Book Review: Free Ride by Noraly Schoenmaker (Itchy Boots)

Free Ride is a Sunday Times bestseller about heartbreak, courage, and a 20,000-mile motorcycle journey that changed a life — and I absolutely loved it.

This is an easy, compelling read, but don’t mistake that for light or shallow. What really stood out for me were the flashback sequences. Learning more about Noraly’s childhood, her relationship and the breakup, and the thoughts and emotions she was processing at different points along the journey added so much depth. I also loved the flashbacks to moments in her career where she had to make big decisions — and how those decisions ultimately led her to working all over the world.

The book beautifully captures the highs and lows of solo adventure. The challenges. The moments of joy. The hard days. And, most importantly, the honesty in how she shares it all.

If you’ve ever been on a big solo adventure yourself, you’ll instantly recognise what she’s describing — that strange balance between total freedom on the road and the quiet, sobering reality of being completely alone in very remote places. The awe of where you are, set against the knowledge that if something goes wrong, you are the one who has to fix it. There’s no getting around that.

I think this book will be especially interesting if you’ve followed Itchy Boots on YouTube from the beginning — growing alongside Noraly from those early videos to where she is now. Reading the behind-the-scenes story adds so much context to what you might not always see on screen.

Interestingly, I came at this the other way around. I hadn’t watched the YouTube videos before reading the book — and now I’m genuinely intrigued to go back and watch them, to see how the footage fits into the story and the journey she describes on the page.

If I had one small wish, it’s probably because I’m a bit of a stats and content-creation nerd: I would have loved to see more about the growth of the YouTube channel — the follower numbers, how her editing evolved, and how she found her voice over time. But that’s very much me looking at it through a creator’s lens.

What she’s done — how she’s lived her life and shared it — is fascinating. Building a YouTube channel with over two million followers while living this way is honestly incredible.

What I love most is women sharing honest stories of adventure and challenge — and how those experiences change them. By sharing these stories, it makes other women pause and think: Hold on. She did this. This is how she did it. These were the steps she took. These were the doubts she had. Yes, every journey is different, but there’s always crossover, learning, and permission to take that first leap.

Noraly doesn’t shy away from the reality either — freezing hands, high altitude, struggling to breathe, being in remote places without the right currency, relying on the kindness of strangers. And then there are those small, powerful human moments: connecting with other travellers, basic conversations across language barriers, smiling, nodding, saying thank you, being welcomed into people’s homes. Those moments are deeply inspiring.

Free Ride is a wonderful book about adventure, self-discovery, and choosing a different path. I’m genuinely intrigued to see what happens next. Without spoiling anything, Noraly does share a hint of her next big challenge — and it sounds incredible. It’s a journey I’d love to follow, and one I’d absolutely love to read about in the future.

I’ve now subscribed to her YouTube channel — I hope you will too. And I hope you go and buy the book.

One final thing: I’d love to get Noraly on the Tough Girl Podcast in the future to dive even deeper into her story. When that happens, I’d love to know — what questions would you want me to ask her?

Buy the Book - Free Ride: Heartbreak, Courage, and the 20,000-Mile Motorcycle Journey that Changed My Life