Ep. 180 ~ 20,000 Miles by Bike, Exploring Wild w/ Alissa Bell
Bikes or Death
Patrick Farnsworth
4.8 • 563 Ratings
🗓️ 29 May 2024
⏱️ 150 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Alissa Bell is the creator and owner of ExploringWild.com and BikeSleepBike.com. Both projects are inspired by her 20,000+ miles traveling by foot and bike all over the world and her passion for helping others find their own adventure. In 2018 she quit her job to travel the world – a move that many of us dream about making, but that few of us ultimately find the bravery to take the plunge on.
When she left for Africa in 2018, she wasn't just walking away from her career. She was also leaving behind a supportive husband, her home, her friends, and all of the comfort and familiarity that comes with a happy, whole, and rich home life.The urge to discover the world and herself in it is a primary motivator for Alissa, but it's not one that comes easy or without cost. It requires constant juggling and negotiating between a home life she loves and an adventurous life that fills her soul.
From ExploringWild.com, "I won't pretend all this is easy. I'm introverted, nerdy, and more risk-averse than you might think. I have cranky knees and hate being cold. I used to think all this stuff was only for people braver and tougher than I am. If I can do it, you definitely can too."
In other words, she's a lot like me and you. Luckily for us, Alissa has dedicated her life – through her example, her writing, websites, and adventure kits – to helping others chase their own version of the life they want for themselves.
On a personal note, I met Alissa digitally in 2019 when she extended an offer to help with BikesorDeath.com. Over the past 5 years she's been an unsung hero for BoD behind the scenes. What started as a kind offer to help led to her building an entirely new website from scratch. She's also been invaluable in her help every time the website crashes (which is more than you'd think haha). It's through these interactions that I became aware of, and impressed by, her boldness and unfettering determination to pursue a life that is more meaningful and representative of the version of herself she identifies with the most. After years of coaxing, it was a pleasure to have her join me on the podcast.
A great way to keep up with Alissa and get notified about her projects is through her newsletter.
EPISODE SPONSORS
Old Man Mountain ~ Did you know that OMM makes panniers specifcally for bikepacking that pair perfectly with their legendary racks? Learn more on today's episode and use discount code "mountainsordeath" for 10% off site-wide and use this affiliate link so BoD gets a "Thank You" check in the mail :)
Exploring Wild ~ Alissa is offering BoD listeners 15% of her Adventure Kits, just use coupon code "kitsordeath" at checkout!
Patreon
Geoffrey Meredith - increased pledge 🎉
Join them won't you? Find out more at www.Patreon.com/BikesorDeath
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, friends, and welcome back to the Bikes for Death podcast. |
| 0:03.6 | As always, my name is Patrick and I am your host. |
| 0:07.0 | And on today's episode, I am chatting with Alyssa Bell, who I first met when she reached out to me back in like 2018 at the very beginning of Bikes for Death to offer her help with back-in support for the Bikes |
| 0:23.7 | Her Death website. And she has been helping me in the background ever since. And it has been |
| 0:30.6 | through those interactions that I've got to learn more about Alyssa and her story. So a little about Alyssa. In 2018, she quit her job as a software |
| 0:42.5 | product manager to travel the world by foot and by bike. To date, she has traveled all over the |
| 0:49.5 | world, and she has traveled over 20,000 miles by bike, most of which she's done solo. |
| 0:57.5 | Today you will still find her adventuring by bike while also inspiring others and helping others to access their own adventurous dreams |
| 1:06.5 | through a couple of online projects that she manages and curates all by herself. |
| 1:12.6 | And those are Exploringwild.com and Bikesleepbike.com, both of which we cover in today's episode. |
| 1:21.1 | I've always been really inspired by Alyssa's bravery and boldness to follow her heart, follow her dreams, and seek out |
| 1:31.3 | an adventurous life, give up her career, and make some sacrifices in her in her home |
| 1:39.2 | life to pursue the life that feels more meaningful to her. I think that's something that we can all |
| 1:45.4 | identify with and I think it's something we a lot of us dream about doing, but not many of us |
| 1:52.2 | take that step. And Alyssa did and she's got a lot of amazing stories to share, a lot of |
| 1:59.0 | amazing experiences. And through her web projects, |
| 2:04.1 | she's really taking the experience that she has gained and making it more accessible to |
| 2:10.3 | everybody else so that they can find their own passion and adventure in life, which I think is |
| 2:15.8 | amazing. So that is what we're going to be talking |
| 2:18.4 | about on today's episode. But first, let's take a moment to thank the people that made it |
| 2:23.1 | possible starting with our latest patrons. We don't have any new patrons today, but we would |
| 2:28.8 | like to thank Jeffrey Meredith for increasing his pledge to the podcast. So thank you very much, Jeffrey. And if you |
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