One Year on a Bike: From Amsterdam to Singapore

I AM SO HAPPY TO HAVE THIS, BEEN WANTING THIS BOOK AND THE TWO YEAR ONE, I HOPE TO GET IT SOON.

The media could not be loaded.  "The more you travel, the more you realize how little you've seen" - This is the quote that opens this magnificent book. It's so true.Don't worry, I'm not going to get all deep with travel-isms and bragging about past personal experiences here.This is solely about the incredible accomplishments of Martijn Doolaard and the rebuttal of the special needs reviewer, Martin B., who rated this with 2 stars.Firstly, and most importantly, I'm going to give credit where credit is due: to the author, Martijn Doolaard. Yes, this is a book, sure, but it's also a piece of art, a journal, and to me most importantly, a piece of significant inspiration. As noted by others, this book is on the larger size - just under 10"x13". I say, the bigger the better for these photographs. If they did a reprint in twice the size, I'd buy it in a second.I collect coffee table books and admittedly there are more words in this piece than I'd typically like. BUT considering this tells the story of his journey with the faces he met and the places he went, I couldn't imagine it printed any other way.I became inspired to write this review because I checked on his blog, Espiritu Libre, and noted that 2 days ago, he completed a 2nd and even more ridiculously amazing journey. Martijn cycled from Vancouver, Canada to the southernmost tip of Patagonia, in South America over the course of I think 2+ years.Back to this first trip, I want to encourage you to pause and think about this for a moment... he rode a bicycle from Amsterdam to Singapore. Again...HE RODE A BICYCLE FROM AMSTERDAM TO SINGAPORE.If you're not inspired to quit your crappy day job and do something similar, I'm sorry, but there's no hope for you. Am I saying you need to? No. But if the longing, the desire, the recklessness of doing something equally ambitious doesn't even kind of enter your mind, you're probably like Martin B., who rated this book 2 stars.Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about him. Look, I'm not going to tear this guy (?) apart, but he has one review EVER, it's negative, and it's about this book. Dude probably works for Walmart corporate, thinks foreigners are the devil, and chants MAGA while he sleeps. His ability to judge artwork and accomplishment has been severely stagnated by his lust for familiarity, as well as the safety of his own 800 person town. Get out. I mean for your own sake, Martin B., get out of your town and realize that life is both passing you by and happening around/without you. Perhaps your idea of a great photograph is a gym selfie posted to Plenty of Fish, but I'd saw my left arm off to be able to take comparable images.This book has literally inspired me to take the first step of my journey - ironically retracing Martijn's - and cycle from Vancouver to my hometown of San Diego, on the border of Mexico. Technically I'd ride all the way to the Mexico border in IB, cause, you know, that would be lame to cut it ~25 miles short.Thank you, Martijn, for inspiring me, for guiding me, and documenting your entire trip. I hope that one day, somewhere in the world we cross paths by bike, and I can thank you for the impact you story has had on a complete stranger. Ride on.

Felt I was with Martin on this wonderful ride. Photographs were outstanding. Hope he does another book about his cabins in the Italian alps please make the text a little larger

Coffee table book!! I love watching hos utube videos

This is an amazing book! I absolutely loved it! What a trip he went on!

Beautiful coffee table book with amazing photos and storyline. Just love it.

One of the best travel books I've found, produced with a designer's sensibility and gestalten's quality. The writing is sparse but rich, and the photos are stunning. The travelogue is candid, filled with accounts of good times and bad, from camping on Thai beaches to icy mountain passes, and from days of loneliness to the sensory overload of India. If you've ever dreamt of exploring the world with little more than a bike and a tent, this book is for you.

Biking through an entire continent, dealing with adversity, altitude, terrain, weather... that on it's own is a very hard and impressive accomplishment. But to be able to take a reader through it is and captivate your audience, is a total different level. I'm not a cyclist and I LOVE the book!

Well written and with great photos

I’ve been following Martijn’s masterful renovation of his stone huts in northern Italy (YT) and so I’ve found this book to be a great treasure; it’s an authentic, intimate journey of his journey.

What an absolutely stunning book. The feeling of quality with thick heavy paper that's used, all well made. Filled with amazing photos, stories and descriptions that all help take you along on the journey with Martijn. I also watch his online videos regarding the trip and also just what went into the making and manufacturing process of the book, the type/thickness of paper used etc. All of this gives a great package, that when you watch the videos along with purchasing of this book as well as Martijn sitting at a table drinking a coffee explaining explaining his choices for the book. So it may seem a bit expensive for a book, but if you order it and watch the relevant videos as well you'll be blown away when you open the box, it takes the new book experience and smell and knocks it out the park with a book full of amazing content, and a book with mighty presence with it's size and quality. Amazing coffee table book that will capture everyone's interest when they see it. Just amazing! We'll done Martijn!

Excelent photography. Great present for travellers

As above