Cycling The Globe

A Cycle Touring Expedition Around The World

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Day 2000++: A European Update

Posted by Thomas Andersen Posted on Sep - 25 - 2016

If you have only been following this blog and not the live updates over at Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, you might think I have only made it to Kenya. The truth is that I’m hopelessly behind on the daily blog updates; in real life I’m writing this from Maastricht in the Netherlands! I therefore thought it was about time to give you an update from the last 3 months on the road…

Africa itself ended on a high note as I cycled into Cairo back in July. Cape Town to Cairo was a reality after 6 months and 10.000 km full of adventure on the old continent. I remember standing on top of the Table Mountain in Cape Town feeling excited and even slightly nervous about the idea of cycling through Africa. Now, standing in front of the pyramids it was impossible not to get emotional about the whole thing – that I had indeed managed to cycle through yet another continent, and even more emotional about the fact that this whole adventure is now slowly coming to an end.

From Cairo I took a flight over to Casablanca in Morocco to begin the final stage of this immense project; cycling back to Denmark through Western Europe…

Entering Europe by boat at the southernmost tip of Spain, I was back on the continent I call home even though I have spent the last 6 years in far away places. And, the continent was not the only significant change. A year and a half ago in Colombia, I had run into a beautiful Dutch girl who was into cycling as well. Now I would finally meet up with Manon again for some cycling along the rugged Mediterranean coastline of Spain.

The ride was certainly not as solo as it used to be…

Spain has had a special place in my heart since I spent 6 months in Granada back in 2006. Often, while riding through rough and remote parts of Africa, I would imagine cycling through Southern Spain, having ice creamsand meeting old friends along the way. All those dreams turned true as we made our way across Spain towards the Pyrenees.

Through France and Switzerland I continued to meet friends and re-visit places where I have been many times before – a whole different way of travelling compared to Africa where everything was very much unknown.

The thing is that the trip is very much coming to an end. For every new border I’m crossing these days, the landscape, the architecture, and the people remind me more and more of home. And I’m fine with this. It has been a long ride, these days very close to 6 years since I left, and it’s time to go home…

And to you dear readers, Thank you very much for the attention, for being there to share the adventure with, and thanks for your support and encouragement.

Tentatively, I expect to be back on Rådhuspladsen, the central square of Copenhagen, on the 8th of October. Two weeks to go…


25th of September 2016, Maastricht, The Netherlands

Thomas

Categories: Overview
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10 Responses so far.

  1. Suzanne Jager says:

    It’s been a true pleasure Thomas to follow your adventure and to see all the beautiful people and places that you’ve ridden through!!! I pray you reach home safely and have a great winter with your family and friends. I will always be here, just waiting for you to get itching to get back on your bike!!!! God Bless!!

  2. Hi Suzanne! Thank you so much, it has been a true pleassure having you onboard. I feel that I need a proper break once I get back home… but then eventually, of course there will be more adventures coming. Stay tuned 🙂 Thomas

  3. It’s been a blast, Thomas! When you get back to Copenhagen, and take a bit of a break, I can’t see you do anything else than getting back on the road again. 🙂 I sense more cycling journeys to come!

  4. Wendy says:

    Thanks so much for sharing your journey – and your life. It’s bee inspiring. All th best for the next chapter.

  5. Lucy says:

    Hi Thomas, I’ve been following your blog for quite a long time, since last year in fact – I love all the photos and descriptions. It’s been great following your trip day by day. I remember when I first came across your blog, I binge-read it from the beginning 😀

    Will you be doing any more posts about individual days? From a selfish viewpoint (;-)) I was really looking forward to reading about your time in Ethiopia and the various parts of Morocco and then Spain and the rest of Europe. It’s often the smaller things about a place that are the most interesting, I find 🙂

  6. Hi Lucy! So glad to know you have been enjoying the updates. And don’t worry, once I get back to Denmark in less than two weeks I will start to catch up on the individual days 🙂 Thomas

  7. Thanks a lot Wendy… best wishes from The Netherlands!

  8. It has been my pleassure Stephen! And I think you are right… there will be more adventures coming up in the future. I hope to meet you out on the roads one day 🙂

  9. Altaf says:

    Hello Thomas, its been two and half years since I started reading your blog and it has been amazing to take a peek where you have been. My favourite pics are the shots of tent taken in all sorts of landscape. Your journey has given me lot of hope for possibilities.

    Looking forward to your next adventure.

  10. Hi Altaf! Great to know you have enjoyed the updates. I also love the tent pics… I will be camping quite a bit on the way back towards Denmark, so hopefully I will be able to take a few more pics 🙂 Best wishes from The Netherlands!