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We are biking borders from Berlin to Beijing to build schools.

Max und Nono


21.September 2018

After four years of studying, we have now graduated from university and decided to bike travel around the world for children’s education. We are simply grateful for the fact that we were able to study. Education has opened us many opportunities to choose from and we think of Biking Borders of our very own way of combining adventure with a chance of giving something back. With this project, we want to create awareness for educational problems. The average length of schooling for Guatemala’s children is only around four years and 24.1% of the population are illiterate. It’s our goal to raise €100.000 for Pencils of Promise to impact children in Guatemala to access quality education. We have chosen Guatemala among all countries because the country is particularly in need of support from the outside after the earliest events such as the volcanic eruption.

Enough with the planning. Let the journey begin!

6 months of planning have come to an end and our bicycle world trip starts. All of a sudden, the day has come. Our last day in Berlin before we start cycling towards Beijing. 6 months of imagining how it’s going to be and then you wake up and think “Oh shit, today is the day. We actually starting cycling towards Beijing today!”  After we had packed our bicycles and made some final adjustments, we met with friends and family for the last time. When we arrived, we were blown away by everybody who came. To be honest, saying goodbye to everybody was hard and yes, there have been tears along the way. But it was also the best motivation we could have possibly received: support from where it counts.

Cycling Central Europe – the first kilometers

The first few days were exciting. We camped in the middle of nowhere, woke up in the morning, had our morning coffee and then it was time to hit the road again. The warm temperatures back at home made cycling all day very enjoyable. However, for the first 300km, our body certainly needed to adjust to the new daily routine. Cycling all day definitely pays its toll. Particularly when you aren’t a passionate cyclist and didn’t train for this trip either. After a few nights in the tent, we decided to spend the night in Dresden. Not knowing where to sleep that night we asked via our Biking Borders social media account for recommendations. It only took a few hours and we had a place to stay. That’s the beautiful side of social media and we were stunned by such kind gestures. We had a fun night and even got a city tour the next morning.

Oh shit, today is the day. We actually starting cycling towards Beijing today!

Our first border crossing on the bicycle

After five days and 334km cycling Central Europe, we crossed the first border on our bicycle world trip and made it to the Czech Republic. Goodbye Germany and hello to the Czech Republic! Crossing the first border by bicycle felt great! It was a special moment and gave us the needed energy to tackle the mountains in the north of Czech Republic. The first and still comparably lower altitude cost us a lot of sweat and required all strengths. Our days the in the Czech Republic were fun. We enjoyed the beautiful weather, delicious food, our daily lunch from the local supermarket and a few pints of what the Czechs are known for: the local beer. Finding the right camping spot though, turned out to be harder than expected. After a few hours of trying to find the perfect spot to build up our tent, exhaustion and hunger made us sleep outside without our tent. We were getting ready to sleep when all of sudden our attention was caught by wolves literally standing two meters from our mattress. Fortunately, nothing happened and after some time the wolves disappeared into the forest. Needless to say, we were scared anyway and decided to build up or tent regardless of the law.

But the Czech Republic also showed us great hospitality. We were given water and fruits or even a place to stay overnight. One evening at the beginning of the second week of our bike travel around the world, we were looking for a cheap accommodation when a local bicycle fan invited us to stay at his place. We thankfully accepted his invitation and experienced a great evening full of good talks, food, and beer.

Hello Austria: Made it to the first Milestone

It took us 15 days to reach our first out of 10 milestones: Vienna. After crossing the Austrian border, we have been so enthusiastic that we spontaneously decided to cycle all the way to Vienna. Since we crossed the border only at 3 pm, we arrived in Vienna at 9 pm – it also marked our first time of cycling 100km in a day! One thing we can definitely say: that Schnitzel was well deserved.

One thing we can definitely say: that Schnitzel was well deserved.

What is next?

After 6 days of staying in Vienna, going through our video content and enjoying the city, we will continue cycling central europe and our bicycle world trip. The next milestone lies ahead: Split in Croatia! It’s 1200km to Split and still 14.400km to our final milestone Beijing. We will continue with our adventure and on our mission to create awareness for educational problems!

Read about Max' and Nonos whole adventure on 

www.bikingborders.com

and watch their story on

Biking Borders Channel

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