How to travel the world by bike for free (almost)

Information, advice, and knowledge about cycling long distance with the smallest effort.

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I started enjoying cycling so much that I have decided to do the slowest tour of the world.

TABLE OF CONTENT

CYCLING: HANDY OR NOT?

I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to take a train or plane if I traveled by bicycle, so I decided not to start from home with it.

Later, I have noticed that it was quite easy to get a bicycle in any city I traveled to.
What I did was just getting a bicycle (recycled), customize it a bit: side bags, basket and phone holder; and use it for all kinds of traveling, or daily transportation.

I would sell or give away the bike and replace it quickly if it gets damaged, stolen, or if I need to use other transportation means, such as plane.

I am not pro-flights, because airplanes pollute a lot, but if you really need to take one, try kiwi.com or SkyScanner.net to find the cheapest tickets.

WHEN TO TRAVEL

Choose the right month. Remember that even minor factors can contribute a lot:

Altitude, for example; you can be in a ´warm country´, but if you are high on a mountain, it will be cold.
Sunrise Orientation (east). Think that if there are mountains on the east side, you may get no sun in the morning.
Wind: it is VERY important when you cycle.

SLEEPING PLACES

My first suggestion is to get a small tent. It gives you a lot of independence and you can even use it as a discreet way to sleep at people places: “hallo, could I pitch my tent here?”—you ask—“you are welcome at home”—the hospitable local will often reply—.

Any place can be a sleeping place:

Under construction buildings;
A city park;
Beaches;
Parked Containers;

In case of troubles:

Firefighting stations;
Churches;
Hospitals;

In extreme situations:

Public Toilets;
‘Squattable’ buildings;

NightSwapping

HomeExchange – A unique concept that gives you both benefits of Airbnb and Couchsurfing. Hosting/surfing community, where you can also have an entire place independently, based on night credits instead of money.

Hospitality communities:

WarmShowers – Cyclist Oriented (many information and feature for Bicycle Travelers)
BeWelcome – Open, non-profit hospitality community
CouchSurfing – For-profit hospitality exchange
TrustRoots – Hitchhikers Hospitality Community
Rainbow Gathering – More than a hospitality community, a worldwide family

Volunteering Work/Accommodation exchange (20hrs of work/week = food + accommodation):

WorkAway – The most well-organized and structured website for work/accommodation
HelpEx – Many volunteering opportunities, but the site interface is not too modern
Wwoofing – Organic Farm Volunteering, the first travel work/accommodation exchange community
HelpStay.com – New platform where volunteers and hosts can match, the staff of the website will manually add your listing once you send it to them.

Renting an affordable place:

Google Vacation Rentals – Private accommodation on different platforms
Airbnb.com – Rent from locals, the biggest online community; mostly for a few days, but often you can negotiate longer stays and prices and get great deals!
HousingAnywhere.com – Sublets, 50% of the first month’s costs is paid as a fee. Platform made officially for students.
Roomorama.com – Similar to Airbnb, but smaller. With fewer features.
EasyRoommate.com – House sharing and renting ad; mostly for a few months at least
HostelWorld.com – Biggest Hostel website

GETTING FOOD

Always finish all the food you are eating, don’t trash leftovers.
Organize your food so that you eat first the things that have a shorter shelf life. For example, in the refrigerator you can put them on the easiest to access shelf.
Eat fruit with the peels. Almost all fruit has edible peels —except Pineapple and Pomegranate —and it contains even more nutrition.
FoodSharing – Search, and eventually volunteer, for a FoodSharing organization nearby. You can get free food there. You can also share the food that you don´t eat.
Prefer local traditional things, they are cheaper and easier to get.
How to find wild edibles
FallingFruit.org – Online Edible’s map
WorldWide Dumpsterdiving Google Map

HAVE ALWAYS A LOT OF WATER

You need probably four bottles of water. The more the better.

Most importantly, whenever you find a place where you can refill water, do it.

You can also knock on doors.

WHAT TO TAKE WITH YOU

Take as little as possible, you can always take more.
In Theater, they say: ” less is more” , it applies also in travel and in life.
A small list of what to put in your bag:

Bicycle with some accessories (it doesn’t need to be an expensive one)
Chromebook (for about 100 euros)
Android smartphone (that can run the last Android version)
Mini Sleeping Bag
Ultralight Sleeping mat
Backpack, small & cabin size (max 50 L)
Medicines: Cayenne pepper, Turmeric, Bullrich Salt (for digestion)

*using the Facebook marketplace, or going to flea markets, you can get items nearly for free.

HEALTH

Unfortunately, health care is not always free. If you are an EU citizen, you have to be considered as a local in all EU states. There is an Android App that gives you all info.

Do Yoga! The most important thing is to keep your health good. Even if you can’t go to a class, you can use one of the best yoga apps out there.
A travel insurance can be useful, Revolut is an online bank with one of the most affordable insurances for travelers.
Ada, Artificial Intelligence doctor, always with you. It will make diagnoses and symptoms check any time, extremely accurately. On Android app.
Google Maps is a wonderful tool to find health services around, but make sure they have several positive reviews. Remember to leave reviews after your experience.
WhatClinic is a great portal to find good doctors.
Orthodontics on the go? You can use this code for a discount: 70ca74554d
Teeth Whitening kit , one of the best.

NAVIGATION AND ROUTING

Komoot navigator gives you the altitude graph of your routing.
Mapy.cz is the second best navigator for bikepacking.
GuruMaps navigator has plenty of options and also cycling navigation.
Basic ‘Natural Navigation’ skills can help a lot in case of emergency (for example, finding the north).
naturalnavigator.com is an excellent website featuring material about the topic.

DON’T ALWAYS TRUST THE NAVIGATOR: AVOID UNPAVED ROADS

Always use many navigator apps, cycling navigation may bring you on unpaved roads. Compare car navigation with cycling navigation and use Google Maps in satellite view to understand better what kind of terrain is in front of you.

IF THERE IS A GOOD CAMPING SPOT, STOP THERE

Better to stop earlier in a good place, where you have time and light to prepare your camping setting than to end up in a random—maybe dangerous—place without light. It’s difficult to camp in the darkness, if not extremely dangerous.

CHECK THE BICYCLE EVERY TIME YOU START A NEW DAY OF CYCLING

In the morning, when you start a new day of cycling, it’s important to check that all is fine with the bicycle. Therefore, avoid using headphones for at least ten minutes and keep your ears tuned to notice any noise.

Sometimes, by loading the bicycle, there may be something not in the right place.

COMMUNICATING

SIM CARDS
Internet eSim Card (use code: LUCA0584)
Sim Card information by country
Wi-Fi Hotspot apps
Wi-Fi Map Pro – Maps with location of hotspots (and passwords) – For download offline you have to pay
Search for a Free Wi-Fi App, maybe a local app in the place that you are heading to

GETTING AND SHARING KNOWLEDGE

WikiTravel (Alternative ‘touristic’ information’s)
NomadWiki (Knowledge about traveling nomadism)
Google Travel is a great resource to know about places where you are going to, remember to leave reviews on Google Maps!

LANGUAGES AND LEARNING

How to learn a language in a month for free – Triangle System
Phrasebooks: Always learn the basics of the local language.

MONEY & GETTING ITEMS

Cash wiki (information about how to earn some money)

Online banks such as Wise, Paysera and Revolut can help you pay and receive money abroad, or pay at local shops anywhere in the world.

Flea Markets – Search ‘flea market’ on Google maps (often you get items almost for free)

LEGAL MATTERS

CLAIMS AGAINST PUBLIC OFFICES, AUTHORITIES, OR POLICE

Here below the hierarchy of whom to present your claim if the police/institution didn’t take care properly of it (or of you).
In case you are not satisfied with the outcome of your first complaint, you can escalate it to the higher-ranking institution in this list:

Chief of the Police Office (where you presented the first complaint)
Regional Police Office
Federal (or National) Police office
Police Ombudsman
City Ombudsman
National Ombudsman
European Ombudsman, or any similar
United Nations Ombudsman
Contact local and global Mass Media

Even if some mentioned offices do not provide you with support directly, they may guide you to the right door.
Legal aid in Europe – Detailed information about your rights in the EU.

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