About Us

We are Andy and Clare Evans. We’re from the UK and since 2010 have been working as English teachers in Hokkaido, Japan. In August 2015 our contracts and work visas are expiring, so we’ll be setting off on our bicycles to cycle the long way home to England.

We love the outdoors, skiing, cycling, camping and hiking, but we’ve never taken on an adventure of this scale. In the past few years we’ve done weekend trips by bike and a few longer tours within Japan but we’ll definitely be learning as we go.

Most of the way we’ll aim to camp where possible, so will be carrying our tent and sleeping gear. We’ve joined the cycling hospitality network Warm Showers so will also try to stay with local hosts. We’ll be cooking for ourselves for much of the time, although trying the local food in the places we pass through is something we’re both excited about.

The idea for this trip came about after reading Peter Gostelow’s amazing account of his ride from Japan to the UK after finishing work as an English teacher. Through Warm Showers, we’ve met and hosted a number of long distance touring cyclists like Jeremy Scott, Eric and Amaya, and Mark and Katya Lodge. All have been inspiring, and while they stayed, we grilled them for information and advice on routes, equipment, visas and everything that goes into a long distance bicycle tour.

We’ll try and keep this blog updated as much as we can along the way with photos and maybe some kind of video blog. Availability of internet, electricity, interesting content and motivation will no doubt vary as we go, but please follow the blog and keep in touch through the comments section!

Andy and Clare

We also have a blog about skiing in Hokkaido, so if that’s your thing, check out Ezopow.