For starters going through Iceland on December with -20 degrees temperatures in one of the least densely populated countries on earth with one single road called “the ring road” going through the country, and with such an extreme weather than even the wind is able to flip trucks over, and staying in a locals farm milking cows between glaciers, waterfalls, volcanos, and black sand beaches all within 5 km reach, and after a month there I almost missed the last ferry to Denmark on the 20th of December as it was 800km from the capital to the east, cycling through the frozen roads and a desert of snow, arriving 30 minutes before departure, almost getting stranded there, if I missed it, there was no more ferries till January

Going through a war zone, in March a little more than a week after the war in Ukraine started I went from Hungary to Poland and then to Ukraine, where I volunteered in Lviv and almost died. My best friend who is like a brother to me is half Ukrainian, and his family was stuck there, plus more friends and friend’s relatives who were suffering there too. When the news came it also affected me as I work remotely with the stock market and I feared a potential war with Nato involvement, so I decided to go and contribute instead of ignoring it. When I got there, and after crossing the hundreds of thousands of refugees going out, some waiting on the border for days, with the queue extending for kilometres, I was assigned to a foreign military group with people mostly from the US and UK, working alongside the Georgian Legion, a legion created after the Crimea takeover, and the Russian occupation in Georgia. I helped by providing medical assistance, building defences and helping transport refugees for a week. We were all sleeping on the floor of a basement of a government building sealed with barricades made with sandbags covering the windows in case of a missile explosion blast, that night we were woken up at 2 am by the commander officer, warning of a very high risk of missile strike to out base, we all then rushed to get our bulletproof vests and to the bunker, which was just another basement with thicker walls. I remember being out on the street with 30 other men waiting for instructions to go into the bunker, while they were arguing between going to the artillery, going to the nearby forest or taking cover on the bunker which is not certain that it could hold the blast. The Georgians where missing which made everyone panic, we then decided to go in the bunker, some left on their own and after an hour the Georgians appeared with some civilians, we then spent the whole night waiting for the sun to rise, while the sound of the emergency siren couldn’t let anyone think properly. In the morning we were informed that the bigger base 40 km from us and 20km from Poland was hit by 7 strikes killing 60 and injuring 300, I knew someone in that camp who came out uninjured. We were the second largest foreign base, and we could’ve been hit. After then I decided to change into loading and unloading supplies into trucks and spending the nights in the city with a local family who took me in. I left shortly after.

When my first bike broke in England I ended up volunteering for a month in a Buddhist temple. It was a special bike, weighing 120km with the luggage and in order to cycle properly it had electrical assistance, but using it in the lowest level to counter the weight, and the only shop that could give me replacements for it in Europe was in the Netherlands. The Temple was one of the largest in Europe, and after a week of trying to figure out what was broken as the display wouldn’t turn on, a extremely positive and funny monk help me call the company, over the course of two weeks and while helping in maintenance, painting and gardening, we called the company up to three times a day trying to figure out a deal and a way to get the replacements sent, but at the end it didn’t work out. After some time I decided I couldn’t stay longer and the monk proposed me to go all in and cut the cables to find the problem, we did that and on the process we cut the cable while the battery was on causing a small explosion that almost electrocuted him, he laughed at it and we thought if that didn’t definitely kill the bike it would be a miracle, we kept cutting and we found the broken cable, so then we took an old cable and plumbed it together, I remember it being midnight, 12h before I was supposed to leave and the monk and I looking at each other while pressing the “On” button, and it worked. Then I cycled 2000km with the bike full of tape to Netherlands where I got the replacements, then in Germany I left it in a friends house and bought one of the cheapest bikes in decathlon, which I’ve been using for almost a year now.

On July 2022 I entered Central Asia for the first time, arriving in Kazakhstan, it was summer, I had less than 2 months to cross Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, through the desserts, the ancient cities, the remainings of the Soviet era, it’s isolated mountains, etc. Starting in Aktau on the Caspian sea, the largest inland body of water on earth, and took me more than 2 weeks to cross the country, going through the new capital of Nur-Sultan, built from scratch in 20 years with stunning building and a futuristic like look, weirdly placed in the middle of the semi-arid desert where some centuries ago there were more wolves than people in the region, and south to the beautiful Almaty on the base of the Tien shan mountain range, a very green, welcoming city, with canyons, lakes and 3000m mountains on its surroundings, but the most enjoyable part of the country was the generosity of the people, where even though they can’t speak well english they welcome you to their house, feed you and insist in giving you all that you could need, all with a big hearted smile. I then entered Kyrgyzstan a country of stunning nature, with 93% of the country being mountains, while going through the highest point/road on my journey at 3400m I meet a group of locals whose car broke down, they invited me to eat with them some chicken by the fire and then they invited me to their wedding about 800km south, I accepted and they called a friend with a truck to fix the car and take my bike. The wedding was amazing, different to anything I’ve ever seen, I’ve never seen so much food in my life, it was full of dances and traditional singing, just a few people spoke English but everyone knew my name and was happy to welcome me, laughing, smiling and trying to ask me hundreds of questions all with excitement and curiosity, later on the evening I was called in front of 300 people to thank me for coming all the way to their country, and they gave me a present. Amazing experience; then I continued to Uzbekistan, a country with mind-blowing architecture and history, Tashkent the capital and the best metropolis on Central Asia, well developed, clean, with many opportunities and a good culture, but the best of the country without a doubt are the ancient cities of Samarkand built by Alexander the Great, developed by Timur the conqueror and destroyed by Genghis Khan, Bukhara the city of merchants looking like an alien bazaar like Tatooine from Star Wars and the old city of Khiva one of my favourite cities I’ve been to, it feels like being transported 1000 years in time. All while travelling hundreds of kilometres between desert and endless roads. On the way I visited the mountains of Tajikistan, with one of the most beautiful mountain lakes I’ve ever seen between Samarkand and Dushanbe, and again incredibly friendly people. Central Asia was unforgettable, and it broke completely the stereotypes that I had about it, probably the best time I had in the journey.

In May of 2022 I went to Mount Olympus, or also known as the mountain of the gods. The mountain peak was covered in snow, but before reaching the top there is a 10h hike through the most beautiful trails ever, so I decided to go without gear, just with my usual jeans and a sweater. The first part of the trail consisted of almost 2000m of elevation starting from sea level following the river up the green mountains. Once I reached the refuge at the base of the peak I couldn’t feel my legs; on the morning I met a professional climbers who were also attempting to get to the peak, but after an hour of hiking and climbing with snow to the knees, they decided to cancel and go back because of the danger of the fresh snow, and they had special gear. I didn’t, but I continued anyway. The snow was more and more slippery and deeper, but I managed to get to the crest of the mountain, facing a cliff and a drop of more than a thousand metres. But the most difficult part was ahead, first climbing down a cliff with a massive drop to each side, and then climbing up 100 metres of rocky walls with around a 90% steepness without ropes. When you look down you can’t see the bottom, you are above the clouds, and I knew that thinking of falling would just make it more real, I did not have fear, because the only thing in my mind was me and the mountain. I got to the top, and after the long walk down I got a certificate and the main rental shop personally congratulated me.

I’m writing a book and filming a documentary of the journey, which I will work hard on reaching as many people as possible and make it with the best quality I possibly can.

I would like to share my journey because the world is a beautiful place, because life is the most powerful thing there is, and because I believe in people and how much love there is out there. And I can say with certainty that the experiences I had during my trip made me understand who I am, the world, how to find happiness even in the smallest of things and how to love, how to love life and everything in it. I believe everyone is capable of doing great things, no matter the physical barrier as long as one can overcome the mental one; we are writing the book of our life; painting the white canvas; paving the road of our own life with every decision we make, and we must strive to live a life that will reflect who we were, a book that was written with our thoughts and actions and that when we are not longer here we could look at it and feel peace and relief.

These are some relevant links:

• Short Film Bike Journey: https://youtu.be/HPxsSg-bVOM

• Youtube/Blog Film from all +40 countries: https://youtu.be/Ig0gAazFHzE

• In the section “about me” you can read my story, what made me take this decision and what made my who I am; essentially the story of what I’ve lived and what I strive to live:
https://charleswinmar.com/about-me-1