Interview with Jamie… | Travelling the world on two wheels

Hey! Well, one thing I could say is that I’m not very good at talking about myself! Here goes…I’m 27 and I’ve been a teacher at What’s Up for a year and a half. I have many interests ranging from art and music to psychology and philosophy…and of course English. But it’s fairly obvious once you’ve known me for a while that I’m passionate about bicycles. Borderline freak.

We have recently found out that you are about to embark on a new personal journey. When will you start?

That’s right. I’m continuing my slow journey around the world by bicycle at the beginning of April, a few days after I leave the academy. Essentially, this is the second part of my trip as I cycled here from Scotland in 2014. By the end of the year I will have cycled to Georgia and by the end of next year, Thailand.

What drew you into seeing the world from a bike saddle? What’s the biggest benefit of cycling around the world?

Wow, there are a lot of benefits! I was drawn into the world of long-distance bicycle travel at 21 when I decided to cycle the length of the UK for charity, and I’ve been hooked ever since. It’s an amazing way to travel. You’re outdoors in the fresh air, surrounded by nature. You can take all the small paths that cars can’t and it’s so easy to stop and absorb the view. That’s one reason why bicycle touring goes so well with photography. The pace of travel is slow so you are really connected with where you are, not just passing through. And importantly for me, it’s free, it’s good exercise and you can eat whatever you want and not get fat! Seeing a bicycle covered in bags makes for some good conversation with the locals too.

Are you sure you want to undertake such a treacherous journey? What’s the hardest thing?

I’ve had a lot of time to think about it. The hardest things about any long distance trip are definitely deciding to go and then leaving. Leaving Barcelona will be the third time I’ve officially packed up and left a place to go somewhere else, and it means leaving my friends here, which I’m quite upset about. However, once you get into a routine on the road, everything becomes easier.

Do you think it will be more of a physical or mental challenge?

Usually I enjoy challenges like climbing mountains and then rolling back down, so I guess it’s more of a mental challenge. It can be hard to motivate yourself during periods of prolonged rain, storms or wind. You just have to keep going. In the end, it’s always worth it. The difficult thing this time will be leaving Europe, as I’ll be experiencing completely different cultures for the first time.

How much money does one need to cycle the world?

That’s a good question, and it depends entirely on what type of trip you want to have. Some people think that 30,000 Euro isn’t enough to travel the world,but I’m sure you could go all the way around for 6,000 on a bicycle…and I think some people have done it for less. I don’t spend a lot as I camp and couchsurf as much as I can. It’s possible to travel thousands of miles by bicycle with only a few hundred Euros this way, and things generally get cheaper as you go east. So my budget will be between 5 and 10 euros a day.

What are your plans from then on? Will we see you once again back in Barcelona?

I try not to make too many plans I can’t stick to, so the future is still very much a mystery for me. It will probably contain lots of cycling and travelling. At the least, it will be a while before I come back here, and it’s too hard to say when right now. But I love this city and the people and I’m definitely going to miss it!

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You can follow his journey on his blog at Bike Ramble: www.bikeramble.com & on Facebook: www.facebook.com/bikeramble) 

Godspeed Jamie, we will miss you!

The What’s Up! Team.