After traveling for more than three years across North America, South America and Southeast Asia, Tim and Cindie Travis have self-published three separate books about their bicycle touring adventures.

Their first book, The Road That Has No End, is about the couple’s decision to leave home and their first few months on the road. This book is the Travis’ most interesting in my opinion.

Their second book, Down The Road In South America, is a good account of their travels in this particular region of the world, but lacks some of the life-changing magic that their first book contained.

Finally, Down The Road In Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, is the third, latest, and (possibly) final book in the series, and I found it to be short, simple, and targeted largely at arm-chair travelers.

Down The Road In Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam is by far the shortest of the couple’s three books. While the paperback copy of the text is actually 228 pages long (also available on the Kindle), many of these pages are padded with large black and white photographs, over-sized text and additional information that many readers won’t want or need (such as a list of the equipment used on their travels, photos of the couple’s bikes and gear, etc).

I’m not the fastest reader in the world, but the brevity of this book allowed me to breeze through it all in three short sittings. After reading the book, I know that Tim and Cindie spend several months in this corner of the world, but the length of the text made it seem as though they may have only been there for a couple weeks.

Like all of the books in the “Down The Road” series, this third book about the couple’s travels in Southeast Asia is equally easy to read. In my review of their first book, The Road That Has No End, I stated that “the book is so simple and so down to earth, however, I often times thought it may have been written for a small child or possibly an elderly grandparent.” The same can be said for the second and third books as well. The writing is so elementary that, while I know some people will appreciate the ease with which the book can be devoured, I found the tone of the writing to be somewhat offensive – as though I were stupid and knew nothing about the world.

I’m sure, of course, that Tim and Cindie didn’t mean for the book to come across this way, but instead wanted to make the text appeal to those who know very little about the world and have possibly never traveled for themselves. I, however, read for the challenge, inspiration and to learn something new… and this book was lacking in those three departments.

While Down The Road In Thailand, Cambodia And Vietnam is certainly short and easy to read, there were a few stories sprinkled throughout the text that I did enjoy. The couple’s encounters with hotel thieves, street people, and crazy Asian traffic was exciting to read about. The rest of it, however, felt a bit dry and devoid of flavor.

In the end, the Travis’ third book about their cycle touring adventures is a good short, but not super memorable.

My Overall Rating: 6 Out Of 10

Learn more about this book at: Amazon.com

On June 30, I’ll be traveling to Liege, Belgium for the start of the 2012 Tour de France bicycle race. For the first week of the race or so, I will follow the Tour in person, camping alongside the race route each night and cheering for the riders as they whiz past each day at break-neck speeds.

While I am doing all this, I want to create a short documentary film about the spectators – the people who follow the Tour de France in person.

When the Tour de France comes around each year, there are thousands of people who camp along the race route each night and either follow the Tour from start to finish or a come out to glimpse just a small part of the race for themselves. I want to create a short film about these people… but I need your help!

If you or someone you know is planning to follow the Tour de France in person this year, I would love it if you got in touch with me.

I am trying to find a small group of people that I can follow around for the first eight or nine days of this year’s Tour de France and document every aspect of their lives – from where they sleep each night to what they eat and who they are rooting for in the Tour itself.

If you or someone you know is planning to follow the Tour de France this year and you would be interested in being in a short documentary about the experience, please get in touch with me right away! You can get in touch with me by leaving a comment at the bottom of this article or by filling out the contact form on this page.

I’ve been wanting to experience Iceland for myself for several years now… and I’ll be getting that chance this coming May!

On May 4th, I land in Iceland with my friend and college roommate, Brandon Roesler, and together we will cycle approximately 800 miles around Iceland over a period of 24 days.

24 days may seem like a lot of time to see such a small country, but bicycle touring is a slow endeavor and we plan to do more than just rack up the miles while in the country.

Above you will see a map of the approximate route we plan to take around Iceland on our bicycles… and a more in-depth breakdown of this route can be found below.

Fly Into Keflavik International Airport

We fly into Iceland on the morning of May 4th. After we land, we’ll assemble our bicycles and take off toward Reykjavik. It is a short 30 mile ride from the airport to Iceland’s capital, so that’s probably all we’ll do on day number one.

Stock Up In Reykjavik – The Capital

We’ll spend a day or two in Reykjavik – both exploring the city and stocking up on food and supplies for our venture into the wilderness. While in Reykjavik, we’ll also be participating in a short one-day bicycle tour with Reykjavik Bike Tours.

Explore Our Surroundings At Thingvellir National Park

We’ll then cycle north toward Thingvellir National Park. Most of the campgrounds in Iceland don’t open until May 15th or later, so we’ll have to fend for ourselves and camp in the wild without access to toilets, showers, or any modern amenities.

Marvel At The Geyser in Geysir

Then we’ll ride a short distance further north-east to Geysir, the location of Iceland’s most famous hot-water geyser.

Off-Road It To Friðland Að Fjalllabaki

After Geysir we begin a long and beautiful off-road ride toward an incredibly scenic and remote area of Iceland known as Friðland Að Fjalllabaki. We plan to spend several nights camping in this isolated region of the country before continuing south and hitting up with the Ring Road.

Roll Onto the Ring Road At Kirkjubaejarklaustur

The Ring Road is the 832 mile (1,339 km) road that runs around the perimeter of Iceland. We had originally thought of cycling all the way around this road while we were in the country, but decided that doing so would prevent us from seeing some of Iceland’s more isolated regions.

Camp On The Edge Of The Vatnajokull Glacier

Traveling north on the Ring Road, we will cycle our way to the base of the Vatnajokull Glacier and camp out for a day or two in the Skaftafell National Park. During our time here we will explore the nearby glacier and take in the beauty of the sea.

Head West On The Ring Road

Then we’ll jump back on the Ring Road once again and head south, back in the direction we previously came from, and continue past the village of Kirkjubaejarklaustur, back towards Vestmannaeyjabær, Pörsmörk, and Selfoss. We’ll then cycle back through Reykjavik and continue cycling north towards the Snaefellnes Peninsula.

Cycle Along The Snaefellnes Peninsula

It will take us about three days of heavy cycling to reach the peninsula, but once we get there we will be able to take in some of Iceland’s most beautiful beach-side landscapes. I’m hoping to see some puffins and other native wildlife as well!

Soak It All In At Snaefellsjoekull National Park

Then we’ll finish the trip with a quick cycle around the Snaefellsjokull Glacier, before turning around and heading back to Reykjavik and the airport at Keflavik. At this point, Brandon will fly home, back to the United States, and I will continue on the United Kingdom and mainland Europe after that.

Note: This route around Iceland isn’t necessarily set in stone, and I’m sure that our travel plans will change a bit once we land in the country. But hopefully this gives you a general sense of where we plan to go during our 24 days in the country, and the type of scenery we expect to encounter along the way.

What do you think of the route we have planned? Do you have any suggestions on what else we should see and do while we are there? Leave a comment below if you have a question or a comment.

Photos by dumbledad, pocius, axelkr, exfordy, Land Rover Our Planet, giam, o palsson, benfff85, gladas_f, benfff85

But there was a problem!

According to the Schengen Agreement, US citizens like myself can only stay in the Schengen Area (which currently consists of Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland) for a maximum of 90 days within a 6-month period.

While the Schengen agreement makes it easier for European citizens to travel from country to country, it drastically reduces the amount of time a tourist like myself can spend in most of Europe.

Instead of being able to simply jump the border to a neighboring country and continue traveling throughout Europe for extended periods of time, the Schengen Agreement makes it so tourists like myself can only spend a 90 out of every 180 days in the Schengen area.

The US State Travel website explains it like this:

Travelers for business or tourism are permitted to stay in the Schengen area for 90 days within a six month period. Once the 90 day maximum is reached, leaving for a brief period and re-entering the area does not entitle a traveler to 90 more days within the Schengen states. The traveler would have to remain outside of the Schengen zone for 90 days before reentering without a visa.

What this meant for my previous travel plans is that I would not be able to continue through Europe for eight straight months like I had originally planned. Instead, I’ve got only 90 days to travel in the Schengen area before I need to leave and remain outside of the Schengen Zone for at least three months or more before I can re-enter.

While I know several friends and tourists who have overstayed their welcome inside the Schengen Area and had no problems when eventually exiting, I don’t want to risk getting in trouble, being fined, going to jail, or possibly even being blocked from entering the Schengen Area in the future.

So, I changed my travel plans entirely! Click here to see where I am going now.

The first three months of my trip are still exactly the same. I’m still going to Iceland for the first month of my journey and I’ll still be cycling through England, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France and Switzerland after that.

However, after my 90 days of free travel inside the Schengen area is up, I am going to jump on an airplane and fly to Istanbul, Turkey, which is a country that currently lies outside the Schengen Area.

Once in Turkey, I will start counting down the days to when I can enter the Schengen Area again. During my three months outside the Schengen area, however, I will be traveling with my bicycle through Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and the Ukraine – all of which are currently non-Schengen countries.

Then, after my 90 days outside the Schengen area is up, I’ll cross back into Poland and complete the final two months of my originally planned bicycle tour before jumping on yet another airplane and flying to southern Africa.

Part of me is super upset that the Schengen Agreement forced me to change my original travel plans. The other part of me is looking forward to these new countries that I plan to visit. In the end, I guess it isn’t really all that bad. It certainly is an inconvenience, and I understand why the European countries have this rule, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

Instead of risking punishment for staying in the Schengen area for too long, I’ve decided to simply change my travels plans around. While I will no longer be traveling to Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania or Estonia like I had originally hoped… I will be going to Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova instead… and I’m super excited about that!

Brandon Roesler and I met during our first semester of college at Chapman University. A short while later, we became roommates and good friends. While in college, I conducted five long distance bicycle tours. However, I was never able to get Brandon to join me on any of my travels… until now!

Brandon will soon be joining me for 25 days of bicycle touring in Iceland. This will be my 12th long distance bicycle tour and Brandon’s first time ever riding a bicycle for days on end. It will also be Brandon’s first time ever to leave North America.

In the video above you will hear a long conversation that Brandon and I recently had with one another about our upcoming plans for bicycle touring in Iceland. The highlights of the video have been broken down below, so feel free to skip forward to the part that most interests you. If you, like Brandon, are in the process of planning or preparing for your first bicycle tour, there is some good information in this talk that you can benefit from.

• How Brandon and I became college roommates (0:00:35)
• Brandon’s fear of public toilets (0:02:15)
• What we did in college: Ping-pong and video games (0:05:05)
• The importance of packing up your belongings before you leave home (0:07:45)
• Brandon fails to ride his bike to every Major League ballpark in the United States (0:10:40)
• It’s difficult to do something when the people around you don’t support you (0:16:55)
•  How Brandon prompted me to create BicycleTouringPro.com. (0:18:25)
• What was it that prompted Brandon to join me on this bicycle tour around Iceland? (0:19:20)
• The excuses that people have that prevent them from pursuing their goals (0:21:40)
• Traveling with another person – the good, the bad, and the ugly (0:24:10)
• The bicycle and gear Brandon will be using in Iceland (0:26:00)
• The bicycle I will be using in Iceland (0:28:35)
• Aspects of the bicycle tour that Brandon is looking forward to the most (0:29:30)
• What part of Iceland is Brandon dreading the most? (0:31:35)
• The one thing I am most fearful about on this Icelandic bicycle tour (0:33:00)
• What does Brandon hope to get out of his experience in Iceland? (0:36:55)
• The toiletry case that I use on my bike tours (0:39:50)
• How to pack your panniers for the airplane (0:41:10)
• Checking your bicycle in at the airport (0:42:10)
• What kind of pants, shorts, jersey and jacket should you bring on a bicycle tour? (0:44:15)
• The importance of knowing how to set up your tent before you leave home (0:54:30)
• Iceland’s hidden people (0:59:20)
• My additional bicycle touring plans for the rest of the year (1:02:00)
• How I can afford to travel for months on end without having a full-time job (1:05:00)
• Why I don’t trust most bicycle shops when it comes to bicycle touring clothes and equipment (1:06:00)
• How to wash your clothes and body on a bike tour (1:09:30)