Kamran has made cycling a lifestyle

Kamran Ali

Pakistan

kamranonbike.com

Das Limit bin nur ich

Cape to Cape

TRAVEL INFO

10 Years

50.000 Km

43 Countries

Ali Kamran is pakistan cyclist visited 43 countries and in 10 years, he traveled 50,000 kilometers and gave up his job a computer programmer, his house and his car, to realize the dream of young people to discover the world on a bicycle. The road taught him a lot of wisdom, and he lived on top of his pleasure, as he wanted to do, flying free between mountains and forests.

What’s in her bag

Interview

We asked Ali: When did you start traveling around the world on your bike?

He said: I started touring the world on a bike ten years ago. I had a dream about cycling from Germany to Pakistan, and I waited a decade to make it happen. I ended up quitting my job to be able to take this trip. I bought a bike, packed two cameras in my bike baskets and hit the road. I have been a non-stop traveler since 2015.

Question: What inspired you to give up your career in software development and start cycling around the world?

He said: Perhaps it was the call of fate!!! I was born in Pakistan. In 2002 I was accepted into a university in Germany and made a flight from Islamabad to Frankfurt. As I looked through the plane window, I was fascinated by the spaciousness and landscape stretching below. I imagined a small dot moving on an endless strip of tarmac slithering across the rugged terrain. With the plane still in the air, I made a secret promise to myself, “One day, I’ll bike back from Germany to Pakistan!” In Germany, I finished my master’s and doctorate degrees and worked as a computer programmer. The dream of my father and my whole family has come true. I paid off loans, got an apartment, a car, and built a secure future. But something wasn’t right. There was not a single day I did not remember the dream. I couldn’t sleep well. I was staring at a world map the whole time. Every hour I remembered a promise to myself. Not being able to follow my dream made me question the purpose of existence. I spoke to my boss and asked for time off, but he said I needed to work another ten years at the company to qualify. A few days later, I handed him my letter of resignation. Then I gave up my apartment, my car, and everything else. Two weeks later, I was on a 10,000km bike trip from Germany to Pakistan.

Question: Was the decision to leave your career met with resistance from your family?

He said: When I told my family that I wanted to ride a bike to Pakistan, they were all shocked.

Mom said: “Sons who live abroad rush home, but you chose the slowest way back!”

My older brother, who once sold his motorcycle to pay college fees, said, “You’re wasting our efforts. Why choose the poor man’s car?”

Our family has a humble background. Although they always knew I was crazy, they still couldn’t understand why I left my well-paid job in Germany for the sake of cycling.

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Question: What countries did you ride through?

He said: “I have cycled across 43 countries on four continents, covering a total distance of 50,000 kilometres.

Here is the list of countries:

Europe: Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Denmark, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Italy, San Marino, Malta, Luxembourg, Belgium, Netherlands, France, England.
Asia: Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Pakistan.
South America: Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia.
Central America: Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize.
North America: Mexico, the United States, and Canada.

Question: What advice would you give to those who want to take bike trips?

He said: Slow down! Don’t press too hard. Instead of logging kilometers and trying to get to the next town, take a minute while you’re on the road. Look left and right, wave to people, and stop frequently to chat with them, take pictures, exchange stories and gifts. As you slow down, new perspectives and details will emerge, and you’ll start seeing the world with different eyes.

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Question: What are your favorite locations to ride a bike around the world?

He said: I had an unforgettable time in all countries. But if I had to mention a few, they would be:

Patagonia (Chile and Argentina),
Altiplano in Bolivia,
Highlands in peru,
Guatemala,
Baja California in Mexico,
National parks in the United States,
The road from Dawson City to Tuktoyaktuk in Canada,
Dalton highway in Alaska,
Pamir Highway in Tajikistan,
Karakoram Highway in Pakistan.

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Question: What experiences does cycling open up to you around the world that other ways of traveling do not?

He said: Riding a bike for long distances is a unique way to see the world. You not only visit the hotspots, but you also experience everything in between. It slows you down so you can think about every encounter. It makes you prone to experiencing kindness with strangers. It cultivates a sense of belonging to the whole. On a bicycle, you connect well with Mother Nature. Feel the wind, experience the slope and road surface, and enjoy an unobstructed view out of the saddle while fully exposed to the elements. You have to earn every mile. Every part of the road is either pain or joy, and you will remember it forever. You travel at a pace where you can wave to people and respond to their greetings and questions. Since you can’t travel very long distances in a day, you often have to find food, water, and a safe place to sleep between cities. You have to get close to people who live away from the main road. This allows you to experience their lifestyle and collect stories and lessons.

Question: What advice would you give to people who want to travel by bike and achieve their dreams?

He said: There is a reason why we crave something. Our desires emerge from the depths of our soul and slowly take the form of dreams. Nothing sets us apart more than our dreams. The universe is a jigsaw puzzle, and our dreams are a way the universe guides us to play our part in the grand scheme of things.