Idea

Why to travel half a year alone with bicycle in the middle of different cultures. Why to stop studies and search personal limits instead of easy living? In my case the answer is that I like freedom and sports and also being a kind of explorer. When this all is combined a characteristic called the finnish "sisu" the result may be trips like mine.

In the autumn of 2004 I did one trip to baltic countries together my cousin Eetu. The trip lasted 10 days and we did 1000 kilometers and then we got very valuable experiences. Unfortunately we didnt have cameras with us. During that trip I got involved into bicycle travelling and started to dream about bigger trips.

Later in the autumn I thought that there are no reasons why to postpone the bigger trip anymore and I checked the places where it could be done. I founded two choices. Australia and Central- and South-America. I chose the Latin America because I wanted to learn spanish and the culture there seems to be very interesting. I started to study spanish immediately and do other preparations.

Then during year 2005 I cycled from Dallas to Panama doing it really slowly and trying to get as close to the local culture as possible. That trip has more to do with local culture than with sports and I like it that way.

Bicycle is generally nice way to move because it is possible to see enough but go however fast enough to see surrondings changing. Also it breaks culture barriers and people seem to trust quite a lot to bicycle travellers. Generally I think that after long day trip people lose their prejudicies and they become more curious. It doesn't mean anymore whether you are rich, poor, white or black. 150 Kilometers behind in local surroundings in one day is something everybody know to be good dayjob and normally nobody is jealous for that. That all create friendliness.

It has been so common that completely strangers have just invited me to their houses, told about their lives and just had a great time. I have seen really poor plaves, really rich ones and met just wonderful people. And definitely with expensive motorbike it's not possible to go poor areas and meet the people in the same way than with bicycle.

All my trips haven't however been with bicycle and also travelling with other ways it's possible have great time. Backpacking is fun too but I am more into travelling where moving force is motorless. People seems to be more friendly then and also the amount of endorphin released from endurance sports is addicting.

From these webpages you can find photos and stories about my different trips. I hope you enjoy sharing the experiences and if you do leave a message to a guestook.