Before I set off on my big trip, I naturally already had some experience with bike packing. In the summer of 2022, I travelled from Cologne to Istanbul by bike for 7 weeks. I’ve been on the road almost 4500km partly alone and partly with loyal companions. My journey took me through 11 countries once across Europe and I had the great opportunity to experience and learn a lot about my surroundings and myself! I had a wonderful time! Luckily apart from a few encounters with wild dogs, my experiences were almost entirely positive.
The feeling I got from travelling by bike is hard to put into words. It’s the sound when the water for my coffee starts boiling on the cooker in the morning, it’s the wind and the sun on my skin, the many smells on the journey, the many meetings with wonderful people, the sense of home that I feel when I snuggle up in my tent in the evening and much more! But also, the heavy, tired legs on the evening of a long stage, the hurting hands on the journey, the touch of panic when you don’t know what to do next, the restlessness of not staying anywhere for long, the loneliness when you can’t share wonderful moments with anyone and the frustration when the headwind doesn’t want to end. A friend of mine once described his cycle tour as a rollercoaster of emotions and I think this description is extremely accurate!
Luckily, I’m a big fan of roller coasters.
The route of the Cologne-Istanbul Tour can be found under the following link.
https://www.komoot.com/de-de/collection/1676470/-cologne-istanbul
