1,100 kms

A couple of years ago, I can sadly say that I never heard about the idea of traveling around with a bike. I can recall some encounters with people that where doing it but it was not something that made me curious, on the slightest. Now, I can say that it’s one of the things that left a profound impact on my soul. So, how was it?

The story of this trip started with a casual conversation with my roommate, who, at the time, already knew the secrets that I would soon discover. I had a month free from work and any major responsibilities, and the idea of just traveling and visiting friends seemed okay at first but he had something to say: Why don’t you travel with your bike? Instead of taking trains and buses, enjoy the view and let your legs suffer for a bit. The idea slowly crept into my head and, after making some calls and consulting what was needed, the idea seemed not only plausible, but imminent.

So I prepared myself. I got a couple of pieces of equipment for my newly acquired third bike, which was a gift from my cat’s vet, found a bike box and decided on the twenty-two pieces of clothes that would be with me for the next month and jumped on a plane to my first visit. I didn’t know that in December, winter was a thing in Europe, where I would sleep for half of the time, that I would get food poisoning and fall in love just to have my heart a little broken after ten days.

In retrospect, I also didn’t know that I would meet some of the most amazing and kind people that I have met in my life. And who were these? Every person who hosted me, biked along with me, or just had a conversation along the way. And to this day, after a couple of years, I still remember all of them. I remember Ericka, Roberto, Juan, Sara, Martin, Christian, Sussane, Audi, Crista, Jorge, Saul, Melina, Ellie, Andreas, Martin, Nicolas, Anna, Leo, Ian, Dominik, John, Alex, Enrico, Davide, Roberto, Ruth, Dora, Mustafa, Anastacia, and Alessia.

I’ll write about the kilometers, the depression, and the crisis that came after. But today, I just want to remember all of them.

[Last modified on 2026-04-16]