The story of Anna Smolina, who cycled across half the country with her dog

Each of us has moments in life when we urgently need to change something. This is what happened to Muscovite Anna Smolina. One day she realized that life in the capital and her calm and well-paid job no longer brought her joy. Then Anno bought a trailer for her bicycle, put her dachshund in it and went to Magadan, where her mother lives.

The journey took Anna half a year. She experienced many adventures along the way, saw many interesting things and even met her future husband. There were enough impressions for a whole book called “Why Sit at Home”, which was later used as the basis for the film “Poekhashaya”.

Anna Smolina cannot be called a homebody. She has visited many countries and even lived in Southeast Asia for some time. In 2016, the girl, who had previously worked remotely, was offered a good position in the SMM department of a reputable Moscow company. But neither a decent salary nor a wonderful team made Anna love the new job. She constantly felt constrained and bored.

A few months later, Anna quit and started her own business. Her SMM agency was doing well, but Smolina was still unhappy. Finally, in February 2017, she decided to go on a long trip with her dachshund Kapa. Since Anna didn’t have a car or even a driver’s license, she began to consider other options.

The train ride to Magadan is long and uninteresting, and the elderly dog might not survive the flight. Therefore, Anna chose a bicycle as a means of transport. Smolina had experience riding two wheels. She had been riding a bicycle around the city for several years, neglecting the metro and taxis.

But why Magadan? It's simple - the girl's mother, with whom she had a tense relationship, lives in this city. So the trip had a serious goal - to make peace with her loved one. Anna made her hometown - Naberezhnye Chelny - her starting point, not Moscow.

It was not easy to plan the route. The shortest route, through Yakutia, was not suitable for the traveler. There were huge uninhabited spaces, wild animals and harsh nature. Therefore, Anna decided to ride along the roads running along the Trans-Siberian Railway. The end point of the bike ride was Vladivostok. There, Smolina decided to transfer to a cargo ship heading to Magadan.

Anna was a mediocre tourist. The girl had no experience of long solo trips. She had never pitched a tent and did not know how to make a fire. She had to learn quickly - public pages of bicycle tourists and YouTube channels of survivalists came to the rescue. Friends and colleagues were skeptical about Smolina's idea. Everyone thought that she would get to the neighboring city and return. Some even assumed that Anna would get to Siberia, but there she would be eaten by wild animals.

But the decision was made and the brave girl began to prepare. She took a tent, an inflatable mat, a sleeping bag, a burner, a pot, a hunter's signal with pyrotechnic and noise charges. Anna did not forget about her "iron horse". She stocked up on bicycle chains, tires and repair tools.

Anna bought a bicycle trailer for her beloved dog and insulated it with foam rubber. Several test runs showed that Capa felt comfortable in the mobile home. This was important, because the dachshund was already 12 years old, 8 of which she had been treated for cancer.

Anna decided to start in April 2017, but the spring was cold and she was able to leave only in May. The road was difficult. Since the cyclist was riding on the highway, she constantly risked getting hit by cars. Not all drivers were adequate. Once, near Omsk, a truck deliberately drove into a rut to splash the traveler with water from a puddle.

Then the car stopped and the driver started calling Anna names and threatening her. He even chased her and tried to push her to the side of the road so that she would fall into the mud. Smolina stopped and shouted at the man, "What do you want? Get out, let's talk." He didn't expect such a reaction and simply drove past.

Anna had thought through the security issue in advance, but the measures taken were not very effective. The girl left the route map with a friend and agreed to contact him from checkpoints. She also activated the "Where is my child" function on her mobile operator.

When setting up camp, the traveler tried to stay away from suspicious companies. She was also wary of strangers she met along the way. She was advised to go to spend the night further into the forest, but Anna was afraid of wild animals. She understood that the smell of a person, as well as a dachshund, could attract predators. The weather also brought its surprises. Very soon, the girl's face became chapped, and the skin on her fingers began to crack due to frost.

Before leaving, Anna started a blog about her journey. Sometimes, Internet users recognized her. Near some cities, cycling enthusiasts even organized small bike rides, accompanying her for a couple of dozen kilometers. Over time, Smolina experienced a "wow effect". She was carried away by the adventure and her previous life in the capital seemed distant and boring.

On the way, Anna met her love. It was a guy named Valera, with whom she had been corresponding about the trip on social networks. He was an experienced bike tourist and was traveling from Belarus to Malaysia. He helped Smolina with advice and suggested meeting at the intersection of the routes.

Anna was indifferent to this proposal, because dozens of men had written her similar things. But Valery caught up with her near Irkutsk on the hundredth day of the journey. At first they decided to go together to Buryatia, but the longer their communication lasted, the less they wanted to part. In the end, they both realized that this was love and decided to travel together.

Love changed Anna's plans. She realized that she did not want to go to Magadan. Firstly, she was not sure that reconciliation with her mother would take place. And secondly, snowfalls began in Magadan. The couple turned around and headed for Malaysia. But this trip was also not destined to end.

Anna and Valery only made it as far as Mongolia. Ahead was China, which stopped issuing visas at the end of 2017 due to a political summit. As a result, the lovers spent two months in Mongolia, and then boarded a plane and went to Valery in Belarus. This is how Anna's journey unexpectedly ended 6 months after it started.

Soon Anna Smolina decided to write a book about her adventures. Her followers on social networks often asked if she was going to describe her journey. At first, the girl did not take it seriously, but then she thought it was a good idea. That is how the book “Why Stay at Home?” was born.

Unfortunately, the publishers did not see any commercial potential in it. The author was offered to publish the book at her own expense, for 500 thousand rubles. However, Anna was not entitled to royalties and the publisher would have taken all the profits for itself. After thinking for a while, Smolina decided to open a crowdfunding campaign on the Planeta.ru platform. The required amount was raised in just 1.5 months and the book was published.

And on April 2, 2018, an offer was made to make a film based on the book. It turned out that one of the producers found out about Anna's book on Planeta.ru. He decided to make the film "Poekhashaya". The film was not a documentary. The only thing it had in common with Smolina's story was that a girl named Anna rides a bike with her dog to her mother in Magadan and meets her love.

As for Anna and Valery, they continue to travel. They visited the Pamirs and walked the Lycian Way. The dachshund Capa accompanied her owner for two more years until she died. Now the couple is traveling around the world. True, not on bicycles, but by car. For this, Anna and Valery asked a company that produces trailers to give them one.

Anna and Valery plan to visit Iran, Turkey, Georgia, Mexico, Argentina and possibly the USA. The trip is planned for many years and does not yet have a precise route. And during the trip, Anna wants to write several more books on different topics and genres. And of course, the traveler continues to maintain social networks, where you can follow her movements.