Around The World By Bicycle: an Interview With a Hungarian World Traveler
Three continents, 39 countries, two bikes, two travelers and millions of experiences. What makes someone jump on the saddle and travel the world on two wheels? What are the conditions for such a trip and how did the traveler experience what happened to him? Cycling world traveler Ádám Szabó answered our questions.
Source: Adam Szabo
What made you go around the world?
Traveling has a spiritual power that has a beneficial effect on one's soul and personality, a good incentive to get to know yourself and the world that surrounds you. And the bicycle is the cheapest form of transport and it's a huge adventure to set out on the world with it.
You have already done something similar before, but as far as I know, you stayed within the borders of Europe.
Yes, this trip was preceded by a European bike tour that lasted four months. I had a knee operation for which the doctor recommended that I cycle. During a conversation, my friends and I figured out that I should visit them, because they have spread out to several countries in Europe for the summer. I left Eger with a bicycle, then I visited my friends and returned from Santiago, the end of the El Camino. I knew then that this would not be my last trip. For 10 years, I've been thinking about traveling around the world, and with this European tour, I got the idea that I would go for it with a bicycle. I came home, I worked in Italy for a winter, I got home 3 months before leaving. That's when the work started (obtaining visas, looking for sponsors), which I already completed with my partner, Adorján. Although we had known each other for a long time, we were not close friends, but he followed my trip to Europe online and finally asked if he could join me.
Source: Adam Szabo
Did you make a plan before the trip?
We made an approximate plan before departure. We drew an imaginary line on the world atlas and looked at which countries this line passes through. Then, of course, we went into it in a little more detail, researched things, but there was a part that needed to be paid particular attention to. And this is the weather. We didn't want to slip into harsh winters, although we managed anyway, for example in the Himalayan mountains or the Pamirs, where the temperature was obviously lower.
We wanted to reach the China-Pakistan border by November 13, as it will be closed on November 20, and if we could not have crossed here, the whole project would have failed. We had to hold our own and we succeeded. We took a stricter route to India, but there we let go of our ideas. We got separated in the last leg of India - we didn't plan it, but it happened. We never despair and even though we have a plan in mind, we are not afraid to deviate from it.
There was also an imaginary date for the return, but it was pushed back a bit. We didn't rush anything, we traveled spontaneously. Visa administration and the acquisition of special permits sometimes take more time. Japan, for example, was not part of the plan, but I had a detour there as well.
Source: Adam Szabo
How did the bikes work on the road? Did they live up to expectations?
The bikes worked perfectly. Technically everything was fine with them, only the flights caused some complications, perhaps this is the most complicated part of the trip. We had to figure out how to give it up, but so far it hasn't been a major problem. They got mixed up once when we flew from Calcutta to Bangkok, but we were the only ones who arrived, the bikes had to be hunted for two weeks.
You didn't spend much on accommodation. How did you find a solution?
We slept in a lot of police and fire stations, but Christian churches were always open to us, and Hindu churches and Buddhist monasteries always welcomed us. Besides these, there is also camping, which gives enormous freedom. The most sacred thing possible is when someone shares their home with you.
What was the hardest part of the journey?
It was in the Pamirs that we were above 4,000 meters for a week. Driving in the snow, in bad road conditions, and in the cold is not the easiest thing, but we got an experience that made the effort worth it. There was also the Nullarbor desert, where my companion had to ride in a completely desolate area, in extreme heat and in a constant headwind. Well, this can be said to be the hardest part. I did not choose this path, my section in Australia was not so difficult, although it also had more difficult parts.
Source: Adam Szabo
What does such an adventure look like financially?
The basic concept was to spend no more than $10 a day. We operate on $10,000 per person, which covers everything from plane tickets to visas to meals. There are places where we spent almost nothing. Here in Australia, it's a bit more complicated to do everything on $10 a day, but it's not impossible. In a year and a half, I didn't spend more than 3,000 euros, so if you look at it, we got by on about 10 dollars, 7 dollars a day.
And has eating ever been a challenge?
We are both vegetarians, which sometimes makes things easier and sometimes makes it more difficult. Obviously, this depends on the country and culture. We could stop to eat anywhere in Asia, we didn't even bring food with us. Here, for example, I shop in advance and cook. What's even more exciting are the less populated areas, because if there's no shop, you need to ride hours to find one.
Source: Adam Szabo
When will we see your stories on film?
We are working on the film, we have a lot of raw materials. The film is a shared value, I would also like to participate in international festivals. I have a lot of ideas while cycling, but unfortunately I can't implement even a tenth of them. I am primarily a cameraman and editor, not a director, so I recorded the material on the internal call. This was also the main blow to the trip.
Nora, OLS Community Manager – Hungarian