Born in 1982 and grown up in Bavaria, Germany
Pharmacist (without borders)
Hobbies: yoga, dancing, reading, climbing, hiking, geocaching
Responsibilities: medicine, translation, map reading
Likes: chocolate, sleeping
Dislikes: rain, punctures, mosquitoes
Born in 1977 and grown up in Bavaria, Germany
Yoga teacher, geriatric nurse
Hobbies: (acro-)yoga, dancing, swimming, climbing, hiking
Responsibilities: maintenance, repairs, making fire
Likes: camp fires, tailwind
Dislikes: headwind, cold showers, snails inside the tent
We got itchy feet when Sonja’s brother Hubert gave us the book „Abgefahren – In 16 Jahren um die Welt“ („Taken off - In 16 years around the world“) from Claudia Metz and Klaus Schubert – the exciting story of a couple from Cologne who have traveled the world by motorbike (www.abgefahren.org). After reading this our decision was set: We want to take off, too, to see the big wide world.
But like the two of them using motorcycles as vehicle? Neither of us had a driving license, a bike for global travelling requires several technical modifications plus the rest of the equipment you require tens of thousands of Euros which was out of the question for both of us. What’s more: How to find an Enduro for a dwarf like Sonja? :)
Our neighbor Thomas (now our support at home in Germany) had a quick solution at hand and we both immediately embraced his idea: „Why not go by bicycle?“ In the mean time Hubert too had set out cycling to explore first Sweden and then Argentina. We can do that, too!
In 2008 we started planning. We went to a nearby small bike shop and told the mechanic Tom about our global plans. At first he was a little overwhelmed and looked at us incredulously .He found it hard to believe us until we finally picked up our new rides a few weeks later. (A lots of thanks to Tom for his competent technical advice and the effort he made helping us.)
We collected first useful tips how to travel the globe as bicycle-toureros from Hubert, several online patforms and Susi and Daniel from www.grossereise.de . The latter we pestered so long with questions until they finally invited us to stop by with our equipment so they could scrutinize everything. Of course we were completely overloaded and they thoroughly mucked out our panniers for which we are both very grateful.
Henceforth we spent all of our two-week holidays pedaling across Germany packed with bag and baggage to break in our metal mounts and to test and adjust our equipment to our personal needs. We cycled in East Friesland, the Mecklenburg Lake District, the High Eifel, the Black Forest, the Bavarian Forest, the Tauber Valley and along the rivers Rhine, Main, Danube and Altmühl.