Explorer, author, trail prospector & travel writer

I’m Tom, an explorer, trail prospector & travel writer, working between the UK and the South Caucasus.

Profile photo of explorer, author, trail prospector and travel writer Tom Allen.

I currently hold the post of Expeditions & Fieldwork Manager at the Royal Geographical Society, where I’m helping serve those who want to inject purpose into their travels and explorations – a global community dear to my heart.

My long-term passion project is the Transcaucasian Trail (TCT), a 3,000km-long hiking route in development across Georgia, Armenia & Azerbaijan, which I co-founded in 2015 and support in collaboration with the Transcaucasian Trail Association and others.

As a trail prospector I’ve recently conceived & designed the Armenian National Trail, a new 1,000km village-to-village hiking route now under construction, as well as regional Armenian trail networks in the Debed Canyon, Dilijan National Park, the Vorotan Canyon, and Arevik National Park.

As a regional expert and travel writer I co-author Armenia: The Bradt Travel Guide, maintain the CyclingArmenia.com bike route collection, and am currently writing Hiking The Transcaucasian Trail Across Armenia.

Beyond the Caucasus, since 2006 I’ve published more than half a million words on my cycle touring blog TomsBikeTrip.com, made award-winning adventure documentary films including Janapar and Karun, and published several other travel books.

My personal-professional blog lives here at tomallen.info.