“It is late October, and the temperature is already –40 degrees . . . My thoughts are filled with frozen rivers that may or may not hold my weight; empty, forgotten valleys haunted by emaciated ghosts; and packs of ravenous, merciless wolves.” Having left his job as a high-school geography teacher, Rob Lilwall arrived in Siberia equipped only with a bike and a healthy dose of fear. Cycling Home from Siberia recounts his epic three-and-a-half-year, 30,000-mile journey back to England via the foreboding jungles of Papua New Guinea, an Australian cyclone, and Afghanistan’s war-torn Hindu Kush. A gripping story of endurance and adventure, this is also a spiritual journey, providing poignant insight into life on the road in some of the world’s toughest corners.
If one could choose a middle name for Rob, it would likely be “Daring”. Or “Resilient”. Some may prefer “Crazy”.
How else would you describe a former geography teacher and self-proclaimed “normal guy” who has walked across the Gobi in winter, braved the jungles of Papua New Guinea, and cycled across Afghanistan? Rob has presented two National Geographic TV series, and The Guardian called his first book “a two-wheeled classic.”
When Rob isn’t being chased by bandits, camping at minus 40, or crossing deserts, he spends his time on speaking, writing and charitable work. He is a graduate of the Universities of Edinburgh and Oxford, and a member of the Global Speakers Federation.
Based out of Hong Kong and Singapore, he is one of Asia Pacific’s most popular conference speakers.
I had high hopes for this one, really high hopes. It starts out wonderfully, but never really develops into anything more than a 'god is good, have you heard about the bible?' trap.
Rob Lilwall has written a thoroughly engaging account of his epic journey across some of the most difficult lands on earth. The book was exciting, thought-provoking and yet an overall easy read. I found myself racing to find out what other adventures he had had on his travels and was amazed by his experiences of people and by his journey with God.
He is naturally eloquent and easily relatable. One never feels as if you are reading about someone doing a superhuman feat. Just another struggler, like you and me, who just ended up choosing to do something different with his life.
While I enjoy travel books, this one kept me rolling my eyes and questioning the decision making of the author. While it was fun to read about the people he met, and the lands he traveled, come now, Siberia and Tibet during the worst that winter has to offer? And what the heck?!?! What was the point, perhaps it was merely self indulgence, to adding Papua New Guinea to the itinerary?!?!? Oh to be so young and privileged.
The pages turn fast at the beginning but slow towards the end. Matches the excitement level of whichever country Rob was cycling. From winter paths in Siberia to paved roads of Europe. Exciting to dull.
Book certainty inspires a desire to explore. I know I will be attempting to venture out on local bike rides when possible now as my pastime.
A great read, the book describes the adventures of the author half way across the world on a cycle, from Siberia to England going through Japan, Australia, India and many others. The author pens the account in great detail speaking about the difficulty to start the trip and by the end how better he was. It showcases we can face anything if we make up our minds.
Rob Lilwall's writing style is straightforward, and his accounts feel authentic, even though I find myself disagreeing with nearly all of his opinions. As much as I hate to admit it, I find reading travel books harder now when I could just watch a "Walking in Port Moresby | 4K" video instead.
For anyone who wants a great travel memoir this is one of my favorites. I appreciate the way Rob seeks to approach the various value experiences with curiosity and care.
My wife and I like to read travel/adventure books out loud together, and so we picked this one up to share. But we found this memoir a little hard to access, in part because the author's motives for his bicycle trip were so blurry, in part because we found the narrator difficult to like at times and in part because we simply thought his decision-making skills were a bit suspect.
Rob Lilwall was a geography teacher from London in his late 20's when he decided to pull up stakes and set off on a round-the-world bicycle trip starting in Siberia. In October. Why one would choose to travel by bicycle through one of the coldest regions on Earth during the autumn and winter months, I don't know. But that's what he does. He could have started in the spring, and seen Siberia during a warmer time, but no, that would be too easy.
From Siberia, he moves on to Japan, Korea, China and then eventually into the Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and finally Australia. His return route from Down Under took him back into southeast and central Asia and the Middle East before returning to the UK. If you know your geography, you can tell that this is a most circuitous route and not a direct path between Russia and the British Isles. Clearly, Lilwall wanted to have an adventure and he thought that traveling through a variety of out-of-the-way places would give it to him.
He's not entirely wrong. He runs into trouble a few times, both from natural causes (e.g. extreme cold in Siberia, a tropical storm in Australia) or man-made ones (e.g. thieves in Russia, criminals euphemistically called "rascals" in Papua New Guinea). But some of those issues could have been avoided, if he hadn't been so naïve and/or stubborn about his choices. At times it grew frustrating to watch him make another questionable decision and then find himself in trouble yet again. It's almost as if he really wanted to run into danger or obstacles. Overall, we found Lilwall as a narrator a bit angsty and irritating. He spends a lot of time navel-gazing, filtering his experiences through his somewhat dubious personal or cultural lens, and coming to conclusions that seem obvious to many of us who were born and raised in a globally connected world.
He also meets a lot of interesting characters and discovers, to no one's surprise, that there are good, generous and warm-hearted people all over the world, even in places with questionable reputations, like Vietnam and Iran. As he travels, he raises money for a charity and gives talks to schools for a small fee. But the ultimate "why" of the trip seems clouded, even for him. What is he trying to prove? This uncertainty leads to questioning moments. Should he pack it in and go home early? Or should he finish the trip just to say that he has done it?
Unfortunately, none of it really adds up to anything. Clearly, Lilwall learned a few things about himself and the world in the process, but the book is extremely episodic (he covers three years of travels in just 400 pages) and the writing itself is a bit choppy. It's hard to feel like there is a through-line, other than the bike ride itself.
If you like adventure narratives, you'll probably enjoy some of the individual stories in this book. However the whole is not greater than the sum of the parts. There is a lot of action here that doesn't add up to anything.
This is an extraordinary story and I'm still not sure how he managed it. The book is very well written. However, I did feel the last section was rather rushed. It was a shame that this book is not available in hard back with good colour photos - the photos in the book (black and white) were not easy to see and seemed too dark. I am used to seeing these types of travelogue photos in colour and clear enough to give a sense of place (hence the 4 stars and not 5). People in other reviews have talked about the christian aspect. It does not overpower the text so nothing to worry about there and generally, when rarely brought up - it does fit with the context. I am tempted to read walking home form Mongolia now. One other thing, I think the author felt that people over 35 were 'old' or past it. There were a few references to this type of thing including at the end when the author felt that as he was 30 he was 'running out of time' to achieve things. I was also shocked when he said 'they looked old, maybe 40', and that his 40 yo cousin was 'young at heart.' Our zest for life and ability to keep on achieving goals should not be defined by age. I was sad to see that the author seemed to have impatience towards the end, when in the first section he was the one who was slow compared to Al as he had not yet adjusted to the physical demands.
A heroic effort to cycle through the Siberian winter, but it is this undying commitment that opens the reader up to seeing what could be possible! I loved the fascinating stories of the generous people who supported them on this journey!
Sadly not a great book despite an extraordinary journey. Not sure why reviewers are so hung up on his christianity. A fairly minor part of the book and not responsible for it just being basically written
Rob Lilwall's cycle from Siberia to London, which initially went south through Australia before heading north and home, is a never- less-than absorbing account of overcoming hardship and the various challenges that a three-year expedition can throw in your way.
Starting out at the invitation of friend Al Humphreys, who was already well through a round-the world trip by bike, Rob eventually went his own way when he and Al split up in Japan. Rob continued on through Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines, before hitting Papua New Guinea and Australia. He then turned north, eventually reaching London after cycling through Southeast Asia, Tibet and Afghanistan and southern Europe. One can only admire anyone who takes on a challenge like this. It is difficult to know how to prepare, apart from reading up on others who have done something similar and stocking up to deal with the different climates and conditions encountered.
However, I never feared for Rob that he would never complete his journey. The tale lacked real danger, though there were undoubtedly hairy moments in PNG and Afghanistan, for example. He did not spend all his time on the road either. During his three years away, he came home twice, for his Aunt Elizabeth's funeral and his sister's wedding. He never claimed it was an all-out endurance challenge that was set on beating records, but it was not a straight trip.
Some reviewers have commented on the number of times Rob refers to his Christianity, but that never struck me as out of place. It is part of who he is. It would have been strange not to mention it at all.
We'll done to Rob. Clearly a great achievement, but if it is not a tension-filled tale of success being in the balance.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This guy wasted such a great journey because he is not a good writer. He may be a good cyclist, a good geography teacher, but not a good writer. There are a lot of fun places that he spent time with, and I expected that he could talk more about those places and local culture, but he just got into his personal mediocre trivial stuff and used a boring dairy style writing and also used a lot of juvenile writing style.
I really think he missed a chance to know more about Japan, China, Korea, India, Aussie, Philippines, Turkey and others. He spent three years biking in those countries and dint really get much out of them.
Relatively fun part is about Siberia, Papa New Ginea, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan.
The most silly part is the few god believers he met on the road and their miracle stories. Come on, just write a road book and don't peddle religion stuff.
His love sorry with Christine, a girl he met in HK, is probably the best part but he didn't say much.
In short, a pretty easy read and a pretty interesting idea of road adventure by bike. Also pretty shallow and childish from time to time. The author is just a young guy. That also explains why the book and it's language is so easy read. Young guys don't have deep insights. They just haven't lived long enough or read enough to develop a complexed and difficult intellect.
With a sense of humour and an enormous ability to withstand extreme cold, heat, and lack of showers or baths, Rob quits his job as a geography teacher in England, empties his life savings of about $12 000, flies to Siberia, and proceeds to cycle home (the long way) more than 35 000 miles. He travels through China, Australia, India, Afghanistan (!), Iraq (!) and of course many other countries, taking boats only when necessary. He stops to give talks to schools to raise money to continue.
He of course takes life threatening risks in many countries such as New Guinea where law and order is almost completely absent. There he is chased by 'rascals' (a benign word that doesn't suit a horde of men intent on robbing and likely killing him).
He is robbed at gunpoint a couple of times and learns to carry a fake wallet with a bit of cash and a useless credit card, while hiding the rest deep in his panniers.
But he mostly finds kind and generous people: he is very often invited to stay with strangers who feed him but are likely much more poorly off. The only place he is refused water is in France, where the stereotypical business owner won't even speak to him and just condescendingly waves him away!
Without a doubt it’s an incredible journey, and definitely has me wanting to travel, get outdoors and take on my own adventures. For that reason alone I’m happy I read it.
I think a lot of people often think about, or just day dream of going on a ridiculous adventure, so it’s interesting to see the thought process of somebody who has followed through with it.
My two gripes with it were the pacing and the religious aspect of it. I understand it is an incredibly long journey and not every country or stage can have the same detail, but certain parts felt like they were completely glossed over. The religious aspect was bearable, but I didn’t enjoy it.
The writing is plain and simple, but I don’t really mind that in a book like this. I appreciate it was written but the person who went on the journey and some excellent ghost writer.
Some books couldn’t possibly come at a better time. On April 12th, I arrived at the Inveraray Youth Hostel with my bike and stayed there for three nights, waiting for the rain to ease so I could make the beautiful trip to Mallaig dry. The hostel owner handed me a book he thought I might enjoy. It was an understatement—it captivated me completely. I devoured all 368 pages in the hostel’s cozy living room in just two days. The book tells the story of a British young man who left his teaching job to cycle the world for three years. Pedalling through some of the most hostile environments on this earth would undoubtedly earn anyone an endless number of great stories. But Lilwall didn’t just share those stories – he trusted the reader with a intimate portrait of his mental state throughout the adventure. His doubts, insecurities, apprehensions, fears, hopes and vanities painted a incredibly vivid and relatable self-portrait, and provided me with comfort, as well as food for thought, for the remainder of my own bicycle trip.
I loved this book. It is a travel journal from when the author rode his bicycle "home from Siberia". He did not take the shortest route, but went where he felt like going, even to some remote places. Not that he had no plan at all, because he did have an general plan but the details were flexible. This book may not be for hard-core long-distance bike riders, but the author does not claim to be one. The author also mentions his Christian faith and discusses honestly his thoughts on other religions as it is pertinent to whichever country he is passing through. But these discussions are not nearly as prominent as the people he meets along the way who generously share with him what they have.
Really enjoyed the book and the epic story of the journey, really didn’t enjoy the grappling with religion parts. Whilst I applaud anyone trying to learn more about other cultures and religions, in parts it felt like he was coming from a “holier than thou” perspective and actually held very little respect for other people’s religious beliefs - as if he found them frivolous and ridiculous compared to his own.
I have to agree with the quote in the book “they are all different paths up the same mountain”
Other than that, it was a tremendous read and I now have a rather large book hangover!
Although I only use a recumbent bike, I am always enthralled with cycling adventures. The subtitle is 30 000 miles, 3 years and 1 bicycle. Lilwall, a former book salesman in California and teacher in England, takes the long way home, from Siberia to China, Australia, India, Afghanistan, Iraq and a host of other in between countries. This is not a sightseeing book, although we do get some glimpses of life in those countries. He wisely utilizes many contacts and eventually does work for a charity. It’s a book that I couldn’t put down.
Absolutely loved this book - couldn’t let go of it. Following Robs 30.000 mile journey, in details was captivating. Not only because of the physical obstacles he goes through, but because he’s intellectual growth is amazing throughout the book. Rob Lilwall is an amazing author, because he invites the reader into his personal thoughts - both good and bad.
The whole journey itself is amazing - people he meets, cultures he encounters, thoughts about religion and his way of being self ironical. I would recommend it. :))
Starts brilliantly and the description of Siberia leg is fantastic. Unfortunately this is a lengthy section that seems to reflect the author's early interest in his journey, as he progresses he shortens each section and appears to be wanting to reach the end of the book as well as the journey. Additionally, whilst I am indifferent about any writer's religious persuasion, I have no idea what the snippets of Christianity brings to the book, it just put me off the achievement of the journey as the author appears to use it when unsure of himself.
For such an epic journey, the book lacks as a page turner. It starts off well but the lack of quality writing is apparent. South eat Asia was covered in half a page but he proceeds to let us know his opinion of Islam as a christian and being in a long distant relationship more than cultural immersion or set a picture of what it was like in some amazing places. Only gets 3 stars because it's an amazing journey and inspires me to do more cycling backpacking but there are a lot better travel books out there. God knows who employs him for motivational speeches now
It was rather like watching a very dry documentary. And yes, we get it, you're a Christian, bla bla bla.
But I do have to admit that he was brave taking this ride, especially going through Afghanistan and Papua New Guinea. Also admirable is his honest and bare thoughts on his perspectives. Would have loved more to read such thoughts, but they ultimately felt one-dimensional and dull.
A rather passive and not so exciting read. You won't ever grip your book in fear.
I had actually given this book as a gift and then decided to read it myself. Enjoyable read detailing a ~ 3 year journey riding his bicycle. Descriptions of terrains and places he traveled. Toss in some maps, statistic charts, maps, and stories of people he met in his the travels. His faith is apparent but so is his inquisitive nature to ask questions and learn about other religions along the journey.
This book is so fascinating! So descriptive it makes you feel like you are there on that bicycle all the way! The energy required to keep pushing on and getting back on that bike for 30,000 miles! The sites, weather, people, customs, and foods encountered on the way will be a part of Rob Lilwall’s personal history from now until forever! It has to broaden the perspective. And what a phenomenal accomplishment! I highly recommend this book. True Adventure!