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Who are you?
I’m Eleanor Moseman and an American that grew up in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. For the past 4 years I’ve been living, working as a photographer, and using a bicycle to explore Asia, most specifically, China.
What or who inspired you to leave “normality” in society as many know to live life on a bicycle?
Eleanor – Honestly, it’s hard to recollect those moments. I know my boyfriend at the time put the first thought into my head and then the few times I traveled in China on a train or bus I would just get so frustrated that I couldn’t just stop and talk and experience the life. My childhood was always about exploring and seeing what kind of trouble I could get myself into. There is one long distance cyclist that I may consider my inspiration, but we’ve become more of equals, peers, and good internet buddies over the past 4 years. I’m not really a travel blog reader, I’m sorry all of you, but it’s true…I like to read books that have little to do with bicycles. I actually kind of hate talking about bicycles. Over the past few years, I declare I’m not a cyclist but just a gal that has chosen a bicycle as a way to get around.
Make and model of your bicycle used?
Eleanor – Didn’t you get my last response?! 😉 No, I love and adore my bicycle and I don’t know if I’ve ever felt such a love as I do with her. She goes by the name “Nellie Bly” and she is a predominantly purple Soma Saga. The folks at Soma were so gracious to give me a chance and let me take one of the greatest touring bikes ever made for a spin around Asia. All her components were chosen by myself, so she’s suited and tailored to me. I recently got her out of the shop, after 5 months, and big props to the Village Cyclery in Yellow Springs, Ohio…for really setting her up. Two and a half years and 15,000 miles, she’s finally perrrrrrrRRRRRrrrfect!
Why Asia?
Eleanor – I moved to Shanghai with my partner at the time. The first eight months were really tough for me emotionally and mentally, adapting to the expat life. Found myself very depressed and alone and needed something to focus on, and get me out, and really explore. I also studied Mandarin to add an extra reason to focus on China. My first visit to China in 2007 I was introduced to the minority of the Uyghurs, and ever since I’d been dreaming of going to the magical land of East Turkestan, otherwise known as Xinjiang.
How many miles/Km did you cycle?
Eleanor – Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit…am I allowed to have a sailor’s mouth here? I go so slow…over approximately two year span of a tour, I only did about 15,000 miles and 6 countries. Most cyclists head from Europe and go East…I decided to go against the grain, the wind, and the setting sun and head West. Those other folks have it easy as the wind generally is coming from the NW and that damn setting sun. I was so stoked to finally hit the most Western point in Uzbekistan where I would finally turn back and head back East.
Out of the 7 countries you visited (Kazakhstan, China, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Mongolia, Taiwan, and Kyrgyzstan) which had the biggest impact on you?
Eleanor – I think the people of Tibet and East Turkestan had the greatest impact. When I left Tibet, not on my own accord, something had changed in me, in my soul. As a person. I can’t explain it but those that have experienced the life on the plateau know exactly what I mean. And for Xinjiang, I left that place having a better understanding of Muslims and finally felt like I’d accomplished something pretty spectacular as a photographer. It’s where my work really began to take on a life of it’s own…it’s also where I finally found my passion. It’s not on a bike, it’s behind a camera.
How did you cope with the isolation and loneliness? Was there ever a point in which you felt in danger?
Eleanor – This is such a common question, and it’s asked all the time. I think all of us who have chosen to travel alone, have lived a life where the feeling of “isolation” and “loneliness” is part of our structure, our being, our psyche. We wouldn’t have taken on these endeavors if there wasn’t something in us that wants these feelings. Are we masochists? I believe so. A lot of cyclists have friends meet up for a couple of weeks, or girlfriends meet them for brief vacations, or double/triple/quad up. I had one partner I met for two months, and after that split I usually turned down riding offers, although I would cycle with two Belgians in a blizzard, and a Swiss guy for three days before the Civil War broke out in Tajikistan.
I’m not sure if I ever really felt “lonely”. Sometimes I feel lonely in hostels…to be quite honest with you, the only time I feel loneliness is when I’m around other people. You, and I, and many of the other solo travelers are outcasts among a group of outcasts. We can’t really be defined or lumped into one group. A group of misfits, perhaps? And “bored” is not even in my vocabulary.
If I felt a tinge of loneliness creeping up, my most common solution was to find locals too. Either going into a shop and chatting or sitting on the side of the road where locals were and eventually someone would talk to me. That’s the great thing about being alone, it’s about the interaction with the world around you and no so much about the riding and traveling relationship with another person.
Also, living in China, with friends in Shanghai. Sometimes I would just text them or my mom in the US. Just to be grounded for a couple of minutes…to remind me there is another world that I belong to.
There are three points I’ve felt in danger. Two were sexual assaults, one being a police officer and the final was when I nearly drowned in a river in Tajikistan. This final story is being written up and should be published on Sidetracked in the next few months. I learned an amazing “War Cry” that I can’t really give on demand…towards the end I could squeeze it out of me but I really have to put in some power and bring some particular feelings and emotions to the surface…then I just let it wail! It usually sends them running, or quit launching rocks off cliffs at me.
Most memorable moment during your 2 year expedition?
Eleanor – When I knew it was finished. When the chatter in my head had ceased. When my heart became lighter, when I finally had learned to love myself. When the reflection in the mirror was finally becoming the woman I’d always dreamt of being.
Scariest moment of the trip?
Eleanor – My life flashing before my eyes as water is up to my armpits in a muddy river in Tajikistan, the bike finally loses it’s grip and it’s on top of me. Knowing that my parents will never see me again…and perhaps my body would never be seen either.
Is there a place you would recommend people to visit that they may have not heard of, and why?
Eleanor – I have secrets. But I highly recommend Xinjiang. So many people jump a train around that area because their 90 day Visas will expire. So they skip over the desert. I love the desert. I love plateaus. People have this fantasy of Tibet, but it’s not too far off from a desert either. I really think I was born to be a Bedouin on a bike.
If you could pitch your tent anywhere in the world right now where would it be?
Eleanor – Oh, that’s a good one. Right next to Amnyematchen, a Holy Mountain in Qinghai. Then I could wake up to the Tibetans doing their chants and prayers at sunrise…and peeking into my tent. Offering me Red Bulls and military snack bars (3500 calories a pack!).
Song of the trip?
Eleanor – HAHAHA…it’s a tie between M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” or the Yeah Yeah Yeahs “Maps”. There is a video of me on YouTube of doing a dance up at about 3800m…I’m really a better dancer than that but, sheesh, I was worn and broken down.
Photography was a huge part of your trip, but if you had to pick between your bicycle or camera which would you choose?
Eleanor – Camera…because I’m known to hitch rides and throw a bike on a train if I need to get somewhere for photography purposes. I didn’t “break the rule” until after about a year and a half. I had some assholes scoff at me in Tajikistan, they had been on the road for just a few months…I wanted them to tour solo for the length I had and then we can sit down and chat about my “cheating”.
On your next cycling adventure if you could have someone cycle along side your for the day who would it be and why? Family, friend or celebrity.
Eleanor – To be honest…I don’t like to cycle with people. I know, that sounds really anti-social. But, I guess I’d either have my mom, because she had such a big part of this trip. She was my backbone, she sent me packages all over the world, she was the strong woman in my life that I could always count on. The second choice would probably be the riding partner I had around Kham, Tibet. It was a terrible parting of ways, and I would love to be able to make amends and say our “goodbyes” properly.
What and where is next for you?
Eleanor – I have a top secret adventure in the plans. I’m not sure if it will pan out. But before that I plan on buying a motorbike when I get back to China and spend some time with my Uyghur “family” and continuing on my photo work. I’m also thinking about another trip to Tajikistan and do the Pamirs, since the last time we got kicked out because of the fighting. Maybe a donkey or a motorbike, or push bike…or maybe walk?
Post adventure blues is a hard thing to get over once an amazing expedition comes to an end. How are you handling this? How do you find life in what most people consider the “real” world? I’ve personally never been the same after being alone with just myself and the open road, I find the real world very cluttered and very confusing. I miss the simplicity of everything I own in one backpack.
Eleanor – It’s been great coming back and selling almost everything I own. It’s liberating and also because it’s no longer me. I’ve changed, but those that really love me and appreciate me, love seeing the changes, the growth, the evolution. The flashbacks are beginning to subside, but I have my sleeping back with me on my bed and I usually look at a few photos a day from the trip. I can set up a photo and just stare at it for hours. Living in that moment. But I don’t like to live in the past, and that’s where the stress comes from. Trying to continue forward but longing for something of the past. I always relate to Alice returning from her fall down the Rabbit hole.
I don’t think I can consider this the “real” world. That wasn’t the “real” world either. The “real” world is whats inside of me, my soul, that shall remain undefinable I want no more labels, I want no more definitions. I want to continue on, in this REAL universe as me…something that is in all of us, that should leave oneself speechless when confronted with a question of “who are you?” It’s a feeling, a being, and if you don’t know what I’m talking about…then you haven’t begun to find your “real” world.
Top 5 bits of kit from the trip?
1- Nikon D700 with a wide angle lens
2- MP3 player, I like to sing a lot…and I really need something to drown out the sound of a donkey dying (which is my own singing voice).
3- First generation iPhone…yep…it’s just a phone. No apps…it’s been dropped about a bazillion times. Why upgrade to something fancy when this works just dandy.
4- bandana. I’ve used it for so many different things
5- my maps. You should see my maps. I use very detailed Chinese maps, written in Chinese, and I’ve highlighted my route. I love the pages where there are no roads and had to improvise my highlighted route. I would date and “X” the place where I set up camp. I would imagine that some of those pages might be worth something one day. They are priceless to me.
What advice would you give to someone wishing to follow in your foot steps?
Eleanor – Don’t follow me or anyone. Follow your heart and imagination…always keep searching for what you need and want from this life and tour.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Shine on you crazy diamond.