Q&A

Cycling across the world is not the most usual activity. How does my life look like ? Ask me any question in the comment section below, and I will answer it!

F.A.Q.

Q: How many kilometers do you bike a day?

A: When i bike, i bike around 80 to 120km in a day. But I stay longer in one place. For example, I stayed one week in Zurich, one week in Rome, one month in Istanbul… So on average over the whole trip, i’ve been travelling around 50km per day.

Q: Where do you sleep ?

A: Half of the time, i’ll be sleeping at guest’s houses (Couchsurfing, Warmshowers, or nice people i met randomly while cycling). The other half, i’ll sleep outdoors with my mat and sleeping bag. Sometimes, i’ll stay at hostels because they are a hub of people with good travel advice.

Q: How much money do you spend ?

A: In Europe, i spent around $10 to $15 per day. In Asia, it was more around $7 per day. This includes food, entry to parks & museums, SIM cards, etc. Overall, I planned around $6000 for cycling from Paris to China. This includes cost for visas, repair material, everything.

Q: Do you never get bored cycling alone ?

I do. But I learn to live with it. It’s when I am alone on the road, and i’ve listened through all my offline playlists, and I have no one to talk to, that the actual magic happens. That’s when inspiration and realization come out of nowhere.

Q: What do you eat ?

I like to eat Oats with Milk in the morning. Or whatever is available. I like trying local stuff, but because I eat so much i always need 2 meals which ends up being too expensive.
So I eat lots of bread, hard-boiled eggs, nuts, beans,chicken, tuna, pasta, tomatoes, bananas, peaches, chips and ice-cream when its hot!

Q: What do you enjoy the most?

In the fresh air of the morning, the first push on the pedals with a song or a good book in my ears.
Stop in some rural village and watch people around me.
The feeling of a soft bed after some days of camping.

Q: What do you enjoy the least?

The astounding noise of a truck behind you in a tunnel.
Biking under the rain.

Q: Why do you decide to bike to China ?

The short answer is : Curiosity about people, their belief, their condition of life. And i’ve always wanted to live in China, so i’ll make a slow transition from the West to the East. For the long answer, see my blog post about it.

Q: How does you typical day look like ?

I wake up in my tent around 7am. The first thing I realize is that I am actually still on this trip. Since I don’t have a shower, I splash my water bottle onto my face to wake up. One of my morning rituals consists of packing up my tent while listening to some french news podcast. It reassures me that  the world that I know still exists.

I usually start biking half an hour to two hours, depending on how far the next town is. Morning times are best because the temperature are coolest. I stop at some market, get some milk and oatmeal, and eat those slow carbs at the next coffee place where i can charge my phone.

If there is an attraction nearby, like a museum or historical place, i could see it after breakfast. Otherwise – surprise- I start biking. Usually, I don’t have a set goal for the day. I just bike towards a direction and see how far I can get. On average that’s around 70km per biking day. While I bike, I listen to many audiobooks ranging from history to spirituality, or some good classic novel. I alternate between silence, music and books. Time flies !

Because I don’t pressure myself for any daily destination, I pause at places I like. Sometimes, i’ll meet people who spontaneaously invite me to some dinner or to stay at their place. Other times, I like the feeling of a nature spot so much that I decide to set camp. If I arrive close to a city, I will start sending out requests on couchsurfing or warmshowers to find a host. It works almost every time.. and I can rejoice myself of some company, a bed and a shower!

I usually alternate that with sleeping outside, in which case I pass a small town and get some groceries. When I shop, I have to lock my bike outside and take all valuable stuff with me. I then set up my tent just before sunset and cook my dinner. If I find a restaurant, I pull out my laptop and a have an hour of “worldly” activity online. I use my phone as a 4G hotspot, i’ll find internet anywhere – especially in India and Pakistan. I connect to my mailbox with a hotspot, keep editing those videos, pictures, or blog posts. After dinner, I write in my journal about all the new things I’ve experienced in that day.

 

Q: How much gear do you carry ?

A: The bike weighs 14kg. My equipement (all clothes, helmet, tools, cooking gear, etc) is 14.5 kg. My clothes are:

• 4 t-shirts
• 2 shorts, 1 long pants
• 1 Pair of shoes
• 3 boxer shorts, 5 socks
• waterproof overpants and jacket

And I usually carry 1kg food and 2.5L of water with me a. So that’s 32kg of gear and food.

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