I was interested (and thought you might be too) to see some statistics from the first part of my journey cycling around the world; the bike touring adventure from England to Georgia.
Days on the Road: 146 days (4 months and 23 days).
Days cycling: 101.
Days resting: 45.
Distance cycled: 5,155 miles (8,297 kilometres).
Longest Day: 118 miles (190 kilometres). Turkey – No, it wasn’t downhill!
Shortest Day: 12 miles (19.3 kilometres). Germany – I could probably see where I camped the night before!
Most days cycled in a row: 14 (England to Switzerland).
Countries cycled through: 16
Longest time in one country: Turkey – 49 days.
Shortest time in one country: Serbia – 1 hour 23 minutes.
Highest altitude: 2550 metres.
Highest temperature: 43°C
Lowest temperature: -5°C
Fastest speed: 49.5 mph (79.7 kmph) – Sorry mum!
Pedal Strokes: ~ 2.7 million.
Nights in paid accommodation: 3 (Camping in Bosnia after nearly cutting my thumb off)
Nights in free accommodation: 141
- Wild Camping: 71
- Couchsurfing: 19
- Warm Showers: 8
- With Complete strangers: 15
- Workaway: 13
- Staying with family: 12
- Staying with friends: 3
Total amount of money spent: £404.37 (visas, food, accommodation, bike repairs, tourist sights and so on.)
- £2.70 ($4.10) per day
- 5p ($0.07) per kilometre – Cheaper than driving!
Days without a shower: 12 (Turkey)
Scariest Part – Traffic (especially coming into Izmir and Istanbul).
Flat tyres: 9
Mosquito Bites: Thousands! (I spent months camping without a tent).
Most tunnels gone through in one road: 49 – Around 35km of dangerous and boring tunnels in just 50km of road.
Calories consumed: ~Around 5,000 daily.
Weight lost: 7 kilograms.
Favourite countries: Turkey, Montenegro.
Memorable moments: Countless
Amazing people met: Countless
[…] cycled in over a year. I was on a tight budget, with 5 months travelling eventually coming in at only £400 ($600). That first difficult step out of my comfort zone proved to be one of the best decisions I’ve […]
Great read, thanks. What did your food consumption look like on cycling and resting days?
Sorry it took me a while to get back to you Leila.
It was a case of eating whenever I got hungry and trying to keep it as varied as possible. Lots of bread, pasta and (fresh + local) fruit + veg. I also ate far too much cake I would imagine. I found it very cheap and a great source of energy whenever I needed it.
Where are you planning on touring?
Joe We have really enjoyed reading all of your stuff – and now we know how to diet yet eat 5000 cals per day. Amazing! We did just wonder, knowing you might have some time on your hands, you may like to come our way sometime with the full Journal/Story: we could then get you across to see Dan if you wanted this? Bill and Margaret
I’m so happy to hear that! Yes – it was a truly incredible diet. I considered writing a dieting blog post where you can still eat 5,000 cals!
I am currently working 6 days a week in a bar which is keeping me busy and is really invaluable. I’m going to be packed in until Christmas, but next year I am taking some time off to meet up with lots of people and give talks in a few schools. Thanks for the invitation, and I would love to come up and see you!
Fine by us! Give us fair warning. You would be most welcome.
B&M
Great read. As someone on tour and currently in Turkey, i can relate. I do wonder what you eat to get your costs so low. Unless the food is rubbish or low quality, i dont know how you pull under $4.
I didn’t eat rubbish or low quality food much surprising. In Turkey, you may have discovered BIM? I found that a great place to buy cheap food! Lots of bread, pasta, and porridge made up my diet! I was also very lucky to receive much hospitality, in the way of food – often given seasonal fruit or veg along the way! I plan to write a post soon on how I kept it cheap so stay tuned!
Where in Turkey are you? I absolutely loved my time there!
Wow what an interesting read….. So pleased Turkey was one of your favourite countries. I love Turkey.
Thanks Gill!
And yes, absolutely; I LOVED Turkey!
Cool post!
Thanks!