The Secret to Feeling Like a Kid Again (Video)

By Logan

PUBLISHED Jun 23, 2026

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In his latest video, Dom Richard heads out on the New Forest Gravel Taster route in England, but the resulting film is less about bikepacking and more about overcoming hesitation. Reflecting on his time as a teacher, he shares how a group of students who seemed unafraid to fail inspired him to stop waiting for the “right” moment and finally take his own first bikepacking trip. Through an overnight ride filled with unfamiliar experiences and plenty of self-reflection, Richards arrives at a simple realization: confidence rarely comes before action. Instead, it tends to follow it. Watch the wonderfully shot video below, and scroll down for stills, the written transcript, and more about the route.

Words by Dom Richard

This isn’t really a film about bikepacking. It’s about a lesson I had heard a 100 times before, and the people who finally made it stick. But, funny enough, the most important people in the story weren’t actually on the trip.

I used to work at a school, and there were these kids who always stood out to me. They were the kind of people who would give things a go even if they weren’t the greatest at it. They would take their singing lessons in the school hallway for everyone to hear, tackle Guinness World Records, take a loss at a science competition with a smile, and make some killer music videos for my film class.

They were fearless. They didn’t seem too worried about getting things wrong, which often meant they got things right in their own way. When I was their age, I wasn’t like that at all. I spent a lot of time worrying about what people thought, looking stupid, and failing. Every now and then, I catch myself wondering who I might have become if I had been a little bit more confident a few years ago. I spent a lot of time looking backwards at the person I wish I could have been. But I already knew what I needed to do. In fact, I always have.

Most of us probably understand that gap more than we’d like to admit. For me, it showed up in small ways. Saying I would do things but then waiting until I felt ready, which never came. Sometimes, the same lesson can be said in 100 different ways before something finally lands. And for whatever reason, watching these kids throw themselves into things was what finally got me moving.

The next morning didn’t feel like a reset. Probably because I had a horrible night’s sleep in a sleeping bag that was definitely not rated for the low temperatures that night. So, I woke up already a little tired and still a long way from the end. It felt like a further step into the unknown. We’d never ridden more than a few hours at a time, and I had never properly camped before, so everything about it felt slightly unfamiliar. In a good way.

This micro adventure was my first step towards becoming someone my future self might actually be proud to look back on. And although a small step, it mattered more than I expected.

Throughout the day, I kept noticing how often I’d waited for a version of myself that felt more certain before doing anything new. Not because I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but because I kept telling myself I wasn’t quite ready yet. And somewhere in that, I started to realize something that had probably been true for a long time.

Confidence wasn’t something I was going to find first. It wasn’t something that showed up before you started. It was something that followed after you did it. And that idea kept coming back to me as my day went on.

When I think about those kids now, it’s not that they seemed actually fearless. It’s that they never spent much time negotiating with themselves before trying something. They just did it.

When we finally finished, nothing dramatic had changed. There was no big moment where everything suddenly made sense. But it did feel like something had shifted, like I’d interrupted a cycle I’d been stuck in for years. The cycle of waiting for a better version of myself to show up before I started living the way I wanted to.

So, to the kids who unknowingly nudged me towards the things I was too scared to try, too hard to fail at, or too embarrassed to be bad at, thank you.

New Forest Gravel Taster

The UK’s (not so) New Forest makes a great locale for those dipping their toes in gravel riding, or anyone wishing to escape the Big Smoke for the night, and enjoy some forest bathing… bikepacking style. Of course, slow food is a big part of slow travel, so we’ve woven in local favorite eateries to this beautiful, mellow route, too. Find the guide here.

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