Get to know us

I was born in Belgium back in April 1986. Raised in a town called Westerlo. 

Westerlo is located in the ‘Kempen’, an area known for its sandy soil, heath- and grasslands and forests. Ideal to grow up, built camps, give first kisses, smoke first joints and of course, ride bikes!  

When I entered my twenties I moved to Switzerland. I lived and worked there for almost 10 years. Enjoyed the stunning Swiss nature as much as I could. This is where my dream of life on two wheels started to sprout. The idea of biking around the world has been on my mind for more than 7 years now but due to personal life circumstances I always found myself obligated or forced to postpone the trip of my life. 

If you’d ask me about my prior experience?

I mountainbiked and biked a bit before. Always liked doing sports. I did one bike trip with my best friend back when I was still young and wild. Me and him pedalled to Holland and made a 3-day bike tour out of it. We were totally unprepared and rode unsuitable and dodgy bikes.  

Other than that, I have zero experience when it comes to bike traveling. So this travel will be all about learning by doing in the beginning. 

If you’d ask me why I would like to travel the world on a bike?  

Since I’ve never done it before, my answer is solely based on my own unexperienced thoughts and feelings and on what I’ve read so far about life on a bike. 

For me, I believe that riding the world on a bike is as close as you can get to have total freedom. You move yourself forward using your own muscle power, making it a very healthy, ecological and sustainable way of traveling. 

You’ll pedal through areas you’d otherwise never explore. By being outside, moving on a slower pace, I think that you are able to take in more of the surroundings, culture and its inhabitants. 

You’ll be able to plan your own route, pick your own sleeping spot every day and just go wherever you want to go basically. Off the beaten track, literally. A pure form of traveling, away from the buzz and fuzz of modern day tourism. Into the wide wild world. 

Of course I’m also aware, that I’ll go through some rough times too. I always speak very romantically about the bike trip but deep down I’m also very realistic about it. I expect to be confronted with lots of my inner struggles quite a bit. There will be a lot of days where I’ll question everything. 

Nonetheless, I am confident that this trip will open a whole new (inner-) world. I believe, that this adventure will bring so much inspiration, will be life changing and will enrich both my heart and soul. 

Last but not least, I am immensely thankful and grateful to be lucky enough to be able to start a tour like this!!! 

I am 28 years old and was born in Leuven, Belgium. I grew up in a small town that nobody knows, called Lovenjoel. 

When I was a kid I always enjoyed riding my bicycle. It was also my main mode of transportation. I used to bike to school, to friends, basically everywhere I needed to be.

Travelling always inspired me, even from a young age. I took the occasional holidays with my parents but in 2015 I decided to take the leap and booked a one way flight to India. I ended up staying away from home for over a year and saw quite a bit of Central- and South-East Asia. This is where the travelbug started to grow on me.

If you’d ask me about my prior experience?

As you could read in the previous paragraph I do not really have any experience with this kind of trip. Koen and I bought our bikes in February and we have been practicing quite a bit since, but I think the real lesson will come when we actually start the trip and try to reach our daily destination. It will probably be very hard at first, but from all the stories I've read and heard about, the human body is a quick learner.

In January of this year (2020) Koen, some friends and I went on a ski holiday to Les Trois Valées in France. On one memorable evening (read: we enjoyed the après-ski a lot) Koen started telling me about his dream: riding around the world on a bike. Kind of jokingly, he asked me if I woudn’t be interested in a crazy plan like this. At the time, I was actually already planning a trip to South America and very suddenly I felt the word “yes” rolling out of my mouth. The next morning after thinking over the whole plan, I told Koen that the more I thought about it the better the plan sounded. I quite quickly decided to quit my job and started researching and preparing for the trip.

If you’d ask me why I would like to travel the world on a bike?  

To me I think there are two sides to this question. 

Firstly, FREEDOM! You get up, pack your things, jump on the bike and off you go. A new piece of the world you've never seen before. A new culture, a new language, new people… I’ve always liked and needed change. It’s refreshing and stimulates your lust of wonder. I expect this trip to be full of discoveries, both literally and figuratively speaking.

Secondly, an ecological way of traveling! When you ride on your bike, the only exhaust you create is the one you make yourself ;). I think it's important, certainly in these times, to try to be conscious about the impact of your way of traveling for the environment.