Free Ride cover art

Free Ride

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

Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for £0.00
£8.99/mo thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Offer ends 31 July 2025 at 23:59 GMT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.

Free Ride

By: Noraly Schoenmaker
Narrated by: Imani Jade Powers
Try for £0.00

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Offer ends 31 July 2025 23:59 GMT. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

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 Witty Middle East Iran

Listeners also enjoyed...

Lone Rider cover art
Jupiter's Travels cover art
Do It While You Still Can cover art
A Fast Bike to Byzantium cover art
To Dakar and Back cover art
Near Varna cover art
Going the Wrong Way cover art
The Hairy Bikers Blood, Sweat and Tyres cover art
Dreaming of Jupiter cover art
Distant Suns cover art
The Operators cover art
Extreme Frontiers cover art
Immediate Action cover art
Chronicles of a Motorcycle Gypsy cover art
And Away... cover art
Diddly Squat cover art
All stars
Most relevant  
brilliant can't wait till the next book, happy trails itchy boots well written I could almost vision been there myself

amazing story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

After watching her on YouTube for the last couple of years and now listen to her written story of how it all started
Would love to hear more of her stories in book or audio format

Inspiring

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Throughly enjoyed listening to Noraly’s story of how she got started and tales of some of her adventures. I’ll go back and watch the original YouTube series from that time. It will be interesting to have the insights of how she felt. I thought the narration was OK, but if Noraly wasn’t able to do it, an actor with more of a Dutch accent might have sounded a bit more “authentic”. It’s a small criticism though and doesn’t marr an inspirational story.

Brave and self reliant

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

to hear the internal monologue and motivation, really helped me to understand the vlog journey and the growth of her channel.

riveting

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I love Noraly and really respect what she does. The story is good and shows how amazing and resilient she is.
Unfortunately, because we know her and her voice from Youtube, the American narrator ruined it for me. I'd advise you to buy the book and read it so you have Noraly's voice in your head. It just sounds wrong.
I guess it would take a lot of time for Noraly to do it herself but it would make it 100% better.
Good book and as interesting and amazing as Noraly herself but unfortunate choice of narrator.

Poor choice of narrator

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

My husband and I have been watching itchy boots for some years and we always look forward to a new episode. The book gave a great insight into how it all started for Noraly and her journey so far. she is a true inspiration and a wonderful human.

So good

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.