. It might sound extreme, but it felt like someone had released me from a padlock and chains I didn’t even realise I was weighed down by. Suddenly, the impossible felt almost within reach — juuuust enough to let me imagine it.

The fuse had been lit. The realisation that adventure doesn’t start when you’re ready, it starts when you follow the wild idea. The spark. Sometimes it even shows up as an ache. And you follow it, even if your hands are shaking.

I decided in that moment, I’d cycle across the UK. That felt monumental. But then I looked at a map (I’ve been obsessed with maps ever since I was little) and I realised I hadn’t been to Belgium. Or the Netherlands. Or Germany. Or Sweden.

And so, with no real cycling experience (like, maybe 30kms max in my life), I booked a one-way flight to Norway with my disassembled second-hand bike in a box … with the wild idea to ride my way all the way back to the UK.

When the idea for that adventure fully landed in my mind — god, I remember the feeling like it was yesterday. I’d never felt anything like it in my life.

My heart pounding. My skin buzzing. My mind dancing with terror and thrill.

All the things that could go right.

All the things that could go wrong.

And this ping-pong rally of:

“Yes you can!”

“No you can’t.”

“Holy shit, imagine if you did ... ”

“Don’t be stupid, just give up now.”

That moment? That was the first time I ever felt truly, deeply alive. I felt electric. And I hadn't even gone anywhere yet. I hadn't even stood up. And I was ALIVE.

So all this is to say, if you’ve ever felt that tug. Or that whisper. Whether you've ever followed it or not. Perhaps you've never felt it but you'd like to - I’d love nothing more than to open up the chance to talk about it, and to surround ourselves with others who want to feel it too.

Have you ever had a moment like that? Are you searching for your next moment like that?

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