One Year on Two Wheels

3 Continents (Europe🌍, Africa🌍, Asia🌏)
19 Countries (Portugal🇵🇹, Spain🇪🇸, Morocco🇲🇦, France🇫🇷, Monaco🇲🇨, Italy🇮🇹, Slovenia🇸🇮, Croatia🇭🇷, Serbia🇷🇸, Bosnia🇧🇦, Montenegro🇲🇪, Albania🇦🇱, Macedonia🇲🇰, Bulgaria🇧🇬,
Turkey🇹🇷, Greece🇬🇷, India🇮🇳, Thailand🇹🇭, Myanmar🇲🇲)
8 Flights ✈️ (San Diego-Boston-Lisbon) (Marseille-Paris-Marseille) (Athens-Istanbul-Mumbia)
(Chennai-Bangkok-Phuket)
14 Islands 🌴 (Croatia: Hvar, Solta, Korcula) (Greece: Chios, Paros, Santorini, Naxos, Mykonos, Crete) (Turkey: Bozcaada) (Thailand: Phuket, Phi Phi, Samui, Ko Tao)
12 different currencies💲(Euro, Dirham, Kuna, Dinar, Convertible Mark, Lek, Denar, Lev, Lira, Rupee, Baht, Kyat)
15,948.6 Kilometers or 9,910.1 miles for you Americans…LOL
387,450 Feet of Elevation (the equivalent of just 15 AIDS/LifeCycle in one year)

This past Tuesday, March 6th, marked our one year anniversary of traveling mainly on two wheels when we landed in Lisbon, Portugal. I’m filled with many emotions from this incredible journey I’m on with Tim and feeling ever so blessed and thankful on many levels. As you might’ve read from Tim’s post, it’s not how either one of us imagined to celebrate this milestone with him stuck in the hotel room near the toilet with food poisoning and me lounging at the infinity pool gazing out at the mountains of Myanmar. But alas, a higher power and the concern for our safety and health has put us in this moment taking rest days now in the formal capital of Yangon. We just picked up our passports at the Thai embassy, booked a driver to take us back to the border of Thailand on Saturday, and making decisions for the rest of our touring in Southeast Asia with a possibility of slowing down in Thailand until after my 50th birthday in July.

First of all, I want to thank Tim for his planning, sense of adventure, and most importantly, his patience with me on this incredible journey he’s put us both on. Our compassion and love of traveling combined is unstoppable, and I can’t imagine being on this adventure with anyone else but him. I always dreamed of seeing the world, but never imagined it would be on two wheels….and I honestly can’t imagine any other way now. It’s in our opinion the best way to see a country and especially the quiet non-touristy areas where we are sometimes the only Westerners around. That took a little bit of getting used to at first but now we just roll with it smiling and waving and striking up conversations with the locals.

Secondary, I want to thank all our families and friends for their continued prayers, love, support, text messages, comments on the blog, Facebook, or Instagram. We feed off of this energy and LOVE it so much, and wouldn’t be where we are today without all of YOU. Since I took a step back from “The Book of Face” and deleted the app from my phone (best decision I ever made) at the beginning of this year, I’ve enjoyed keeping in touch with people more through a more personal form with FB or Instagram Messenger, or a WhatsApp/Google Hangouts text message. We’ve also enjoyed sending postcards for birthdays and anniversaries through an app I found called MyPostcard. The best part of it is including one of our original photos and also knowing it will be delivered within one week, hence buying the postcard, finding a post office, and relying on the delivery process of each country.

Some people will ask us, “What are your favorite countries so far”, and while that is often a hard one to answer because we have gained and learned so much from each country. If I had to answer the question though, here are my top 5 picks with a couple of honorable mentions.

Top 5 Countries

1. Portugal: This was my first experience with Europe and will always hold a special place in my heart for that reason. From the cobblestone streets and sidewalks to the amazing food it captured every essence I ever imagined that Europe would be. We enjoyed two free walking tours in Lisbon, and met some other wanderlust travelers (Megan Graham & Jessica Franzetti) that we still keep in contact with and hope to meet up with again someday around the world. We also met another cycle touring couple (Dana & Anne Douglass) from Maine on the ferry out of Lisbon to start our tours, and still keep in contact with them as well. The camping was amazing and we stayed with our first Warm Showers hosts, Nuno & Joana, just outside of Evora. Portugal has a rich, unique culture, lively cities and beautiful countryside. Although it was once one of the poorest countries in Western Europe, the end of dictatorship and introduction of Democracy in 1974 as well as its incorporation into the EU in 1986, has meant significantly increased prosperity. We pedaled along the beautiful Algarve just before the tourist season started and had many of the campgrounds to ourselves. We can highly recommend a visit to this country that gets overlooked with it’s other more popular Western European countries.

2. Croatia: I knew from the beginning of our trip that I would love this country with it’s long coastline along the Adriatic Sea, and it’s thousand encompassing islands. Unexpectedly, I fell in love even more with the capital Zagreb and the inland beauty this country has to offer. In Zagreb, we met up with our first friend from back in the states, Roko Cinovcic & met his lovely Mom Katarina Dragicevic enjoying many fun dinners and just happened to be there during there 15th annual LGBT Pride celebration that we walked in the parade with both of them. We enjoyed the comic relief of the Museum of Broken Relationships (they also have one in LA), and a “Secret Zagreb” walking tour with a guide that took us to remote places in the city including some amazing street art. While we were in Zagreb, Roko and his Mom suggested we cycle through Serbia and Bosnia while we were waiting to get back in the Schengen Visa zone of Greece that we had to wait 90 days for so we said “sure, why not”. It was never in our plans to see those countries and we are so thankful we took their advice. After Serbia & Bosnia, we went back to the coast of Croatia to Split & Hvar Island to meet up with some AIDS/LifeCycle friends (Cailin Corbett, Brian Bostwick, Megan Reilly, Madison Dempsey), and met their friend Celia Mueller too. We were so excited to meet up with these friends from So Cal, and not just for the caramel M & M’s they brought us but for the “love bubble” connection that initially brought Tim and I together in 2016 when we joined Team Mo’s and trained together for the 545 mile ride from SF to LA. When you’re around these people you can’t help but have a smile on your face as they’re the friends that become your FAMILY who lifts you up and encourages you to be a better human being everyday changing and saving lives. We celebrated my last birthday in my 40’s with them on the island of Hvar and enjoyed a fun bike ride, and dip in the crystal clear blue aqua water in a little cove we found. We then met up with another ALC friend Matteo Di Giovinazzo & Denis Emme from Italy that brought us a care package that arrived too late in Italy which gave them an excuse to come to Croatia and meet us again after we had spent a day cyclying into Venice with Matteo back in May. Now it was time to make our way to Dubrovnik where I learned my cousins Mark, Michelle, and Nicole Greiwe were going to be on a stop for a cruise they were on. It was great to see family and introduce them to Tim. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset hike and dinner with them inside the city walls one evening. We also met another couple we struck up a conversation with at a cafe in Dubrovnik that were visiting from Los Angeles (Pete Alexander & Ray Cochran), and enjoyed several dinners. We also enjoyed my first time at a ballet where we saw Swan Lake at an outdoor theatre that was magical beyond belief and loved the pianist who played within the city walls of Dubrovnik at there annual Summer Concert Series. The thought of being in Dubrovnik (Disneyland) for a week was not in our original plans but Tim broke his prescription glasses and needed new cyclying shoes so we had to stop to wait for both of those….and had it not been for seeing family and meeting new friends we might have gone crazy being there that long.

3. Bosnia: As I mentioned, this was not in our original plan in pedaling across Europe, but we will be forever grateful for the recommendation and expierience in this country that all we grew up hearing about is a war every 20 some years. Tim wrote an amazing blog post back in June titled “Top 10 Reasons to visit Bosnia”, and he explains it so well for both of us. If anything this adventure has taught us is more about history than I ever learned in a textbook in HS or College….and let’s be honest, History was never my favorite subject but now I’m fascinated by it more and more with each border crossing. While in the capital of Sarajevo, we arrived at the end of Ramadan, and the city became alive that evening with locals dressed in their best and celebrating the end of the holiday eating, drinking, and just enjoying life. We enjoyed two free walking tours (tip based and highly recommend these all throughout Europe). We covered the 500 year old history from Ottoman, Austro hungarian times, Yugoslavia, 92-95 war to present times, and sights related to siege time, like Sarajevo roses, Children’s Memorial,, canned beef memorial, and snipper alley. The tours were given by two guides in their late 20’s that grew up as children of war when they were 6 or 7 years old and taken to the basement of their apartment building to live and attend school for several years with their families. We also went to the museum Gallery 11/07/95, where they aim to preserve the memory of the Srebrenica genocide where over 8000 people tragically lost their lives. It wasn’t the easiest museum we’d ever been as it overwhelmed us both the moment we walked in, but they’ve done a beautiful job honoring these people through many forms of multimedia content including images, maps, and audio. It’s sad what’s happened over the years in this country and all they are remembered for sometimes is just wars and the one Winter Olympics they hosted in 1984 our tour guides told us. We hope they get to host another Olympics soon, and that you’ll consider visiting this beautiful landscaped country one day. Another thing we learned on the tour is that they have 3 Presidents in Bosnia, one being a Bosniak, one Croatian, and one Serbian that serve a four year term, and they all have to agree for anything to pass through legislation….can you imagine that in the US? 😆🤔😜. We also fell in love with the daily ritual we would hear of the call to prayer from the countless beautiful mosques we gazed upon throughout the country. PS….Don’t forget to read that Top 10 blog that Tim wrote.

4. Turkey: This was a country we were both very much looking forward to from so many recommendations of friends, family, and two of our last cycle tourist we hosted in San Diego with the Warm Showers Community. It would also mark our milestone of cyclying the length of Europe during our first six months on tour. We instantly fell in love with the food and it continued along from there with the warm and friendly welcoming people. We could eat Burek everyday which are baked filled pastries of a thin flakey dough known as phyllo and is usually filled with cheese, meat, or spinach and found all throughout the Balkans. Thanks to my cousin’s Brian & Katie Greiwe that used to live in Turkey for the quick responses they would give to a question we would ask in our Whatsapp group chat on what to order from a menu….although they both were quite envious when we sent pictures. We also fell in love with the Baklava and Turkish Delight sweets too. We met and stayed with two different couch surfing guests in Kirklareli and Biga that both went above and beyond to make us extra comfortable and show us around their respective cities. We enjoyed our time in Istanbul during their holiday called Sacrifice Feast which made the city half as full as locals traveled to their families outside of the city. It caused the famous market the Grand Bazaar to be closed but we loved our tour of the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque and just wondered and ate our way around the beautiful city staying on the Asia side of Istanbul.

5. Thailand: The Land of Smiles and 🍤🍤🍤 -Shrimp Cakes
-Shrimp Som Tam (Papaya Salad)
-Shrimp Pad Thai
-Shrimp Pad Khi Mao (Drunken Noodles)
-Shrimp Tam Kha (Coconut Soup)
-Gaeng Som Phrik Sod (Hot & Sour Prawns with Green Mango
I mean seriously what’s not to love about anything made with shrimp, and in Thailand it’s usually peeled for you already just like the states and unlike Spain where I had to work to get to the meat of the shrimp and could still see there eyes. We decided to start in Phuket where Tim has two friends that I was excited to finally meet the Selfie King Colin and Tims longtime friend Mitch from the US Virgin Islands when they both used to live there. Once again we fell in love with the food just as we knew we would from it being one of our favorite cuisines when we both lived in San Francisco and San Diego where surprisingly you find good authentic Thai food, but what better place to get it now in the mother land. I love the tropical and greenery all over Thailand and could find myself staying in this cycle friendly country. The street food is amazing and we love trying new things at the numerous night and floating markets in every city. We have both said you would never go hungry here with the numerous motorcycle food carts that we pedal by all day long and it’s so reasonable. I think the cheapest we’ve found Pad Thai is 30 Bhat ($1.00 USD). The islands are amazing and we met up with another ALC friend of Tim’s (Jennifer Spinner and her wife Kat Broadway) that were celebrating their honeymoon and happened to see our post on Facebook on Koh Samui. The rural areas outside of the major cities are a cyclist paradise with wide shoulders and curtious drivers that are aware of you constantly. It was then onto Bangkok which we don’t recommend trying to cycle into but I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to see my friend Angela Conlon who was starting her Thailand vacation there and we hadn’t seen each other in over 20 years back in our hometown of Muncie, Indiana.

Honorable Mentions

Italy: What’s not to AM♥️RE about Italy. Isn’t it on everyone’s bucket list of places they’d like to travel to? Well it was mine and we only had 3 weeks to pedal across it as our Schengen Visa (Google It…LOL) was about to expire where you only get 90 days in certain parts of Europe. We wanted to see Rome and Sicily, but will save that for another adventure. I loved all the pizzas, pastas, and pastries that you hear, see, and read about. Cinque Terre was a huge highlight, and seeing the Giro d Italia bike race while we were in Florence too. Venice was nice but way to many tourist for both of us. I’d rather of been there last week when they received snow….I think.

Greece: This country again has always been on the top of my travel list of places I wanted to see during my lifetime, and it was Tim’s first time to this part of Europe as well. We arrived at the end of the season so we didn’t get to see as many of the islands as we wanted to because of limited operating ferry schedule’s. We both agree that Santorini is a must see but you can skip Mykonos unless you want to party, party, party. We loved the less know islands and amount of cyclying we could explore on the bigger island of Crete. The Greek salads, moussaka, and dolmades we’re some of our favorite cuisines as we cycled less and gained more weight. Butt…we both agree that this trip is all about the food in every country we’ve pedaled through and not about losing weight no matter how much we’ve cycled. We also met up with two more ALC peeps Erik Zamora and Andrea Casalboni, and it was great meeting them for a stunning sunset dinner high above the cliffs of Santorini. Jean Loutzenheiser Scherbert and Jill Micheli were also in Greece celebrating their year of turning 40 with some other friends. We only saw them for a quick visit wishing we’d had more time with these two crazy girls.

When we were in India, we we’re interviewed about our adventure around the world and asked what our Mission & Message was. This is the simple response we both came up with for that question…

We see a lot of division in the world recently with governments (including the USA) telling stories of how other countries, cultures, religions or people are somehow different and less worthy than us. We hope to show (and have found so far) that there are kind, generous, and loving people everywhere, and in fact we are all the same people.

Stay tuned for my next blog post where I will discuss the happiness of the Specialized bikes we chose for this tour and answer these two questions…..What do we miss? How do we spend 24/7 together? I felt this one was long enough and will do a photo blog soon of my favorite pictures from the 19 countries we visited in the past year. Are you following us on Instagram where I prefer to Photo Blog with hashtags.
Steve…scubastevecyclist
Tim……timo4242