Earlier this week I received an email from WarmShowers, the accommodation sharing website aimed at cycle tourists, about their ‘forums’. Whenever I think of forums my mind turns back to the early days of the Internet when things were a little more ‘clunky’ than they are now. But they must still be a ‘thing’ and the fact that WarmShowers have them on their website would suggest that, actually, they are still widely used.
After many years of promises, the WarmShowers app has finally been made available to download from the Apple and Android stores. So a moment for great celebration? Well, yes, mainly. Gone are the days of fiddling with a browser on your phone, logging in yet again and then […]
Across the globe, the restrictions imposed by COVID-19 are beginning to ease. Foreign travel may not be an easy option for most people in summer 2021, but being able to explore your own country probably is. In this episode of the podcast, we look at some of the accommodation choices available to touring cyclists including wild camping, hotels, hostels and reciprocal accommodation sharing with contributions from WarmShowersโ Tahverlee Anglen, wild camper Tim Millikin, the YHAโs Simon Ainley and Simon Kershaw from Scarboroughโs newest hotel, Bike and Boot.
A few months ago I made a special episode today The Cycling Europe Podcast that was all about cycling-friendly accommodation options. The podcast featured interviews with people about WarmShowers, the YHA, wild camping and the Bike & Boot Hotel in Scarborough. The hotel has just released a video about their establishment on the Yorkshire coast and itโs rather good. Lights? Camera? Action!
As I was croaking my way through recording the links for the latest episode of The Cycling Europe Podcast that was published overnight, I mentioned that I would put all the relevant links to the accommodation providers on the website. We, here I am doing just that. The four people interviewed were Tahverlee Anglen from the accommodation sharing website WarmShowers, Simon Ainley from the Youth Hostel Association of England and Wales, Simon Kershaw from a new hotel – soon to be a chain of hotels – called Bike and Boot in Scarborough and the wild camper Tim Millikin. You can find more details about Tim’s travels and the book he has written by visiting his website.
I judge my WarmShowers hosts on how I provide for WarmShowers guests when I host back at home. Alas in recent years this has been less frequent. When I lived in that beautiful tourist hotspot that is, errโฆ Reading, I hosted quite regularly in the summer. Since moving back to rural Yorkshire Iโve hosted just three times. In Reading I was half-way between London and Oxford or en route to the West Country. In Yorkshire, despite it being far nicer, Iโm not really on anyoneโs cycle route (although not very far from the Pennine Cycleway – take note!). Anyway, aside from a warm shower, I provide food, drink, Wi-Fi, clothes washing, advice, deep-tissue massageโฆ Well, most of those.
