One Man’s Quest for Happiness Around the World on a Bicycle
Travel the world from the comfort of your own home. Re-live and re-imagine a 4-year journey around the world on a bicycle as a man stumbles through moments of pure survival and moments of pure enlightenment. Scott’s story has been seen by millions across the globe.
Finalist Award
The new 10th-anniversary edition of Falling Uphill has won a finalist award at the Next Generation Indie Book Awards in Memoirs (Personal Struggle). Next Generation Indie Book Awards is the largest not-for-profit awards program for independent publishers. What a big honor!
The Anniversary Edition is here!
I’ve traveled the world by bicycle to discover the “secrets” of life, and I’ve spent many more years digesting what I learned, exemplifying the lessons learned, and creating a book that I guarantee is entertaining and which I hope you find inspiring and enlightening. Thanks in advance to my readers for being part of the journey.
- Why write an anniversary edition? Because a lot of friends and fans have been wondering how my life has turned out since the big trip, and I wanted to include a new afterword about my biggest discovery yet, one that could only occur after many years of integrating everything that I had learned from my trip. This is what makes Falling Uphill different than most travelogues — it doesn’t end happily ever after in some foreign land, but continues after the return home and the difficult struggle to integrate everything I had learned. Are you wondering if the trip was worthwhile, did it change me or make the world a better place? Then this is the chapter for you.
- Re-designed and easier to read. Including map, chapter key, bibliography and more.
- New Chapter: “Were you scared?” Excerpts from the original journals that were lost for over 10 years, including the fateful day of 9/11.
- New introduction and afterword.
- Multiple new online bonus chapters.
- 12 new postscripts.
- Professionally edited 2 MORE times! Including a revised chapter on the culture shock of returning home.
- Stuffed full with 167 photographs.
- New e-book with color photos.
- New audiobook as read by the author. Three months in the making with professional recording equipment. Whew! Read how the audiobook was made.
Relive the adventure.
Over one year in Amazon’s Top 100 Travel Memoirs. Now a rare best-selling, award-winning independent book. Scott’s story has been seen by millions of people across the globe as featured in dozens of high-profile, international news sources, including The New York Times.
Acclaim for Falling Uphill
For me, the author, Falling Uphill is essentially a metaphor for the inner journey, but I’ve learned that everyone interprets the book — relives the journey — a little differently. Here’s what some other people are saying:
Scott Stoll lives a life the rest of us only dream of. With a keen eye and an open heart, he expresses the joys and aggravations of traveling the world on two wheels. ~
Scott Stoll’s cycling journey around the world raises countless questions about life in our time and answers quite a few of them. He is at once charming, innocent, fearless, and wise in his search for the world and himself. What does he find? Joy, tranquility, no end of personal challenges, and a whole lot more. ~
Best Cycle Touring Account On The Market! Stoll masterfully relates his experiences as he cycles around the world. The reader is pulled immediately into the action, the tasteful dialogue, beautiful imagery and a healthy sense of humor. And if that’s all Stoll did, it would be a fantastic book. But he takes it much deeper as he springboards from his experience into contemplations on the meaning of love, life, God, integrity, and his own existence. This book has all the adventure of Barbara Savage’s “Miles From Nowhere”, all the fun of Joe Kurmaskie’s “Metal Cowboy”, the touching lonely romance of Dave Stamboulis’ “Odysseus’ Last Stand” PLUS a universality of thought that all three of those cycle touring classics lack. I can’t recommend this book highly enough!!… I couldn’t believe that this book had escaped my searches until now. ~ April 20, 2011
4.4 stars and over 100 reviews.
Even more testimonials.
Re-imagine the adventure of a lifetime
Read, watch or listen to some sample chapters
About the journey
Falling Uphill: 25,752 miles, 41,144 kilometers, 1461 days, 59 countries, 6 continents & 4 moments of enlightenment on a bicycle.
In one week, Scott Stoll lost his job, his best friend, his girlfriend and his confidence. Disillusioned with society, full of angst, suffering from depression, and with nothing left to lose Stoll asked himself a question: “If I only have one life, one chance, if I could do anything, what would I do?”
His answer resulted in a 4-year and 25,752-mile odyssey around the world by bicycle using nothing more than a paper map as a guide. Stoll searched for answers to the great mysteries of life, vowing to find happiness or die trying. The quest wasn’t easy. He was imprisoned, held hostage, mugged, run over, suspected of terrorism, accused of espionage, nearly trampled by elephants, wounded, diseased, heartbroken–he nearly died a dozen times. But more importantly, Stoll discovered the wonders of the world, kindness among strangers, the meaning of life, peace, love, faith and—Yes!—in the last place left to look, he found happiness.
Scott won an award for his journey
Hostelling International Spirit of Adventure Award for outstanding enthusiasm and curiosity while traveling. Download the newsletter (PDF) about the award and a nice article about my trip.
Re-live and re-imagine an archetypal adventure as a man stumbles through moments of pure survival and moments of pure enlightenment.
Read even more about the journey around the world on a bicycle. Please note: All the generic journal entries have been deleted and turned into a book. I spent a lot of time crafting a book so that you, the reader, can feel like you are actually riding the bike and reliving the journey. That process took me years. It included culture shock, a lot of introspection, some travel around my own country to get to know it again, lots and lots of writing and feedback and edits, a year to produce the book (finding a publisher, design, more edits, et cetera), plus another year to write and record the new anniversary edition.
Free! Get a beautiful and inspirational bookmark with every book purchased.
Falling Uphill: The Short Film
A montage of photos and videos from Scott’s 4-year, 26,000-mile bicycle tour around the world. Previously a Youtube Feature Video and specially requested for the Boston Bicycle Film Festival. Keep your fingers crossed that someday this will be a feature film with amazing cinematography with all of the world wonders.
I nearly cried watching this video. Just a normal guy and look what he has achieved.
~
The Top Ten Reasons to Read Falling Uphill.
I’d like to share some important features that make this book unique:
- The #1 reason to read this book: if I can live my dream, so can you. It actually happened. The adventures are real, not fantasy; the lessons learned and moments of enlightenment are real-life experiences, not theory or rumors or cut-and-paste from another book; therefore, if I can live my dream, so can you.
- It’s not about the bike. This isn’t a boring day-by-day travelogue. Unlike most memoirs, which are written in a journalistic style, Falling Uphill has an over-arching theme — to overcome depression and create meaning to my life. I didn’t realize it while on my journey, but the theme is the classic hero’s journey towards self-actualization that we all must travel, as exemplified by Joseph Campbell in his book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”; therefore, Falling Uphill is a metaphor for your own journey, and as you re-imagine my discoveries, adding your own life experiences on top of mine, you’ll discover even more secrets to actualizing your own dreams.
- In retrospect, two features make my journey and book unique.
- I left before the digital era made cell phones, GPS, and social media ubiquitous. This means I had to use paper maps that were always inaccurate, and that if anything went wrong, I couldn’t call for help. In fact, when I began planning my trip in 1996 there were no websites dedicated to the sport of bike touring and only two related books in the local library and bookstores “Miles from Nowhere” and “Full Tilt” each covering sections of the world. I naively thought that I would be the first person to attempt riding a bicycle around the world. I wasn’t the first, but I feel proud to be a pioneer. Now, thankfully, it is a sport that becomes easier every day.
- The feature that makes my journey and book like no other is that I left 5 days before the tragic events of 9-11. So, during a time of world upset, wars, terrorism and anti-Americanism (rightfully so many would argue), while most Americans were returning home for fear of safety, I continued my trip and was the only American to complete a solo cycling trip around the world during these challenging times.
- Re-live the harrowing adventures: imprisoned in Zimbabwe; head-on collision with a motorcycle in northern Vietnam; nearly trampled by an elephant twice; almost dying of dehydration in the 125° Baja desert; mugged and beaten by armed robbers in Guatemala; held hostage in the Tomb of the Engineer in Giza, Cairo; Climbing to Mt. Everest Base Camp on a bicycle; interrogated as a suspected terrorist in Israel; threatened by poachers and a witch doctor with a magic crocodile in Zambia; and, visit the Wonders of the World: Machu Picchu, Victoria Falls, Pyramids of Egypt, the Parthenon, Uluru, and more.
- Re-live the heart-warming adventures and moments of enlightenment: “Fall Uphill” on the backroads of a Mexican mountain. Re-discover how to find peace and use your emotions like a sail to travel to faraway lands. Re-define what it means to love while facing extreme loneliness. Re-create the key to happiness living with the poorest of poor people all over the world. Tame the lions of your mind on a bicycle safari in Africa. Sit at the feet of an enlightened guru in the foothills of the Himalayas discussing the secrets of life. Meet a great buddha in the most unlikely place and learn to literally create the meaning to your life.
- Re-live the most difficult moment, and learn from my mistakes — the extreme culture shock of returning home, and discover how we’re all programmed by our culture to be fearful and reactive. Unlike most books that end on the last day with a “happily ever after” moment, Falling Uphill contains several chapters that take place after returning home and integrating the new worldview with the old bad habits.
- Create an adventure in every moment. Witness how the author realized the journey never ends, and learn how to see the world with eyes of wonder.
- Easy-to-read short stories. The book is written in the rare first-person, present-tense narrative so that you feel as if you’re riding the bike in quest of the great mysteries of life. Each chapter answers a common question and is a complete short story. You can read the book in any order! However, the stories slowly build — from a survival mindset to moments of enlightenment — towards the grand finale which changes the way the author sees himself and the world forever.
- It’s a busy world, and people have less and less time and more and more distractions with life’s uphill battle. So, I spent over 4 years writing a book that I feel is both entertaining and educational and somewhat enlightening. One of my goals was to help readers slow down, appreciate the adventure in their daily life and even shed some emotional baggage to make the trip easier. If you’re really busy try the audiobook or e-book.
A bicycle ride around the world begins with a single pedal stroke.
~
When I started my journey, I never imagined that I would become an inspiration to millions. My story was featured in newspapers around the world. And this quotation went viral being seen by millions more. More info.
Re-live the adventure and re-imagine life today. Order now!
More ways to order
- E-books:
- Available at Apple, Amazon, Google Play, Barnes & Noble (Nook), Rakuten kobo, Everand and most other ebook vendors.
- Order an e-book from your local library using Hoopla. It’s free.
- Print books:
- Order books at your favorite local bookstore. I also recommend Bookshop.org. They donate 100% of the profits back to your favorite local bookstore.
- Order at your library, including print, e-book and audiobook. It’s free.
- Audiobooks:
- Available at Spotify, Audible, Amazon, Google Play, Barnes & Noble, Audiobooks.com, Chirp, Rakuten Kobo, Everand and more.
- Special Orders:
Product Details
Price: $16.95
Author: Scott Stoll
Publisher: Argonauts Press
Format: Paperback, eBook, Audiobook. 304 pages
Age group: 13+
Publication: Anniversary edition © 02-14-2017
ISBN: 978-0-9827842-7-3 (print)
ISBN: 978-0-9827842-1-1 (ebook)
ISBN: 978-1-971967-02-8 (audiobook)
ISBN: 978-1-971967-03-5 (audiobook library edition)
Language: English
Children’s editions available too!
Falling Uphill: The Secret of Life
The English Children’s edition
I’m proud to announce Falling Uphill: The Secret of Life has been illustrated by Poplar Creek Elementary School. This project has involved over 1500 people. BEST OF ALL! — This short and sweet edition is my favorite one! — It took all my years of wisdom to learn to write this simply.
Cayendo Hacia Arriba: El Secreto De La Vida
The Spanish Children’s edition
It has been the honor of a lifetime to be invited by the US Embassy and the schools of Argentina to collaborate on this special Spanish edition featuring all-new illustrations from the point of view of the Argentina culture and several new pages just for the Spanish edition. Once again the kids have been so creative that the book truly turned out better than I could have imagined, and now with a whole new level of meaning.
Books by other authors featuring Scott’s journey
Pedal Power: Inspirational Stories from the World of Cycling
Scott has a chapter about his bicycle journeys and how his adventures fuel a desire to make the world a better place.
Synopsis: A bike can be so many different things—a simple way of navigating busy city streets or enjoying quiet lanes, a cross-country steed to take a rider up hill and down dale, or even a world-beating racing machine. What unites everyone who rides is that they each have their own cycling story to tell. This book collects inspirational stories from riders around the world, both ordinary and extraordinary, from the London cyclist who rode 10,000 km in a month, to the daredevil trials rider who hops from building to building, to classic tales of grand-tour rivalries and legendary cycling records of days gone by. Essential reading for anyone who loves life on two wheels.
By the Seat of My Pants
New Second Edition. Scott has a co-starring role in Edwin Tucker’s “Let the Buyer Beware.” This story is based on the funniest chapter in “Falling Uphill” but from Edwin’s POV.
Synopsis: Humorous tales of travel and misadventure. Lonely Planet knows that some of life’s funniest experiences happen on the road. Whether they take the form of unexpected detours, unintended adventures, unidentifiable dinners or unforgettable encounters, they can give birth to our most found travel lessons, and our most memorable – and hilarious – travel stories. These 31 globegirdling tales that run the gamut from close-encounter safaris to loss-of-face follies, hair-raising rides to culture-leaping brides, eccentric expats to mind-boggling repasts, wrong roads taken to agreements mistaken. The collection brings together some of the world’s most renowned travellers and storytellers with previously unpublished writers.
Footnotes