Author Archives: Autumn Bernstein

One month ago I stepped off the plane at SFO, greeted by the blustering rain of a proper winter day in California – the kind of day that feels like a rare blessing in this drought. The damp smell, the … Continue reading →

For the last six weeks I've taken a break from blogging. What, you may ask, have I been doing all this time? I've been breathing. Not breathing AND bicycling, or breathing AND talking, or breathing AND walking. Just breathing. My … Continue reading →

I’ve been traveling for seven weeks now, and I thought I had this whole solo bike touring thing dialed. Laos has taught me otherwise. My time here started out easy enough, with a languid two-day boat ride down the Mekong … Continue reading →

After my crash landing in Nanning, it was time to figure out my next step. I had a vague plan to continue biking into Vietnam, then across Laos to northern Thailand. But after grinding my way across Guanxi province for … Continue reading →

This blog post is for all you gearheads and amateur bike mechanics out there (you know who you are). I'm also sharing this with the folks at Bike Friday who built my bicycle and trailer, so they can learn from … Continue reading →

  Earlier this week I left China with a mixture of relief and sadness. I was glad to escape the crowds, the pollution, and the silent threat of the Communist Party lurking beneath the surface. I was tired of being … Continue reading →

I'm three days into a 8-day bike tour across Guanxi Province. I started at Guilin and I'm heading to Nanning. Here are some photos from the journey so far.                   Posted with … Continue reading →

After my rough landing in Shanghai (see previous), I found myself a little intimidated. By the crowds, the chaotic streets, and the shocking contrast between Shanghais' glitzy trappings and entrenched poverty. You can't walk far in this town without tripping … Continue reading →

Early this morning, a ghost woke me up in Tokyo. I was dreaming about my grandparents’ house in Los Altos, where I was explaining to some hippie backpacker kids why they couldn’t stay there. But I kept getting startled by … Continue reading →

Traveling to Tokyo threw my my sleep schedule out of whack, so I found myself wide awake at 3 or 4 am for the first few days. Eventually I quit trying to sleep and took the opportunity to ride my … Continue reading →