Interview mit bikepedia | The unique free digital bike magazine in Turkey

1) Hello Melli and Dani, welcome to Turkey. First can you introduce yourself?
We are a couple from south of Germany. Since 2019 we are traveling the world by bicycle and we will be on the road for up to 5 more years. We are heading towards Japan but we never know where our route takes us to. 😉

2) What does Vaegabondsworld refer to?
We invented the words “VAEGABOND” & “VAEGABONDSWORLD”. It´s the meaning of beeing a Vagabond, like nomads who are constantly moving around to discover the world. VAEGABONDSWORLD is the name of our social media channels like Instagram and Facebook. If you feel like a nomad, you are a VAEGABOND, join our adventures around the world for another 5 years by following @VAEGABONDSWORLD on instagram, facebook and Youtube.com/vaegabond.

3) Where did you start to your journey, and what were your expectations and aims for this travel?
We started our trip near Nuremberg in Germany in September 2019. Before we came to turkey we explored several countries  in western Europe and Morocco in Africa with our bikes. After corona lockdown in Germany we start again all over balkan towards turkey. Actually our aim is not just getting to Japan. It’s more about the traveling itself. We want to explore other countries, different cultures, trying new food and getting in touch with the local people. This encounters are what makes this trip really unforgettable. There is so much to learn. These experiences and memories really change our lifes. We also want to get beyond our physical and mental limits, to get back to the basics in life and to grow from the inside.

4) So how is it so far? Which countries did you visit?
To be honest: so far it’s really great! Of course there are hard days especially when you feel the pain of cycling every day while it’s windy, raining or your melting under the 45°C sun, also crossing mountains and sleeping outside in your tent almost every night is pretty tough. But it’s definitely worth it! The views over the beautiful landscapes and the people we meet are our rewards. Every day you get up and you don´t know where you will end up and where you are going to sleep tonight.
We’ve already been crossing Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Morocco, Austria, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, North Mazedonia, Bulgaria & now we reached country # 16 Turkey.

5) Which was your favourite country?
It’s hard to pick just one country. We really loved Morocco because of the hospitality of the people, diverse landscapes and the food culture. We also liked the coastline of Croatia with it´s rocky beaches and crystal clear water. And we definitely love Turkey so far! The people are great, the landscape is wonderful and we can not get enough of the delicious food!

6) Do you have any sponsors? Is this travel costy? How much Money did you spend? And will you do anything to earn money on road?
We have a few partnerships concerning our equipment but there is no financial sponsorship. We keep our cost of living low. We avoid eating in restaurants, mostly getting food from the dumpster of supermarket containers and avoiding sleeping in hotels. Like this we can keep our budget on a low level. We are sleeping almost every day in our tent and sometimes we get invitations of local people. In Europe it’s a bit difficult to travel on low budget. So far we had expenses of 3 to 5 Euro per day per person including  insurances. We are producing bicycle touring adventure videos (with subtitles) in high quality on Youtube.com/VAEGABOND so we try to get a compensation for our work via patreon.com/vaegabondsworld. On this platform our followers can support our travels and get something special in return, like early access to our videos, calendar with our pictures or other awesome things.

7) Did you have any strange memory? Where was this memory lived?
So far there was not really a bad thing which occurred to us. In Morocco around the Atlas mountains we were sometimes observed and followed by the police. This was quite a strange feeling but it was for our security, because in 2018 two traveling girls were murdered. To prevent us from attacks and to state a safe tourism in Morocco the police have a closer look on individual travelers in special areas. Despite of that we never feeled unsafe or beeing in danger. We just met heartily and helpful people.

8) Where is your final spot and when will you be there?
We want to cycle to Japan but we don’t know yet if this will be the end of our journey. We could reach it within the next 3 to 5 years. Then we maybe cycle back to Germany via Mongolia and Russia or we take a boot to South America. Maybe we get stuck in a beautiful place in between and stay there for a while. We will see what happens in the future, you can travel with us on youtube.com/VAEGABOND (just turn on subtitles)

9) As last questions? What are your advices to plan such journey on bike? What are vital points, most critical needs for such trips?
Advice: Actually you can do such a trip with cheap equipment or used / second hand stuff as well as with super expensive high end gear. It´s just about your mindset, you dont need fancy or expensive panniers, you can build them on your own. There are plenty of tutorials online.
If you ride at bad weathers, make sure you have  fully water proof bags and rain clothing. Don’t forget to drink enough water!  If you want to save some money avoid staying at hotels or going to restaurants. If you want to get in touch with local people and learn more about their culture use networks like Warmshowers. We made friends all over the world and will host them also in Germany if it’s possible. Try to get to know your bike so you can fix and repair all things by yourself. Have a rough idea of your route and check the map about vertical meters. This has a big influence on the kilometers you ride while planning your route.
Be open to new things, advices and enjoy 🙂