'It really feels like you're living outside of the system' – meet the British woman riding home from Thailand

“How did you find out about me?” Eleanor Hulm asks when we start talking, her voice bright despite the four hour time difference plotting her somewhere before 9pm.

I tell her that our news editor, Adam, had seen one of her videos pop up on his Instagram and she laughs in disbelief [I need to log off – ed.]. It’s only been 16 days since she set off from Bangkok to cycle home to the UK and already her stories of mountain traverses, altercations with street dogs and joint rides with local cycle groups have ballooned her Instagram follower count by over 500.

“It was really hard to start doing,” Hulme says of her content creation. “It went against every morsel in my body to speak to the camera, but it got easier every day. All of my friends and family, I don't need to update any of them, it's nice that they're kind of able to be on the journey with me.”

One thing about Hulm is that she’s… normal. Lovely, adventurous, kind - but normal. Scroll down past her daily vlogs and her Instagram page is the intermittent diary of a regular 28-year-old: hanging out with her mates, smiling into the camera after a bike race. I have spoken in awe to many bike packers now, and wondered what qualities they possess that allow them to be so adventurous. “I'm not brave enough to do a big trip like you are, but I would really love to,” I admit aloud.

“You just have to book it and go,” Hulme says, “and then think about the consequences afterwards. That kind of helped me get going, but now I'm here, it feels like I was always gonna do it, which is cool.”

The plan to cycle home from Thailand first began in February 2025. Unhappy in her job and itching for adventure, Hulm began planning for her transnational trip. By October, she’d quit her job, bought a bike and was counting down the days until she could set off.

Now just over two weeks into her trip, Hulme has picked up a few tips for us budding bike packers: make sure you’ve packed two pairs of good cycling shorts (and if you’re really desperate for additional comfort, pack in a few sanitary pads too); remember spare brake pads or sacrifice a day’s ride to wait for them to arrive to a local bike shop; carry a stick to fend off local dogs, but really just enjoy the ride.

“Sometimes I plan a route and I can't get to where it’s said I will get to, so I have to find another way to get from A to B, if it looks okay and the roads aren't going to be awful. Yeah, I don't take a lot of care, and it seems to have been okay so far,” she admits.

Hulme’s route planning was aided by a local riding group who contacted her after seeing her Instagram videos. Chani from Cycling Chiang Mai met her halfway round the Mae Hong Son loop, and shared her best trails from the city when Hulm continued her journey onwards.

Aside from regularly misplacing her kit, Hulm’s journey has been bump-free. She's only met lovely people so far, and has felt safe enough to leave her bike outside her tent when she's camped. She half-jokes that the scariest part of her trip will be when she crosses back into Europe.

“It's nice to just be very present on the bike,” she says. “I’m remembering so much more of my days, because I guess every day is different, whereas when you're in the office, the days blur into one.”

And she’s managing it having done next to no training, beyond one wintery ride in the Peak District and a handful of day-rides out of London with her troupe of cycling pals. We end our conversation promising to check back in later on in her trip and with my own bike pack adventure firmly marked on my 2026 bucket list.

“It really feels like you're living outside of the system,” Hulm muses. “You’ve got your food on you, and you stay in your tent, you're so self sufficient. It’s definitely a really nice way to travel.”