I've cycled through over 100 countries - Want to share the experience

[MPS]

Hey guys,

I recently moved my focus to frame bags and already did one tour without a rack or pannier bags, namely a Sahara Crossing. I've cycled ~10.000km from Liberia to northern Italy. I used a fancy pants carbon road bike and strapped gear to the frame as I saw fit. Since I liked it, I moved to proper bike packing and got a full set of Apidura bags. They will go on my Fully on my next tour, through the Siberian winter, the plan is to cycle to Japan and back. I'll use trains along the way on the way there, mostly because the visas for Russia and China are rather short. The way back will be all bike, along the Silkroad.

Before that I've done tours through every country in Northamerica, Centralamerica, Southamerica, Europe (one country missing), 25 countries in Africa, 18 countries in Asia and Australia & NZ (no cycling in those two, just normal backpacking).

I've seen a lot of tour reports on this site, but its mostly people on weekend trips, 1-2 week vacations or races... not so much from long-term bike travellers. So I thought: "If I can't find info on this site, maybe I should be the one to give it."

So, this is it. If you got any questions about the gear I use, the bike(s), tours, countries, etc, feel free to ask here and I'll answer the best I can. You can find the link to my website (and in extension to picture galleries, social media and some short tour reports) in my signature.

[paulmissoula]

How long have you been traveling for? How do you fund your continuous, long-term travel? Do you stop and work along the way or take breaks and work for a few months/seasonally between trips?

[MPS]

7.5 years, on and off. Longest stretches were 18 months, 12 months, 10 months in one go, otherwise its usually 3-6 months followed by an equal amount in Germany. Next tour will be about 12 months again.

I saved some money, sold my Magic the Gathering card collection (I played on tournaments, so they were worth about 1 year of travelling), I have a passive income (rent), which allows me to pay insurances, taxes and have about 450$ left, I wrote a computer game mod (which is free, but people can donate), I get free gear from companies (In theorie I could sell it after each tour, but so far I rather keep it. For the next tour throuch Siberia to Japan and back I got about 6300€ worth of equipment, so if I'd sell it afterwards for 50% of its value, I could go on the next trip), and odd jobs on the way.

Also not-drinking, not-smoking and generally being thoughtful about spendings helps.

I do take breaks, but not to work. I do other things, like trip planning, resting, coding (for fun, which might also generate a bit of money, but thats not the point), and online/sponsoring stuff, which is hard to do from on-the-road.

[tonymason]

Any safety issues on your travels? How do you secure your bike/bags when away from the bike?

[MPS]

The traffic is the biggest danger, no matter where you are. Some places had me ride with military or police escort, like Somalia. Others had questionable wildlife, some national parks in Africa mostly. I remember seeing a sign that said "Pedestrians and Cyclists, please beware of lions", which isn't really that helpful.

I had a few things stolen here and there, most notably my handlebar bag on a boat on the Amazon, one of my bikes (in Frankfurt, Germany, of all places), and some cash in Indonesia.

I have a Abus Bordo to lock my bike, its a folding lock, weights about 1 kg. I often think that I should replace it with something lighter, but always end up taking that one, because its the safest lock I own. The bags I carry with me, or park the bike right next to the window if I stop in a restaurant.

[thechickencow]

What does a typical day look like from a standpoint of miles, meals, sleeping arrangements, etc?

[chrisx]

are there a couple of places you would like to visit again?

[MPS]

What does a typical day look like from a standpoint of miles, meals, sleeping arrangements, etc?

Thats impossible to answer, considering that I used 6 different bikes by now, ridden in countries were I mostly lived of fastfood (USA) or very healthy vegetarian cuisine (India) and everything in between. I've slept in 4-star hotels and the shadiest brothels, in guestrooms of friendly hosts and in a bivy on construction sites, in hostels and my tent(s).

I've done a 4 week tour through Scandinavia with 210km daily average, but had only 30km or so on average in one year of Southamerica. (not because its more difficult, but because I just cycled less days and spend more days doing something else) There is no one particular, average way of doing things, for example my last tour was with 10kg of luggage on a road bike, my next one is with 35-40kg of luggage on a fully. Obviously mileage will vary, but doing less than 100km a day I'd see as personal failure, so its usually a bit more than that, but I dont have an overall average that I try to keep. Just go with the flow... sometimes I stay a while without cycling at all, on another occasion I rode 24h in a row.

Meals: I dont use a stove, so its mostly supermarket food or restaurants. Depends on the country of course. I have a Multifuel stove that I used 3 times in 10 months going to Capetown, so I ditched it and did the next tour with a pennystove, a selfbuild alcohol stove... my girlfriend and me used it exactly 2 times in 18 months, since then I dont carry cooking gear at all... and look at me now, I will take the Multifuel and an Esbit stove as backup on my next trip, because I will need to melt a lot of snow and ice to get drinking water.

are there a couple of places you would like to visit again?

I am quite fond of Cairo, Istanbul and Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, and can see how on my next trip I could develope the same fondness for Hongkong or Tokyo... country-wise its difficult to say, but India is high on the list, as is Nepal and any other highly mountainous region, like Patagonia or Switzerland. If I'd come back to these places with proper mountaineering gear and in the right season, oh yeah

Now that I think of it, I've been thrice to Istanbul, thrice to Cairo and four times in Bangkok and KL. O.o

[yooper]

Any advice for a trip through Central America?

[MPS]

Except "learn Spanish", I cant really say anything, because the question is rather broad. There is lots to see and to do in Central America, I never had any problems with the people, but it can be quite unpleasant because of the heat and humidity. Its also quite hilly.

Isla de Ometepe was one of my favourites, as is Tulum and Cenote Diving, the bay islands in Honduras, Panama City feels a bit like Miami (and everyone seems to speak English there), and you got tons of Maya sites to see. Palenque, Copan, Tikal and Chichen Itza, those I remember the most.

[yooper]

Thanks for the info.

[MPS]

No worries, although I dont feel like I've been helping at all... When is your trip? How long, what budget? Which countries?

[yooper]

2016. Budget would be $50.00 per day maximum for thirty days. I'll be staying in a tent most of the time. I would like to cover all seven countries over the thirty day period. There might have to be some portaging by bus to make it work. Your website looks great!
 I'm looking forward to your blog.

[SkinnyTraffic]

Fantastic accomplishments so far and ambitious goals ahead! And nice website.

What was your experience with border crossings (while cycling) in Central/South America?

[MPS]

yooper, if you mostly camp your daily budget is probably less than 10$. Accomodation is also rather cheap down there, I dont think you'd ever need more than 30$ a day, even if you sleep in a hostel or hotel every night. Big cities might be more expensive, but I'd use the extra money for things like diving or entry fees, for example Tikal.

Belize has some awesome cave tubing too, and they all speak english. I really liked that place.

SkinnyTraffic, Thanks I had no issues with border crossings. You count as pedestrian, just pay the 5$ fee/taxes/whatever and you are good. Than again, I'm German, a EU passport helps a lot. US americans might need visas for a couple of countries, I only needed a single one, for Suriname.

The only place you cant cross by bike is the Dariens gap, between Panama and Columbia. They purposly dont build a road there to stop illegal immigration and slow down drug traffic, and some more reasons (national park, indigiones people) you have to fly or boat around it.

Oh, and Guyana and Venezuela share a border, but have no bordercrossings. I had to make a 800km detour from Guyana to Brazil, then from Brazil to Venezuela, but that wasnt so bad.

[The World Up Close]

Let's chat- I rode my bike around the world in the early 90s and would love to swap stories.

Twitter @kameelnasr

[MPS]

I wrote you on Twitter, even though I think that the 140 character limit might make it a bit hard to chat.

And I had a look at your website. The white text on the white-ish background, is that intended? It makes the text impossible to read, unless you highlight it.