A memoir — out now
Just a girlon a bike
A solo bikepacking trip the length of New Zealand
Check out my interview with LSMThe route
Tour Aotearoa
Tour Aotearoa is a bikepacking route that runs the whole way down New Zealand, from Cape Reinga in the far north to Bluff at the bottom of the South Island.
Cape Reinga →→ Bluff
Day 10of 38Arapuni → Pureora105 km1,873 m8.7 h57 hof 187 h in the saddle
- 187 hin the saddle
- 127 kmlongest day
- 1,873 mbiggest climb
- 1,272 mhighest point
The book
Because sometimes the worst ideas make the best stories.
Most people deal with a quarter-life crisis by changing jobs, getting a new haircut, or finally going to therapy.
I moved to the other side of the world, bought a bike, and tried to cycle the entire length of New Zealand instead.
What followed was not the adventure I had imagined.
There were headwinds, mechanical failures, questionable decisions, lonely mornings, lonely evenings, unexpected kindness, and a growing suspicion that the whole thing was a terrible idea…
Just a Girl on a Bike is a funny, honest, and deeply human memoir about adventure, resilience, and what happens when an ordinary person decides to do something completely unreasonable.
Want a copy of the book? Contact me directly.
Book event
The book was presented on 27.08.2026 at Smēde, Kimmel kvartāls in Riga — an evening of stories from the road, followed by a signing.
Pass it forward
Bikes for kids
I don’t think I would have made it through Tour Aotearoa without the kindness of people I met along the way. Strangers gave me food when I was hungry. A roof and a warm bed when I was cold. A hand with the bike when something broke. They opened their homes, shared what they had, and kept me going when I needed it most — nearly all of them expecting absolutely nothing in return.
Now it’s my turn to pass some of that kindness forward. A share of what this book earns goes towards bicycles for kids who need them — and I’ve already started looking for the ones who’ll ride them.
I hope these bikes become more than just bikes. I hope they give someone a little more freedom. A reason to explore. Maybe they’ll carry these kids towards their own little adventures.
My bike carried me across an entire country and into a story I could never have imagined when I first got on it. Maybe one of these bikes will be the beginning of someone else’s story.
Let’s see how many stories start this way.
Evgenia
Shlonska
I am not a professional cyclist or travel writer. I am just a girl from Latvia who keeps escaping ordinary life through increasingly ambitious adventures. In 2026 that habit put me on a bike and pointed it from one end of New Zealand to the other, with no bikepacking experience whatsoever.
Somewhere along the way, I collected enough stories to come home and write a book about them.
Just a Girl on a Bike is my first memoir.
