Beautiful, Surprising Ukraine
After the demise of the Pirate ship, our Danube adventure was abandoned and I decided to hitchhike instead. From Budapest, I headed first to Poland and then into Ukraine. The only bad thing that happened (apart
By Jamie| 2014-01-06T17:12:00+00:00 January 6th, 2014|Photo, Stories|
After the demise of the Pirate ship, our Danube adventure was abandoned and I decided to hitchhike instead. From Budapest, I headed first to Poland and then into Ukraine. The only bad thing that happened (apart
By Jamie| 2013-12-22T11:12:44+00:00 December 22nd, 2013|Photo, Pirates of the Danube|
I don't like funerals. I never have. Although when I actually think about it, I don't suppose anyone really enjoys funerals. Least of all the instigator of festivities. After several months of grieving, it is
By Jamie| 2013-12-05T18:01:48+00:00 December 4th, 2013|Pirates of the Danube|
When you have no responsibilities in life (and you think you're a pirate), if you see a crazy big building ominously perched on stilts, you climb it. Obviously. Then you take photos to send your
By Jamie| 2013-12-07T01:47:23+00:00 December 2nd, 2013|Pirates of the Danube|
After crossing two dams on our pirates ship, we knew that had only travelled around ten kilometres in two very difficult days, but that there would be no more dams for several hundred kilometres. While
By Jamie| 2014-01-21T02:48:41+00:00 November 14th, 2013|Pirates of the Danube, Thoughts and Inspiration|
After dismantling our raft, we floated parts of it down the river in the hope that they would traverse the length of the Danube without us. However, I cannot be sure of how far these
By Jamie| 2013-12-07T02:44:42+00:00 November 4th, 2013|Pirates of the Danube|
Jamie originally thought of titling this post, 'Rafting Under Stars with Wine,' but shortly afterwards, he had the niggling notion that 'Night Rafting' seemed to be a somewhat more respectable title. Hoping not to dissuade
By Jamie| 2013-12-08T18:19:46+00:00 October 24th, 2013|UK to Slovakia on £30 Bikes, Video|
'Jamie's Big Adventure' is a video produced by Paul Blatch to showcase the highs and lows of our cycling adventure from the UK to Slovakia. Where there is good, there may be bad, but where
By Jamie| 2016-04-18T07:02:04+00:00 October 14th, 2013|Pirates of the Danube, Video|
Following on from Pedal (our cycling movie), Emily Dobbins-Dale has once again demonstrated her wonderful video editing skills by creating Paddle; the short film showing our (pirate) rafting adventure on the Danube (and Morava) river(s). The
By Jamie| 2013-12-07T12:30:59+00:00 October 7th, 2013|Pirates of the Danube|
Our biggest logistical problem (aside from avoiding large, fast moving boats), was always going to be crossing dams. As we paddled across a large (1km across), slow moving body of water, we knew that we
By Jamie| 2013-12-07T14:08:08+00:00 October 2nd, 2013|Pirates of the Danube|
Our (home-made) rafting journey to the Danube began on the Morava River. For two full days, we rafted this river and life was very serene. The only panic came when we had to avoid the
By Jamie| 2013-12-07T15:00:41+00:00 September 28th, 2013|Stories|
Following the destruction of our raft and the sad demise of The Pirates of the Danube, we four pirates were left in a situation that we hadn't expected... we had no raft and we were
By Jamie| 2013-12-08T18:20:18+00:00 September 25th, 2013|Thoughts and Inspiration, UK to Slovakia on £30 Bikes|
Our cycle journey recently made it into the EDP, a regional paper from the area I grew up in (Norfolk, UK). Below is the story. Click it to enlarge. Obviously I am delighted that they
By Jamie| 2013-12-09T21:57:15+00:00 September 19th, 2013|Pirates of the Danube, Thoughts and Inspiration|
"Are those they guys from the paper?" a guy asked as we sat down for a beer in a small town outside Budapest. Photo above is three of the four 'Pirates' in a Hungarian school
By Jamie| 2013-12-09T22:19:34+00:00 September 16th, 2013|Pirates of the Danube|
It's been over a month and a half since I was last arrested. On that occasion, I was arrested in Amsterdam for sleeping outside and given two choices: pay €390 (between three people), or go
By Jamie| 2013-12-10T06:42:35+00:00 September 14th, 2013|Pirates of the Danube|
Despite expectations (of certain people), we have conquered Slovakia. We now rule it as a dictatorship... well not quite... but we have rafted all of the way through it from our staring point near Gajary
By Jamie| 2013-12-10T06:48:35+00:00 September 12th, 2013|UK to Slovakia on £30 Bikes, Video|
'Jamie's Great Adventure' is a wonderful creation by Alyssa (Emma) Nuyen and Sean Zhang. The video is based upon the five things that you need to travel (in my opinion) from my 'travel without money'
By Jamie| 2016-04-15T02:48:00+00:00 September 10th, 2013|UK to Slovakia on £30 Bikes, Video|
'Pedal' is the brilliant short film created by Emily Dobbins-Dale using footage shot during our 1,600 km bicycle ride from the UK to Slovakia on £30 bicycles. The video features myself, Leah, Daniel, and Elliot (my
By Jamie| 2013-12-10T07:11:32+00:00 September 10th, 2013|Pirates of the Danube, Video|
When we announced our decision to raft the Danube (Pirates of the Danube), some people laughed and told us it was impossible while others supported us fully. Either way, our choices created an opinion. Gavin,
By Jamie| 2013-12-10T09:44:53+00:00 September 8th, 2013|Pirates of the Danube|
Dear world, I don't have time to explain right now, but we are the Pirates of the Danube. We have already crossed two dams (one carrying, one like a boat), denied arrest, and rafted 140
By Jamie| 2013-12-12T01:48:10+00:00 August 31st, 2013|Pirates of the Danube|
You didn't believe it. I didn't believe it... BUT IT'S REALLY HAPPENING. We (an Englishman, an American, a Slovakian, and a Dane), will be Pirates. We've built a raft, looked up information about safety, and
By Jamie| 2013-12-12T01:52:04+00:00 August 26th, 2013|Thoughts and Inspiration, UK to Slovakia on £30 Bikes|
I may not actually be able to get my hands on a copy (as I'm raft building in Slovakia right now), but I just heard that our cycling adventure was published in The Lynn News,
By Jamie| 2013-12-12T02:12:21+00:00 August 18th, 2013|UK to Slovakia on £30 Bikes|
We made it. As the end of the journey approached, we woke up on the final morning of our journey knowing that we had crossed Holland (where we were arrested), Germany (hills and more hills), and
By Jamie| 2013-12-12T02:16:06+00:00 August 15th, 2013|UK to Slovakia on £30 Bikes|
After crossing Germany and it's mountains, we entered the Czech Republic. While we knew that Czech Republic was mountainous, we were delighted at crossing our first big country (we'd only crossed Holland and part of
By Jamie| 2013-12-12T02:23:13+00:00 August 13th, 2013|UK to Slovakia on £30 Bikes|
I know my bicycle only cost £30 and that I made panniers myself, but when it started to go wrong, I found it desperately frustrating. By the time we had crossed the first German national
By Jamie| 2013-12-12T02:22:00+00:00 August 12th, 2013|UK to Slovakia on £30 Bikes|
When I started out on this adventure, I had the great idea of doing it on a fixie bike (one gear, always pedalling). Thank God that didn't work out. My old bicycle has served me
By Jamie| 2013-12-12T02:27:39+00:00 August 11th, 2013|Pirates of the Danube, Thoughts and Inspiration|
This is an unusual request, but after wonderful responses for video editors and proof-readers, I thought, 'why not ask?' One month ago, I set out on a big adventure. The intention for part one was
By Jamie| 2013-12-12T02:36:23+00:00 August 10th, 2013|UK to Slovakia on £30 Bikes|
To the policewoman in Amsterdam who arrested us and called us stupid, To the man in the fancy German bike shop who didn't want to help me fix my battered old bike, But most of
By Jamie| 2013-12-18T02:18:46+00:00 July 27th, 2013|UK to Slovakia on £30 Bikes|
When we started this great big, overly ambitious adventure, we got lots of punctures which we clearly took very seriously. We took breaks when we could, slept outside, and then got on the ferry to
By Jamie| 2013-12-12T02:38:59+00:00 July 25th, 2013|UK to Slovakia on £30 Bikes|
In Amsterdam, the purchase and sale of drugs is quite legal. So too is prostitution. But God forbid you should dare to fall asleep outside. After successfully starting our big bicycle / raft adventure, we
By Jamie| 2013-12-12T02:43:51+00:00 July 21st, 2013|UK to Slovakia on £30 Bikes|
No longer am I dreaming of a large bike ride: It's really happening, I'm doing it. On my old bicycle with homemade panniers, I (along with two others) have now cycled around 300 km from the UK