Tag Archives: tara alan

Tara Alan and Tyler Kellen Came Slowly Home


Tyler and Tara cruising San Francisco their first week back in the U.S.

In April 2009, Tara Alan and Tyler Kellen set off from Scotland (via Minnesota) to spend two years pedaling their way around a sizable chunk of the Earth on a bike tour they named Going Slowly. In December 2010, after the duo had ridden through Europe, into north Africa, back up through eastern Europe, and driven across Russia, I interviewed them for The Bicycle Story. Since then, Tara and Tyler finished their tour in Southeast Asia and made their way back to the United States. I spoke to them again now that they’ve started to settle back in to see how the rest of the tour went, what it’s like to transition back into the “normal” world after two years of travel, and what their plans are for life off the road. They responded with both words and an amazing array of photographs that do a wonderful job of complementing the stories they tell.

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Tara Alan and Tyler Kellen: Going Slowly Round The World


Jetlagged in Glasgow at the very start.

A few years ago, Tyler Kellen had the sort of hair-brained scheme that many cyclists have: set off on a tour around the world. He started asking his then-girlfriend now-wife Tara Alan if she would join him and eventually she said yes. Flash forward to April 2009. The Minnesota duo flew to Scotland and set off on a trip that’s taken them all over Europe, into northern Africa, across Russia, and into South East Asia where they’re currently riding and exploring. Tara and Tyler have thoroughly documented their trip with journals, photography, and audio recordings on their website Going Slowly (to which they link extensively throughout the interview). I spoke to them about the experience of undertaking such an immense journey, their reception abroad, and how a tour like this has influenced their life plans.

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