A memoir — out now
Just a girlon a bike
A solo bikepacking trip through New Zealand
The route
Tour Aotearoa
Tour Aotearoa is a bikepacking route that crosses the entire length of New Zealand. It runs from Cape Reinga in the very north to Bluff at the bottom of the South Island.
Cape Reinga →→ Bluff
The book
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 attempted to cycle the entire length of New Zealand instead.
What followed was not the adventure I had imagined.
It was a journey of headwinds, mechanical failures, questionable decisions, lonely mornings, lonely evenings, unexpected kindness, and the growing suspicion that this all might have been 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.
Because sometimes the worst ideas make the best stories.
Also printed in Latvia. If you'd like a copy from the Latvian print run, contact me directly.
Support
the project
Bikes for Children
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. They helped me fix my bike when things broke. They opened their homes, shared what they had, and helped me keep going when I needed it most — most of them expecting absolutely nothing in return.
Now it's my turn to pass some of that kindness forward. Everything raised through this campaign goes directly toward buying bicycles for children who need 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 toward their own little adventures.
My bike carried me across an entire country and into a story I never could 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 we can start together.
0 bikes funded
€0 — drag to see what your support buys
This is not a charitable donation and it is not tax-deductible. You are supporting Evgenia Shlonska’s personal project; she commits to spending the money on bicycles for children in Latvian children’s homes and to publishing photos and receipts afterwards.
Book launch
party
Come celebrate with me!
Everyone is invited — take your friends. There'll be an option to get a signed copy in exchange for supporting the Bikes for Children campaign.
Evgenia
Shlonska
I am not a professional cyclist or travel writer. I am just a girl from Latvia who has a habit of escaping ordinary life through increasingly ambitious adventures. In 2026, this tendency led me to cycle the entire length of New Zealand despite having no bikepacking experience.
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.
