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Free Ride

Heartbreak, Courage, and the 20,000-Mile Motorcycle Journey that Changed My Life

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Free Ride

By: Noraly Schoenmaker
Narrated by: Imani Jade Powers
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By the YouTube sensation with more than two million followers, the inspiring account of a woman in her thirties who, in a moment of personal crisis, embarked on an epic, transcontinental motorcycle ride – and along the way found a new sense of purpose.

Noraly Schoenmaker was a thirty-something geologist living in the Netherlands when she learned that her live-in partner had been having a long-term affair. Suddenly without a place to stay, she decided to quit her job and jet off to India in search of a new beginning. Her plans were dashed when she fell quickly and helplessly in love: with a motorcycle. Behind the handlebars, she felt alive and free – nimble enough to trace the narrowest paths, powerful enough to travel the longest of roads.

She covered remote and utterly unfamiliar territory; broke down on impossibly steep mountains; and pushed too many miles along empty roads, farther and farther from civilization. Through her travels, she discovered the true beauty of the world - the kindness of its people, the simplicity of its open spaces, as well as her own inner strength.

In spirit of The Motorcycle Diaries and Wild, this is an inspiring story of self-discovery and renewal. Filled with unforgettable figures, hilarious disasters and powerful human connections, it shows you what happens when you open your heart and let the world in.

© 2025 Noraly Schoenmaker (P) 2025 DK Audio

Imani Jade Powers is an actor, writer and singer who has narrated over 90 audiobooks. She has narrated romance, contemporary fiction, fantasy and YA. Including the likes of Ava Reid’s Lady Macbeth and Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s The Beautiful Ones. When she is not narrating she is acting specifically on Broadway in Harry Potter & The Cursed Child.

Noraly Schoenmaker is the creator of Itchy Boots, a YouTube channel with more than two million loyal subscribers. A motorcycling obsessive, her journeys have taken her the length of the American continent, from Argentina to Alaska; from the northernmost point of Europe to the southernmost point of Africa; and to some of the least travelled regions of the globe. Trained as a biologist and geologist, she is based in the Netherlands.

Adventurers, Explorers & Survival Asia Travel Writing & Commentary Women Funny Heartfelt Inspiring Witty Middle East Iran
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The descriptions were accurate but just my preference and not a criticism is not having the author read it.

Noralys adventures!

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nice to hear the origin story and amazing how brave she is to set off to all these places with very little previous riding experience

great to know a bit more about Noraly

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I've been following Noraly's travels since I bought a Himalayan myself 5yrs ago & came across her YouTube channel. Her early videos are of course shorter than on later trips because she was learning her new craft so it's interesting to get more insight into her early travels. It's a much more personal account of her travels than appears in the videos too so I feel like I know a lot more about her as a person after reading...well listening to...the book. I hadn't realised quite how inexperienced a biker she was when she started out so the book is both inspirational in the way that she just got on with it and learned along the way, & also at times terrifying. I'll re-watch this trip on YouTube now with this new perspective.
The only thing I don't like is the American narrator whose voice just doesn't suit Noraly. I guess I'd be less bothered by that if I wasn't so familiar with her own voice, but still I feel that an accent closer to Dutch would be better if not actually Dutch. The narration would have been improved if American pronunciations of words hadn't been used, 'route' being the most common example. Noraly, and other Dutch people that I know, pronounce it in the same way as the English do. Having said that I did get used to the narrator as the book went on, so I just knocked one star off for the pronunciations.

Inspirational story

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this was an adventurous read and how Noraly became such a stronger woman with life's ups and downs throughout her journeys

Now Stronger

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I love Noraly and I hope that this book is only the first of many. She could use a better editor though and most importantly a different narrator because this voice and presentation wasn't a good match. Noraly's own voice would be the best of course,
The overly American translation of a very European author is simply annoying.

Could have been better but still a must read

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