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"You might have to work hard to get me to defend my homeland in most cases, but I struggle when I hear Americans receive criticism for being ‘uncultured’."
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With exorbitant international travel costs in the United States compared with the likes of Europe, Miriam asks: is the stereotype of the "uncultured American" really fair?
In Defence of the Uncultured American (Written by One)
With exorbitant international travel costs in the U.S. compared with the likes of Europe, is the stereotype of the "uncultured American" really fair?“I saw the struggle my parents faced raising me and my sister. If you can imagine, every day from 4.00 p.m. until 7.00 p.m. there was no power. It was 1986, and I had to do my homework with a small candle.”
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Dan was 12 years old when the revolution took place. I sat down with him in Constanta, Romania to hear his experiences from that time, and to discuss traditions in Romania. Have a read at the link below.
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Thanks to Marius of Club Sportiv Euxin Constanta for setting up the interview!
Daniel shares his memories from the Romanian revolution in Constanța
In Constanța, Romania, I met Daniel Buzatu, who shared his memories from the 1989 revolution, and discussed Romanian traditions.The bad news: the next Place, Person, Plate interview from Romania won't be published until next week.
The good news: That's because we've been flown to Paris to film for a TV show!
Instead, here is the latest "moment" from the Arctic to Asia Cycle tour, when Miriam and I were stranded on Senja in Northern Norway after a storm blew in. Enjoy!
Stranded on Senja During a Storm
A week into our cycle tour, and we found ourselves stranded on Senja, an island in Northern Norway, for two nights after a storm blew in... -----------------...Friends, family and followers, I recently spoke with the Shoreham Herald about 'The Place, The Person, The Plate' and what life on the road has been like for the past year!
Have a read at the link below and try not to look closely at my awkward smile.
Steyning traveller takes on epic cycle across Europe and asks ‘what does home mean to you?’
An intrepid Steyning traveller has taken to two wheels in an epic journey of discovery across Europe.Times have changed at Holma farm in Tretten, Norway.
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13 years ago, Håvard, Johan and the rest of the Sagheim family split an investment in a farm in the mountains with three other families, and moved all their animals from their back yard up onto their new land.
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Very different from when Håvard began work on his own farm in 1990, he can now often be seen at a computer in his office, using a software that predicts the milk yields of each cow and notifies him of any ill animals as well as those that need a break from milking. He even uses a milking robot, which automatically leads his dairy cows into a milking pen and is able to diagnose and isolate any sick individuals. Not quite what some may have in mind when they think of farming in the Norsk mountains.
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For interviews and articles from the Arctic to Asia Cycle Tour, visit: theplacethepersontheplate.com/
"…it's a struggle for the people that are living here, especially the older people that don't have relatives to look after them. Most of them will seem grumpy all the time. But if you look beyond that, you can tell that it's not because they are mean or anything; it's sadness."
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Another country, another interview! I headed out of Moldova to Galati, my first stop in Romania, where I spoke with Livia Liv about the challenges faced by people living in her country, and why so many people are leaving. Have a read below:
Livia discusses the challenges facing Romania in Galați.
In Galați, Romania, I met Livia, who explained spoke about the Romanian standard of living and why so many young people are leaving Romania.My final day in Lviv, Ukraine, and a storm blew in. Chunks of snow and ice scuttled across the concrete outside, powered by gusts of frigid air, and I stared out the window, contemplating my next move. As if sensing my doubts, my phone screen lit up; a call from Taras, my friend in Ivano-Frankivsk who I’d met in a hostel in Western Poland a month earlier.
“I'm worried. I don’t think you should cycle here, Tieran. It’s a little dangerous.” I glanced back out through the window, which shook under the force of a gale, and tried to explain that, with all the stuff on my bike, I didn’t have too much of a choice.
“Tieran." he cut me off, "If I tell you I can borrow my friends truck, and come and pick you up, no problem, will you accept?”
So a huge (and as always very late) thank you to Taras and his wife, Kate, who hosted me on their kitchen floor for three nights, and drove hours out of their way to ensure I wasn’t cycling on the edge of an icy main-road, took me up to Bukovel to see the Carpathian mountains and set up an interview with Юлія (Yulia), before dropping me at the next city I was stopping at.
Дякую (Dya Kuyu) for everything, and hope to see you guys again!
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For interviews and articles from the Arctic to Asia Cycle Tour, visit: https://theplacethepersontheplate.com/
In the Svaneti region in Northern Georgia (country), I met Basque film-maker Mikel Peña Sarrionandia, who asked if he could make a video about me and the trip. Have a watch of the much more professional-than-normal finished product below!
Sidenote: the scratch on my neck is from when I got distracted talking to a passer-by, and flew my drone into my face mid-conversation.
The Place, The Person, The Plate
I was fortunate enough to meet Tieran while hiking through the picturesque mountains of Mestia in Georgia. After 4 days of exploring through the mountains we made…"We knew the cycle tour would strain us... it was always just the two of us... we only had each other to celebrate with, or to cry with, or to blame."
Ever wondered how Miriam was able to put up with me for so long before I set off solo?
Have a read of her take on what it's like to cycle tour with your boyfriend without losing your mind below!
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(Featured photo by Svein Rune Berg at Iguan Design)
Surviving a cycle tour as a couple | 2,000km on the road with my boyfriend.
We knew the cycle tour would strain us... it was always just the two of us... we only had each other to celebrate with, or to cry with, or to blame.The island of Senja in Northern Norway gave us some of the most spectacular views on the entire cycle tour. Miriam and I headed for Ersfjord, where we camped on a beach, and marvelled at the scenery the entire way!
Have a watch of our latest “moments” video below:
Arctic to Asia: Moments - Our Scenic Cycle Through Senja
The island of Senja in Northern Norway gave us some of the most spectacular views on the entire cycle tour. We headed for Ersfjord, where we camped on a beac..."Of course, we fear for our language; we are afraid of it dying. But we make an effort every day to prevent that.”
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For my final interview in Moldova, I travelled to Gagauzia, an autonomous region in the south with its own, officially endangered, language. There, I met with Olga Kulaksız, who spoke to me about Gagauz identity, culture, language, and the regions future.
Have a read at the link below!
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A huge thank you to Muhammet Ali Ateş for acting as my translator😊
What does it mean to be Gagauz? Olga discusses Gagauzia's identity.
In Comrat, the capital of Gagauzia, I spoke with Olga Kulaksız, an ethnic Gagauz, about her identity, culture and the region's endangered language.This is Reidar Berg. He is 86-years-old, and in true Norwegian fashion he "roller-skis" 13-17km three times a week to stay in shape in Dovre, Norway. This, he says, takes him 60 minutes, but is a lot quicker in winter on real skis in the snow.
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For interviews and articles from the Arctic to Asia cycle tour, visit: theplacethepersontheplate.com/
Our first night of wild camping was when it started to dawn on me that I might not be cut out for this...
Miriam and I had planned on making it about 10km further, but our bodies gave up near the top of a mountain outside Brensholmen, Norway. With nothing but some pasta, pesto and peanuts to refuel on, and dirty lake water to use for cooking, we didn’t have the energy to bring our gear inside, and risked leaving it strewn across the surrounding brush overnight.
Despite being exhausted and emotionally drained, I lay wide awake on the lumps and bumps pushing my sleeping mat into my back, wondering how I’d tell my friends and family that I’d made it less than a week into the so-called “Arctic to Asia” cycle tour before calling it quits. For about an hour, every time I got close to sleep, I imagined the distance we still had to cover - the daunting prospect of almost an entire year of doing this over and over again - and my heart lurched.
On the literal and metaphorical bright side, we got to experience a cloudless night illuminated by the famous midnight sun; this photo was taken at about 12.30am, just before I started questioning whether this whole thing was a terrible mistake.
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For interviews and articles from the Arctic to Asia cycle tour, visit: theplacethepersontheplate.com/
"...The American dinner-table used to be a place where people sat down and talked about things, but I don’t think it is what it once was."
Happy 4th of July to my readers in the United States! It’s exactly one year ago today that I published the first Place, Person, Plate interview. Long before I put foot to pedal, I met with Jon Finley, who runs the Starlight Cafe' in Cornersville, Tennessee, to learn about life in Rural America.
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That was way back before I knew the ins and outs of WordPress web-design so, to celebrate the occasion, I’ve revamped that article to make it much more reader-friendly.
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Have a read at the link below!
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theplacethepersontheplate.com/cornersville-tennessee/
Jon Finley discusses life in rural America | Cornersville, Tennessee
In our first ever interview, we spoke with Jon Finley, proprietor of the Starlight Café in Cornersville, about the ups and downs of life in Rural America.For those who missed them on Instagram, I’ve decided to start sharing some of my favourite photos from the road over the past year.
So, to kick off, here's a throwback to Nesna in Northern Norway, where Miriam and I had just finished pushing our bikes 3km uphill, only to discover that there was another 3km still to come up ahead…
The first few weeks of the trip pushed both of us to breaking point, as the stunning scenery brought with it some of the most difficult terrain we cycled... and the occasional emotional breakdown.
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For interviews and Articles from the Arctic to Asia Cycle Tour, visit: placepersonplate.com/
A massive and very late thank you to Oleksandr Rozhok and his mum, Olena Eu. Since I wildly overpacked at the beginning of this trip, they offered me a place to leave my mountain of stuff in Lviv, Ukraine, which allowed me to go home to visit family for “Channukamas”. Somehow, I forgot to take a photo of us all together, so here’s some of Oleks showing off the pipe-smoking skills he's perfected after years of competing in pipe-smoking competitions.
Dyakuyu!
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For interviews and articles from the Arctic to Asia cycle tur, visit: theplacethepersontheplate.com/
Democracy, beaten and bloodied almost beyond recognition, limps on in Turkey, or at least Istanbul, for now…
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Early May, and a tangible excitement permeates through Istanbul's labyrinthine streets. Ekrem İmamoğlu, a soft-spoken political unknown and relative newcomer, had somehow clinched victory in a mayoral race against a candidate from Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s AKP, a regime that has been accused of continuously undermining democratic institutions and slipping perilously close to a dictatorship over the best part of a decade. The results handed him a razor-thin margin of 13,000 votes, just 0.2% of the total, over Binali Yıldırım, striking Erdoğan where it hurt; as a former mayor of Turkey's cultural capital, the now-President has repeated time and time again the mantra that “whoever wins Istanbul, wins Turkey”.
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It wasn’t long, however, before that victory turned to ash, and, at the request of Erdoğan, who claimed irregularities at the ballot box were responsible for his loss, election authorities annulled the results and ordered a rerun to be held on the 23rd of June. For months, it seemed that it had become illegal to win against the AKP.
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The date grew closer, and just 2 percentage points separated the rivals in opinion polls. Could İmamoğlu recreate his performance from weeks earlier? Pundits were torn; pollsters, conflicted. Locals were anxious. The world watched. But voters, in their fervour, riled by the injustice of a legitimate political victory ripped away and, fearing the last flickers of democracy would soon be extinguished, returned with a renewed sense of resolve, determined to defy the polls.
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Seconds ticked by, and it became startlingly clear to Erdoğan and the AK Parti that the plan had backfired; spectacularly so. A small 13,000 vote lead had turned into a 775,000 one. Voters saw that, with enough turnout, not even Erdoğan was infallible. Istanbul, governed by the AKP since 1994, fell to the Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi - CHP - opposition, and an extended campaign breathed life into what was once a political lightweight who now had momentum in a situation frighteningly similar to the one that had seen Erdoğan himself take control of the country not too long ago.
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So there you have it; Istanbul has a new mayor, and maybe, just maybe, Turkey could have found itself a potential future challenger for the presidency.
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For interviews and articles from the Arctic to Asia cycle Tour, visit: theplacethepersontheplate.com/
"The only way for Transnistria to reunify with Moldova without having an armed conflict is for it to become an autonomy in the territory of Moldova.”
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Transnistria declared independence from the rest of Moldova in 1990, sparking a war that lasted two years. It now has it's own flag, parliament, license plates and even it's own currency.
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I travelled to it's capital, Tiraspol, where I met with Anya Golomoz, to find out what it's like to live in a relic of the USSR.
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Have a read at the link below!
What's it like to live in Transnistria, "the country that doesn't exist"?
In Transnistria, which declared it's independence from Moldova in 1990, I met Anya Golomoz, who explained what it's like to live in a relic of the USSR.Since I've left my laptop behind for a few days to go hiking in the Svaneti region in Northern Georgia, the next Place Person Plate interview will be published next week instead of today. Until then, here's a few photos from day 1 of the 4 day trek from Mestia to Ushguli!
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For interviews and articles from the Arctic to Asia cycle tour, visit:
theplacethepersontheplate.com/
At the end of an exhausting 2nd day of cycling, we could go no further, and so decided to camp at the top of a mountain near Brensholmen; Miriam's first time camping for about 12 years...
Arctic to Asia: Moments - Our First Night of Wild Camping!
At the end of an exhausting 2nd day of cycling, we could go no further, and so decided to camp at the top of a mountain near Brensholmen; Miriam's first time...Halfway through our first day on the road in Norway, our luck took a turn for the worse.
At the deepest point in the tunnel under Malangen fjord, Miriam injured her knee, meaning we had to walk the entire uphill section...
Arctic to Asia: Moments - Miriam Injured her Knee, Reindeer and More...
Just when things seemed to be going well on our first day, Miriam injured her knee in the middle of the 2.7km long, Vikran tunnel that goes under a fjord, le..."...we became both independent and super poor at the same time. A lot of factories... had been working for the needs of the Soviet Union, so there was no point running them any more. A lot of very talented people... became unemployed in a moment."
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In Moldova's capital, Chișinău, I spoke with Alex Mirgorodski, who discussed the pros and cons of life in the Soviet Union and the divides in Moldovan society. Have a read at the link below!
Alex talks pros & cons of the Soviet Union and more in Chișinău, Moldova.
In Chișinău, Alexander Mirgorodski told me about the pros and cons of life in the Soviet Union, as well as the culture and history of Moldova.Barely halfway through day 1 on the road and Miriam and I had already met hundreds of Huskies!
Arctic to Asia: Moments - We Found a Husky Café
To our delight, we stumbled across the Husky Café outside Tromsø on our first day of cycle touring, where we met hundreds of sled dogs and husky puppies!Google translate struggles a little with this one, but somehow I've found myself on a local Polish news site!
For those not familiar with Polish, the title appears to translate directly as:
"Think with the eyes of the British is 'less well-kept Krakow.' Tieran Freedman is on his way from Norway to Azerbaijan".
Thanks naszemiasto.pl, I hope what you wrote was good!
Through the occasional video, you've seen snippets of the Scandinavian section of the Arctic to Asia Cycle Tour.
Since those only show a fraction of the footage we have, I've begun stitching together some shorter clips, or "moments", that give a more accurate representation of life on the road. So, please enjoy the first of many "Arctic to Asia: Moments", which documents mine (Tieran) and Miriam's first hour of cycle touring as we left Tromsø, Norway!
Arctic to Asia: Moments - Our First Hour of Cycle Touring!
With no experience, no training and no clue what we were in for, this short video documents our first hour on the bikes as we cycled out of Tromsø in Norther...The tables have turned!
Back in Istanbul, Mohammad Alard (aka Traveler Freak الرحالة المجنون) interviewed me about the ups and downs of life on the road during the Arctic to Asia Cycle tour. Have a watch below!
"I don’t think this country can give me what I want – the kind of life that I want – but I still want to try and fight for it. I want to go abroad to study... and then come back and change our country.”
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For my first interview in the little-known, landlocked country of Moldova, I cycled to Bălți, where I spoke with Marina Skaletskaya, an active community member, about the high levels of inequality, the issues facing youths and her culture in her home country.
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Thanks to Maddie Mcgrath for organising the interview, have a read at the link below!
Marina Skaletskaya talks inequality, youth and culture in Bălți, Moldova.
In Bălți, Moldova, I spoke with Marina Skalerskaya, an active community member who spoke with me about wealth inequality, the environment, culture and more.Did you miss the latest video from the Arctic to Asia Cycle Tour?
Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Germany feel like an age ago now, but making this trailer brought back a flood of memories.
Check out the full video of mine and Miriam's final stretch cycling together before I continued the journey towards Azerbaijan solo at the link below!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjmGDfMD6bc&t
Usually, I tend to stay for 3-4 days in a place before moving on to the next stop on the cycle tour. But when I visited Львів (Lviv), Ukraine, back in winter I fell in love with it. So much so that I got a little too comfortable, and spent more than two weeks overstaying my welcome with two locals, Yurko Yarovyj and Romana Skoropad, and a cat called Wusek (whisker) which had a charming habit of jumping on me every night at around 2.00am.
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So, late as always, a massive thank you goes to them for the bed, countless servings of barszcz, introducing me to something called “shuba” (a kind of herring and vegetable cake and one of the more peculiar dishes I’ve tried from that part of the world) and for not throwing me out sooner, especially after I lost the keys to their front door in the snow outside (sorry about that again, guys)…
Дякую (Dyakuyu) for everything!
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For interviews, articles and videos from the Arctic to Asia Cycle Tour, visit: theplacethepersontheplate.com/
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Kajtek Grzelka talks Polish Identity and life in Wrocław, Poland
I sat down with Kajtek, a pharmacy student, to discuss what it means to be Polish, the challenges facing Polish society, and life in the city of Wrocław."At school, we were "Oktyabryata"; children of the Red October. We had to wear stars with a picture portrait of Lenin as a child... In the Soviet Union, it was compulsory... when you go to university you become Komsomols; the committee of the Soviet Youth."
In Chernivtsi, Ukraine, Pavlo explained the effects the collapse of the Soviet Union had on his family and what childhood in the Soviet Union was like. Have a read at the link below!
Чернівецьке екскурсійне бюро
Pavlo discusses tourism, corruption and communism in Chernivtsi, Ukraine
In Chernivtsi, Ukraine, I met Pavlo, who discussed how the collapse of the soviet Union affected his family, corruption in healthcare, tourism and more.“I was born in the Eastern part of Ukraine...we managed to leave after Crimea was annexed, just before the war raged in my city...”
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Did you miss my belated interview from last week?
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Юлія Острогляд (Yulia) left everything she knew behind when she fled her hometown in Eastern Ukraine in 2014. I sat down with her to hear her story. Have a read below.
Yulia discusses escaping the war and Ukraine's future in Ivano-Frankivsk
Yulia Ostrohliad fled Eastern Ukraine just after the annexation of Crimea. I sat down with her in Ivano-Frankivsk to hear her story.“I was born in the Eastern part of Ukraine...we managed to leave after Crimea was annexed, just before the war raged in my city...”
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Юлія (Yulia) left everything she knew behind when she fled her hometown in Eastern Ukraine in 2014. I sat down with her to hear her story. Have a read below.
Yulia discusses escaping the war and Ukraine's future in Ivano-Frankivsk
Yulia Ostrohliad fled Eastern Ukraine just after the annexation of Crimea. I sat down with her in Ivano-Frankivsk to hear her story.An update to my website means I have to reformat the latest interview from Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine, before I publish it; keep an eye out for it in the next couple of days!
In the meantime, did you know there's now a map that displays the location of each of the Place, Person, Plate interviews? It also pretty neatly shows a rough outline of my route!
Have a gander at the link below:
theplacethepersontheplate.com/interview-map/
Interactive Interview Map | The Place, The Person, The Plate
Here you can find a map with each of the 'Place, Person, Plate' interviews marked on it. Click on the markers to see who we spoke to and where!Ukraine has a new president.
When I visited a couple of months ago, Volodymyr Zelensky, a TV comedian known for playing a teacher who is propelled into the presidency by a viral video, was laughed off as a potential contender for the highest office in the country, then held by the widely disliked Petro Poroshenko. Last night, Zelensky won in a landslide, with 74% of the vote to Poroshenko’s 24%.
Many that I spoke to were fed up with Poroshenko’s corruption, and his apparent profiteering from Ukraine’s political woes. Zelensky, who has never held any government position, promised to be “something different”. Like his competitor, he is pro-European, but other than that has kept his cards close to his chest, revealing little about his political leanings. Now, he will determine the fate of the Ukraine-Russia conflict in the East, though he has yet to publicly declare any specific plans for his country’s future.
This election cycle in Ukraine has seen its fair share of drama. Earlier this year, it emerged that two individuals, both named Y. V. Tymoshenkos, would be running for office. The most well-known of the two is Yulia Tymoshenko, who has spent two terms as Ukraine’s Prime Minister, whilst @Yuri Tymoshenkos is a relatively unknown independent member of parliament. It was suggested that Yuri’s entrance into the race was a ploy to confuse voters at the ballot box in an attempt to siphon votes from Yulia, who was seen as a much more serious threat to the other candidates.
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For interviews and articles from the Arctic to Asia Cycle Tour, visit: theplacethepersontheplate.com/
"People are disappointed in the president... he’s unable to stop the war... We’re waiting, and every few days somebody is killed... A friend of mine had problems with blood pressure in his head from the shockwaves from the explosions that were happening too close to him..."
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For my second interview in Lviv, Ukraine, I spoke with Oleksandr Rozhok, who discussed differences between Western and Ukrainian Christmas, the youth culture in Ukraine compared to that of the UK, the social effects of the war in the East and more. Have a read at the link below!
Oleksandr talks Ukrainian Christmas, Maidan and more in Lviv, Ukraine
In Lviv, Ukraine, I met with Oleksandr Rozhok, who discussed Ukrainian Christmas, the 2014 revolution, how the war has affected Ukrainian society and more.It's been a while. So, if you've missed watching two clueless cyclists attempting to cycle halfway across the world, then I have good news: part 4 of the Arctic to Asia cycle tour, which took us through Sweden, Denmark and Northern Germany, is now up on YouTube!
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Featuring myself (Tieran), Miriam, my Norsk family (Anders, Leif, Håkon and Turid), and all those we met or who helped us out along the way:
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Svein Rune Berg, Amalie Berg, Maria Viktoria, Anna Kristine Berg, Jørgen Marentius Pettersen, Sunniva Berg, Ørjan Drabløs, Torben Jørgensen, Dorthe Greve Jørgensen, Kåre Lindqvist, Alex Wilson, Callum Gathercole, Maria Sara Klinner, Lasse Klinner, Louie Hammeken Klinner, Michel Hammeken Klinner, Charlotte Hannibal, Brian Hansen, Michael Pietsch Melanie Pietsch, Fritz and Max Mahlmann
Have a watch below!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjmGDfMD6bc&t=
Arctic to Asia Cycle Tour Part 4: Sweden, Denmark and Germany
Fashionably late as always, here's part 4 of the Arctic to Asia cycle tour; the last leg I cycled with Miriam before continuing solo. After setting off with ...With nowhere to stay, the temperature dropping rapidly and the inevitability of sunset inching ever closer, I was starting to psych myself up for a freezing night at the roadside in Poland’s Carpathian hills.
So, my fingers and toes owe Henryk and Maria a huge thank you for saving the day and inviting me to stay with them in their cabin, Słomiana Chatka, which was one of the most rustic experiences I’ve had on the trip so far.
Henryk spent the last few summers building it from scratch, even using hay and mud to construct the walls. With no WiFi, TV, or phone service to distract me, I was able to switch off and enjoy an evening basking in the warm glow of a fireplace, conversing using charades (and google translate when we moved to the corner that sometimes got 1 bar), eating soup, and learning to crack walnuts with the flick of a knife, a skill I’ll cherish for years to come. Dziękuję Bardzo!
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For interviews and articles from the Arctic to Asia cycle tour, visit:
theplacethepersontheplate.com/
"I was working just 1000 metres from Maidan. I heard the explosions from the gas grenades, and then I saw on the news that something serious had happened; that policemen had shot people…"
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I sat down with Max Chernyaev in Kiev, Ukraine's capital, to discuss the Ukrainian revolution, the war with Russia, political corruption and more. Have a read at the link below!
Max Chernyaev discusses the Ukrainian revolution and more in Kiev
In Kiev, Ukraine, I sat down with Max Chernyaev to talk about the Ukrainian revolution (Maidan), the war with Russia, corruption and more.Still scrambling to work through my backlog of 'thank you's; this time a very belated 'Dziękuję bardzo' goes to Grażyna, Klaudia, Izabela, and Andrzej in Poland. After several days riding through the foothills of the Carpathian mountains, they sorted me out with my very own private cabin/bungalow (Chata na końcu świata) on a hilltop overlooking Tarnów for three nights, as well as food, poker and some lessons on the local history!
In Poland, it's unusual to drink tea with milk like I'm used to back at home, but in a landmark cross-cultural exchange, I was able to convince Andrzej and Izabela to brave the national beverage of my homeland, English breakfast tea. As you can see, it didn't go down too well...
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For interviews and articles from the Arctic to Asia cycle tour, visit:
theplacethepersontheplate.com/
"...a lot of people here don’t like Russian speakers... We bumped into a group of girls who were nationalists... When they heard that we were speaking Russian, they began to surround us... they started shouting at us. One girl I was with was beaten."
In Lviv, Ukraine I met with Victoria Gazda, who told me about the issues facing Russian-speakers in the city, Ukrainian food and more. Have a read at the link below!
Victoria Gazda discusses attitudes to Russian and more in Lviv, Ukraine
In Lviv, Ukraine, I met with Victoria Gazda, who told me about the issues facing Russian-speakers in the city, Ukrainian food and more.Way back in 2017, with no cycling experience (let alone cycle touring experience) and my departure date fast approaching, I turned to the one place I knew I could find help; the place where I’d spent hours upon hours absorbing knowledge late into the night when I should have been studying during my school years and, let's be honest, my university years, too. I turned to YouTube.
After trawling through video after video looking for advice for a novice like myself, I eventually settled on one channel in particular, which is where I learned most of what formed the basis of my albeit limited touring knowledge before I flew to Tromsø to begin my journey.
By pure chance, it just so happened that the guy behind this channel, Darren Alff (AKA the 'Bicycle Touring Pro’), was in Lviv, Ukraine, at the same time as me! A lot of unpredictable things have happened on this trip, but going to a zoo (a generous term for what it was) and an ‘underground coffee mine’ in Ukraine with the cyclist I’d watched travel the world from behind a screen is definitely high up on the list! Cheers Darren for all the tips and advice!
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Darren’s Channel: www.youtube.com/user/bicycletouringpro
For interviews and articles from the Arctic to Asia cycle tour, visit: theplacethepersontheplate.com/
With Brexit, the Michael Cohen drama, and the collapse of talks between Donald J. Trump and Kim Jong Un sprawled across most newspapers, Moldova's parliamentary elections flew under the radar in western media earlier this week. So here is yet another oversimplified explanation:
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The results of last Sunday's vote could determine whether the landlocked Eastern European country aligns itself with Russia or the European Union. Currently, the presidency is held by Igor Dodon, who envisions a country with closer ties to the Russian Federation, whilst Parliament, prior to the elections was controlled by the Democrats, a more EU-friendly party, led by Pavel Filip. This meant that there was a tug of war between the two branches of government, and a lot of conflicting messages.
But why, a week after the elections, do we still not know what the results will mean for Moldova? Because, whilst the Socialist party won the most seats, they still only secured 31% of the vote with a 49% voter turnout, meaning they have been unable to form a majority. The socialist party must now form a coalition with another party, though its unclear who that would be since the second biggest party is their primary opposition, and the third is ACUM, which has taken a strong stance against corruption and also desires closer ties with Europe. If nothing changes, a second election could be held as soon as a few months from now.
To add to the uncertainty, the elections have been marred by allegations of voting fraud, including vote-buying, and accusations that Russia attempted to interfere with the election (sound familiar?) by opening an investigation into an alleged money-laundering scheme involving Pavel Filip just two days before the election. All of that has prompted calls from the Democratic party for an investigation (sound even more familiar??), but the results have been accepted by all parties, who must now come up with a way out of the situation they've found themselves in.
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For interviews and articles from the Arctic to Asia cycle tour, visit:
theplacethepersontheplate.com
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Partidul Democrat din Moldova
Partidul Socialiștilor din Republica Moldova
“My mum had money until maybe the 10th… day of the month... If my grandma didn’t feed us… we would probably have been starving… she still has nightmares... because she was always concerned during communist times that she wouldn’t have enough to buy food.”
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Przemysl, Poland, was my last stop before I crossed the border to Ukraine. There, genealogist Maciej Orzechowski told me about his memories from communist Poland, the 1980s martial law, how catholicism has impacted him, life in his hometown and more.
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Have a read at the link below!
Maciej discusses memories from communist Poland and more in Przemyśl
In Przemyśl, I spoke with Maciej, a genealogist, about his memories from communist Poland, the 1980s martial law, Catholicism and more.As always, I'm super far behind with my thank you messages...
This time, big thanks go to the guys at Farma Kozłówek ('Kozłówek Farm' if that was difficult for you) in Poland who hosted me and spent longer than they should have attempting to teach me the Polish alphabet. More importantly, the shops nearby were closed and I probably would have passed out if they hadn't come to the rescue and provided me with some food. Dziękuję almost three months late!
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For interviews and articles from the Arctic to Asia cycle tour, visit: theplacethepersontheplate.com
It is with regret that I must inform you all of a day I hoped would never come.
Those of you who know me or have followed this trip from the beginning may be aware that I had virtually no cycling or bike repair experience before this trip; that lack of experience extends to fixing punctures.
"I ordered puncture resistant tyres", I told myself, "I'll be fine". And for many months, I was. But after 3,674km of cycling, my rear tyre, weary, overworked and neglected, was ruthlessly pierced something in the road. A thorn? A piece of broken glass, perhaps? We will never truly know how, or why, this happened.
And so with Ali, my host in Comrat, guiding me, I set to work. Surgery began at 11.55am on Saturday, and I'm pleased to report that after ten minutes we were able to stymie the air loss and return the inner tube to a stable condition. It was a close one, but it looks like my bike will fully recover.
TLDR: 6 months in, it was about damn time I finally learned how to repair a puncture.
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For interviews and articles from the Arctic to Asia cycle tour, visit: theplacethepersontheplate.com
"I was raised with faith, and I try to pass this... to my children. So we pray every day… Faith in Poland is changing now... we are westernising. When I go to church, I only see old people... very few children.”
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What better way to spend Valentine's day than sitting down to learn a little about Polish culture?
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In Podlipie, I spoke with Wojtek, a health and safety specialist and the man behind Olejove, to hear his take on the changes Poland has undergone in his lifetime, the role of religion in Polish society, the state of the environment and more.
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In the spirit of romance, here's a bonus quote from the interview:
"Before I met my wife, Dorota, I hadn’t imagined myself as a father, but when I met her we decided after one year to get married… we love each other and we want to have fruits out of this love, and so it was a natural decision to have children... I found the best wife I could have done."
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Read more at the link below!
Wojtek Hasior talks religion, environmental recovery, and more in Podlipie
In Podlipie, I spoke with Wojtek Hasior about the changes he has seen in Poland, the role of religion in Polish culture, environmental recovery and more.Ukraine will be permanently scarred by the 2014 revolution. But many don't know why the protests came actually about and how they affected the current state of world affairs, so here is a simplified version:
The story begins when then-president Viktor Yanukovych withdrew last-minute from a deal with the EU that he'd promised to sign, and instead signed one with Russia.
His withdrawal was not what prompted the revolution, however. That weekend, hundreds of people, who felt they'd been duped by the president, stood in peaceful protest in Maidan Square in the city centre, demonstrating their support for closer ties with Europe. In an effort to quash these protests, special police known as the 'Berkut' surrounded and then proceeded to beat numerous protestors.
And so, the dominoes began to fall. It was this abuse of power that saw a spark of dissidence ignite into the Ukrainian revolution. Tens of thousands took to the streets, turning Maidan Square in the city centre into a permanent camp and refusing to move. This, in turn, was met with further police brutality; berkut snipers picked off protestors from rooftops, and over 100 of them, who would later be called the "Heavenly Hundred", died at the hands of the police.
When the bloodshed showed no signs of stopping, and protestors began threatening to arm themselves, Yanukovich was forced to flee the country. Almost immediately after that, sensing the election of a more pro-EU and less Russia-friendly president, Russia annexed Crimea, leaving us where we are now.
If you walk up the street behind Maidan Square, you'll notice bulletholes in some of the lamp posts at the roadside, a reminder of the cruelty and corruption that thrust Ukraine onto the forefront of the world stage, and triggered a crisis the likes of which haven't been seen since the Cold War.
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For interviews and articles from the Arctic to Asia Cycle Tour, visit theplacethepersontheplate.com
Today I met the Moldovan Mafia.
At home, I'm used to the idea that urban areas tend to have higher crime rates, whilst in the countryside you can afford to let your guard down. In other parts of the world, however, it's easy to forget that the opposite is true. I’d been warned about this in Ukraine, but since no one anywhere seemed to know anything about Moldova, I didn’t really know what to expect upon my arrival.
Today, as I weaved between potholes exiting Sîngerei, just south of Bălți , I was pleasantly surprised to see three friendly-looking guys waving and calling out to me. As they stepped out into the road to greet me, I slowed to a halt, and began explaining my trip to what I thought was merely a curious group of locals.
As the passing cars faded into the distance and we were left alone, the tone changed. The smiles faded, and they began circling my bike, so that at least one of them was always out of sight. “You know mafia?” one of them leaned towards me and gripped one of my handlebars; I laughed nervously. “We are mafia. You-” he rubbed his fingers together in what I recognised was a symbol for ‘Pay us’. I moved my bike backwards slightly “Net, net, net (no, no, no)”, I tried my best to appear confident and unphased as I made a move to turn. Before I knew it a hand gripped my arm. “You have camera. ” he gestured to the GoPro poking out of my handlebar pack. “Pay.” He made the symbol with his free hand again.
Whether it was because of the language barrier, or perhaps they just thought I wasn’t worth the trouble, or maybe, just maybe, it was a dot in the distance that slowly morphed into a police car as it approached, but I shook my arm free, pushed my bike forward so my new friends had to choose between moving aside or getting run over, and pedalled. In a bizarre exchange as I shot off, heart racing, one of them even waved goodbye; in my confusion I returned the gesture.
Moral of the story: it’s easy to forget that, whilst most people have good intentions wherever you go, it’s still worth being a little wary of who you stop and talk to, and that maybe you shouldn't make a habit of openly carry valuables when there are people around on a trip like this.
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See interviews and articles from the Arctic to Asia cycle tour on our website: theplacethepersontheplate.com/
"...my country is a weird country... almost everywhere in Poland, you can see these signs: 'this building was built with European money'... now our government is saying... 'like the UK, we have to get out of the EU!' But, Jesus Christ, we’re getting profits from the EU all the time!"
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I sat down with Marika Kasprzak to discuss everything from the rise of nationalism in her home country to, Polish cuisine in Kraków, Poland. Have a read at the link below!
Marika Kasprzak discusses the ups and downs of life in Kraków, Poland
In Kraków, I spoke with Marika Kasprzak, a 23-year-old student who hopes one day to work on radio programmes, about life in Poland's former capital.