I left everything for a life of adventure

A month after leaving her London Management Consulting job, Laura goes on a bikepacking trip from London to the Isle of Wight and down through Dorset and Devon. She goes with her friend Conall, takes the laptop and cinema camera along, all for the pure purpose of adventure.

She shows you the beauty of South West England whilst talking about the huge transition she’s had in her life to become a full time creator.

Timestamps:
0:00 Trailer
1:03 Day 1 – Packing up & starting 130km to Portsmouth
2:14 Day 1 – Reflections on being a creator
2:45 Day 1 – Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight
4:09 Day 2 – Isle of Wight in the torrential rain
4:54 Day 2 – Mission aborted, ferry & a train to Weymouth
6:41 Day 2 – Caravan bobs
7:40 Day 3 – Lols
8:45 Day 3 – Cycling South West Coast
9:52 Day 3 – I’m finding it hard to leave London
10:59 Day 3 – Train to Teignmouth
11:34 Day 3 – The most beautiful sunset
12:36 Day 4 – I need to leave London

Links:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauradoessports/
LAKA bike insurance: https://laka.co/gb (LAURA30 for 30 days free)
Puresport electrolytes & supplements: https://creatoriq.cc/4mUd88u
Strava: https://strava.app.link/LauraKirkpatrick
All music from: https://www.musicbed.com/invite/9ouHE
Conall: https://www.youtube.com/@conallwhelan and https://www.instagram.com/conall_whelan/

when was the last time that you let go of everything a job a home a plan a routine and said “Fuck it let’s go on adventure.” You’re going to the island of white because uh why the [ __ ] not what a great day to be alive 175 650 m there the stats we the right way no I don’t we’re going somewhere woo that is so beautiful welcome to WA and how many meters of elevation i just feel so alive [Music] it’s a lovely day to go bike packing right friends we’re on DJI Camp we’re going to head to Connell’s get a different backpack and then we are riding to Portsmouth then we are going to the aisle of white because uh why the flip not guys what a great setup we have laptop iPad charger baguette don’t fall Laura please don’t fall cuz the cinema camera is in there to go to the aisle of white richmond Park past Kingston welcome to story so this story is set in the middle of May in the United Kingdom a month ago I left my pretty intense London management consulting job to live a life of adventure and to run around with a camera and now somehow I found myself between a van trip to the Alps and a cycling camp that I have organized in Mora so when a filmmaking friend of mine who’s also recently gone freelance asked if I wanted to go on a little bike packing trip down the southeast coast in the middle of the working week to just play with our cameras be outdoors and make a little movie of course I said yes and here is the movie [Music] dear diary is it possible to simultaneously feel lost but also know exactly where I’m going i go to write in my journal these days and not much comes out of my brain i’m not sure if stress has made me numb or maybe more likely that this pressure I feel to constantly be busy has kept my brain on autopilot if I could describe this month in one word or I guess two it would be a new life hi vlog we found a connell and we’re going to get the ferry i’ve become very comfortable in not knowing where I’m going to sleep next week not knowing when I’ll next get paid or how much it’ll be for those who don’t follow me I’ve worked my ass off the past few years to build up a social media following very consciously because I knew it was a pathway to freedom and now getting offers to do an ad for several thousand pounds feels so surreal and amazing it also feels like I’m selling a very neat piece of me [Music] connor hurt his knee on a line bike then decided to run the hackne half not just run the hackne half come fifth in the hackne half i can’t really look left ever since half marathon you get me you going the right way no idea we’re going somewhere woo no phones just vibes i think it’s this way we found the sea i’m sure I’m overthinking it i never thought I’d be making this much money so soon after leaving my job but I guess I’m figuring out how to monetize my skill and my passion in a meaningful way because I don’t feel like an influencer i feel like a videographer an editor a storyteller and ultimately that is what I want my legacy to be anyway back to the trip good morning vlog um it’s raining which is not burning well the laptop in the uh old backpack situation about to get some naughty scr we are doing lots of cycling today let’s go welcome back to another episode of Cycling in the Rain so maybe I should tell you more about this trip on day one I had possibly one of my top three days ever on the bike i rode from London to Portsmouth solo on a beautiful sunny day to meet Connell at the ferry and go across to the island of light but day two we woke up to this torrential rain which you can’t say was making vibes high for the 120k bridge we had planned as we got the ferry back to the UK mainland the main thought in my head was that this doesn’t feel like real life before we got on the boat I’d had a call with a brand standing in the rain outside of a pub to plan a potential partnership i think something I’ve just really strived for the past few years has been freedom even when I was working my consulting job I would stretch the boundaries of what was possible i’d work from cafes next to the pool so I could swim at lunchtime i’d work on my way to an airport or from training camp in Spain sun’s back out so the cameras are out hell yeah and I think as someone who wants to make the most of every second of their life I wouldn’t choose all the money in the world over autonomy like this day was around on Wednesday the sparked so we’re going to go to the train station i was in Devon with a guy that had actually just met colin and I know each other through a friend and unless you count briefly meeting a house party this trip was our first interaction which honestly makes me think a lot about friendship this is what genuinely genuinely genuinely genuinely I feel as comfortable with Connell as I do some of my closest friends we are on route to our gas in Wayman blue sky is coming is number plate you see hot something hot there’s me maybe because we’re from similar backgrounds or maybe because we’re both artists we find beauty in the ordinary we seek connection and we love life so unboxing video what we got we got fresh we got four ketchups with each chicken as well chicken logan fish got chips ships what’s that sweet [Music] put that on me [Music] he said you said you’re here we see world cuddle wondering did you see his boyfriend [Music] are we only are we ever coming home at times I wonder help me understand [Music] hey friends reporting live from the villa how’s it live if you’re just recording don’t hit me she’s going to hit me are you a dumb or a sub what are you saying okay i don’t know what any of these words you’re talking about i don’t know sub you know what that mean no really yeah is it some British thing is it some [ __ ] Are you dominant or submissive oh don’t sub no I’m not into that kind of stuff i’m into just plain old [ __ ] missionary no no the old Jeez I wouldn’t put the old section out jesus wouldn’t allow that now you just relax what take a chill pill i’m always chill just for one stop thinking it’s sex it’s pretty much a steak actually it’s warm it’s roasting there we go it’s beautiful i was 3 years old when I discovered how beautiful the southwest of England is oh wow i kept having the same thought whilst on the bike on this trip that previously I had loved France and Spain because of how great the roads and the weather are there compared to the UK but this trip made me realize that all along I wasn’t comparing them to the UK i was comparing them to London a place I’ve now lived at least in part for 5 years and a place that I’m realizing increasingly fills me with anxiety an unnecessary sense of urgency and a pretty permanent level of baseline stress is it uh recording i don’t know i can’t tell you see the red button don’t think it’s on hey guys so we’re here on the fifth out of eight climb big dark red one 8% currently 10% average remaining 72 m climb over 650 m they’re the stats we’re going to keep going feel the burn and uh hope that my knee doesn’t give in cuz currently it’s [ __ ] sore in all honesty I’m finding it really hard to leave London for good it’s a city with all of my friends the events my group rides London is now my home and whilst my long-term goal is to buy a flat there whilst also having a van I need to leave in order to achieve that so for the next few months I need to learn to say no because whilst you definitely can have anything you can’t have everything and you certainly can’t have it all at the same time good [ __ ] nasty crash 100 km an hour i got You seem to have run into an obstacle it’s a good day to be alive just climb what six out of eight like 70k but with like nearly 1,400 m of elevation with all of our stuff so I’m a little bit tired [Music] um yeah so the ferry finished at 20 to 5 so we have to get another train to the train rand yeah I nearly left my phone on the train liability okay so guys we are here um in Dying Worth was he a little Are you kind of scared hey I want I want more space we’ve got um apparently 6 km and how many meters of elevation 188 let’s go we’re on the road again such a beautiful sunset though so as we wrapped up this trip in a random town at 8:30 p.m at night carrying all of my stuff and feeling the sun hit my face with the most war inspiring sunset I felt in a while I got the shoes and I thought to myself “Yeah this is how I want to live my life.” And you know what i’m doing it we made it to our final resting place a hut and we’ve got soap a bath mat and a not a bath mat the opposite of bath mat not the fluffy one the one that you put in the uh shower [Music] parkway and we’re back in London yay