Each of us has moments in our lives when we urgently need to change something. So it happened with the Muscovite Anna Smolina. One day she realized that life in the capital and a quiet and moneyed job no longer brought her joy. Then Anno bought a trailer for a bicycle, put her dachshund in it and went to Magadan, where her mother lives.
The journey took Anna six months. She went through a lot of adventures along the way, saw a lot of interesting things and even met her future husband. I had enough impressions for a whole book called “Why sit at home”, which was later used to make the film “Gone”.
Anna Smolina cannot be called a stay-at-home mom. She has visited many countries and even lived in Southeast Asia for a while. In 2016, a girl who had previously worked remotely was offered a good position in the SMM department of a reputable Moscow company. But neither a decent salary nor a wonderful team made Anna fall in love with her new job. She constantly felt trapped and bored.
Wanderlust
A few months later, Anna quit and started her own business. Her SMM agency was doing well, but Smolina was still unhappy. Finally, in February 2017, she decided to go on a long journey with her dachshund Kapa. Since Anna didn’t have a car or even a driver’s license, she began to consider other options.
It is long and uninteresting to travel by train to Magadan, and an elderly dog could not transfer an air flight. Therefore, Anna chose a bicycle as a vehicle. Smolina had two-wheeled driving experience. She has been cycling around the city for several years, neglecting the subway and taxis.
But why Magadan? It’s simple — the mother of a girl with whom she had a strained relationship lives in this city. So the trip had a serious goal — to make peace with a loved one. Anna did not make Moscow the starting point, but her hometown — Naberezhnye Chelny.
The route was not easy to develop. The shortest road, through Yakutia, did not suit the traveler. There were huge deserted spaces, wild animals and harsh nature. Therefore, Anna decided to drive along the roads running along the Trans-Siberian Railway. Vladivostok became the end point of the bike ride. There Smolina decided to transfer to a cargo ship bound for Magadan.
Anna was a mediocre tourist. The girl had no experience of long solo trips. She never pitched a tent and didn’t know how to make bonfires. I had to study urgently — cycling publicists and YouTube channels of survivalists came to the rescue. Friends and colleagues took Smolina’s idea skeptically. Everyone assumed that she would drive to the neighboring city and return. Some even assumed that Anna would get to Siberia, but wild animals would eat her there.
But the decision was made and the brave girl began to prepare. She took with her a tent, an inflatable mat, a sleeping bag, a burner, a kettle, a hunter’s signal with pyrotechnic and noise charges. Anna did not forget about her “iron horse” either. She stocked up on bicycle chains, tires, and repair tools.
Anna bought a bicycle trailer for her beloved dog and insulated it with foam rubber. Several test runs have shown that Kapa feels comfortable in a motorhome. This was important, because the dachshund was already 12 years old, of which 8 she was treated for cancer.
The joys and hardships of travel
Anna decided to start in April 2017, but the spring was cold and it turned out to leave only in May. The road was not easy. Since the cyclist was driving on the highway, she constantly risked getting run over by cars. Not all drivers were adequate. Once, near Omsk, a truck deliberately drove into a rut to douse a traveler with water from a puddle.
Then the car stopped and the driver started calling Anna names and threatening her. He even chased her and tried to pin her to the side of the road so that she would fall into the mud. Smolina stopped and shouted to the man, “What do you want? Come out, let’s talk.” He did not expect such a reaction and just drove past.
Anna had thought out the security problem in advance, but the measures taken were not very effective. The girl left a route map to a friend and agreed to get in touch with him from control points. She also activated the “Where is my child” function from the mobile operator.
Setting up camp, the traveler tried to stay away from suspicious companies. She was also wary of the strangers she met along the way. She was advised to go far into the forest for the night, but Anna was afraid of wild animals. She understood that the smell of humans, as well as dachshunds, can attract predators. The weather also brought its own surprises. Very soon, the girl’s face became chapped, and the skin on her fingers began to burst due to frost.
Before leaving, Anna started a blog about her journey. Sometimes she was recognized by netizens. Near some cities, cycling enthusiasts even organized small bike rides, accompanying her for a couple dozen kilometers. Over time, Smolina felt a state of “wow effect”. She was carried away by an adventure and her past life in the capital seemed distant and boring.
How plans and life change
On the way, Anna met her love. It was a guy named Valera, with whom she corresponded about the trip on social networks. He was an experienced cyclist and had just traveled from Belarus to Malaysia. He helped Smolina with advice and offered to meet at the intersection of the routes.
Anna took this offer indifferently, because dozens of men wrote to her like this. But Valery caught up with her near Irkutsk on the hundredth day of the journey. At first they decided to go together to Buryatia, but the longer their communication lasted, the less they wanted to part. As a result, both realized that this was love and decided to travel together.
Love changed Anna’s plans. She realized that she did not want to go to Magadan. Firstly, she was not sure that reconciliation with her mother would take place. And secondly, snowfall has begun in Magadan. The pair turned around and headed for Malaysia. But this journey was also not destined to end.
Anna and Valery only got to Mongolia. Ahead was China, which stopped issuing visas at the end of 2017 due to a political summit. As a result, the lovers spent two months in Mongolia, and then boarded a plane and went to Valery in Belarus. Anna’s journey ended so unexpectedly 6 months after the start.
The adventure continues
Soon Anna Smolina decided to write a book about her adventures. Subscribers on social networks often asked if she was going to describe the trip. The girl didn’t take it seriously at first, but then she thought it was a good idea. That’s how the book “Why stay at home?” appeared.
Unfortunately, the publishers did not see any commercial potential in it. The author was offered to publish for his own money, for 500 thousand rubles. At the same time, Anna was not entitled to royalties and the publishing house would take all the profits for itself. After a little thought, Smolina decided to open a crowdfunding campaign on the platform Planeta.ru . The required amount was collected in just 1.5 months and the book was published.
And on April 2, 2018, an offer was received to make a film based on the book. It turned out that on Planeta.ru One of the producers found out about Anna’s book. He decided to make the film “Gone.” The movie was not a documentary. The only thing in common with Smolina’s story was that a girl named Anna was riding a bicycle with a dog to her mother in Magadan and met her love.
As for Anna and Valery, they continue to travel. They’ve been to Pamirs, passed the Lycian trail. The dachshund Kapa accompanied the hostess for two more years, until she died. Now the couple are traveling around the world. However, not on bicycles anymore, but by car. To do this, Anna and Valery asked the company that produces trailer homes to allocate one for them.
Anna and Valery plan to visit Iran, Turkey, Georgia, Mexico, Argentina and possibly the USA. The trip is designed for many years and does not yet have an exact route. And during the trip, Anna wants to write several more books in different subjects and genres. And of course, the traveler continues to maintain social networks where you can observe her movements.
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