Love, On a Bike (Janapar: The Movie)

Across the world, many of us are in search of something. We don’t always know what it is, but we know that it is there and one day we hope that we can find it. For those of us that travel the world alone, this is what drives us. That search for something more.

One beautiful part of the modern world, is that we are now able to share some of these journeys in the hope of inspiring or helping others. While there are many books and photos of such journeys, there are not many movies. I search for them often and I always come up short. Real life and a long journey, undertaken alone, is understandably very difficult to film.

I recently stumbled onto the trailer of a movie, Janapar. Rushing to an internet cafe in Istanbul, I used my dwindling funds to download the movie onto my camera memory card so that I could watch it that very evening. I was not disappointed.

“23-year-old Englishman Tom Allen is all set for a successful career, but he finds himself persisted by the question of our time: isn’t there more to life than this? Leaving it all behind, Tom sets off on the ultimate quest for freedom.

For the next 12,000 miles, with neither maps nor guidebooks, Tom films the unfolding of his dream. But the journey takes an unlikely detour when he falls in love with an Iranian-Armenian girl.

Filmed over four years with cinematic ambition, Janapar — named after the Armenian word for journey — is an honest and life-affirming tale of finding what you’re looking for when you least expect it.”

This is not only a journey of love and adventure, but also a journey of oneself. It is a journey through some of the most unwelcoming parts of the world and most of all, it is real. Except for the long distance cut scenes of Tom cycling past on a bicycle of course.

Janapar Camping

In this movie, Tom took the time to capture his adventure on film. It is a moving, real-life adventure that captures the essence of a search in life for something more. This movie is an inspiration. If you enjoyed the trailer, I believe that you will also enjoy the film.

Love On a Bike

Visit the Janapar website to get hold of a copy for yourself and to support the project. Tom also wrote a book about the adventure which is available from the same website.

Janapar Cycling

Note: this post is not sponsored in any way. I liked the movie and I felt it was appropriate to share. All content on this page is used with the permission of Tom Allen.

By | 2013-12-17T04:07:29+00:00 April 20th, 2013|Thoughts and Inspiration|0 Comments

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