33-year-old Madeline Hoffmann reached Karachi after traveling to 18 countries on a bicycle.
Imran
My name is Madeline Hoffmann. I am originally from Germany. Ten years ago I moved to Australia, Sydney, and last year I had decided to travel solo on my bicycle. I have decided to go on this journey because a few years ago I found out that my father is actually Turkish and I had no idea about his identity.
So I got the idea to cycle with my bicycle from my old culture, Germany,
to my new culture, Turkey. And this journey led me through twelve countries in Europe. And I experienced wonderful landscapes, really hospitable people. And after four and a half months cycling through Europe I arrived at my father's place in Kayseri. I finally got to meet him and my whole Turkish family, my grandma, my aunts, my cousins. And we spent seven weeks together.
And after seven weeks I had decided this journey to myself cannot stop yet.
So I went to the Middle East and continued cycling through Jordan, Saudi Arabia, UAE. And finally about ten days ago I took the plane from Dubai to Karachi.
I think at first he couldn't grasp what I was doing and his first sentence he ever said to me was where did you have that courage from? I mean I really like the historical buildings that they still stand.
It's really beautiful. It gives the city kind of a mix between the old and the new. And yeah, the food is delicious. I'm really happy to try traditional local food like halva puri, aloo paratha, drink chai.
It's amazing to be here and experience the Pakistani culture. The difference is quite big actually. I've spent the last seven months in Muslim countries. So the hospitality is really great and people are very inviting and friendly.
And kind of always checking in on me if I need any help. So that has been wonderful. Yeah, I mean of course traveling by bicycle is not an easy thing to do. So there are physical hurdles, mental hurdles, mountains, rain, snow, extreme heat in the desert, distances, man. You know, problems with my bicycle.
I have to repair when I'm in the middle of nowhere. Countless flat tires. I mean, you know, I was always cycling back into work. And then last year when I knew I'm going on this journey, I tried to make sure I kind of have the knowledge of repairing small things that could break on the bicycle.
Of course how to repair flat tire and how to insert the brake pads. Then on my journey the gear cable broke.
So I now have the knowledge how to fix it. I always call it kind of learning by doing. But also last year I was actually lucky that the city of Sydney where I live offered a free bike maintenance course. So when I saw that I signed up for it. But you know that would be more like the basics. Like how to change a flat tube and how to adjust the brakes. But of course the more knowledge the better. Yeah, well I had one bad experience in my tent while I was sleeping.
Because usually I wild camp where as I'm traveling solo as a woman I of course have to make sure that actually nobody can see my tent. Or nobody sees me going in the tent. Because if somebody sees the tent they still could think it's a man. So yeah, I had one incident during the night where a man tried to get into my tent. And I was lucky that I woke up and was able to fight him off. Well, I mean I have to say I don't think you can really train for a journey like this.
Because cycling with a loaded bike is completely different to cycling with an unloaded bike. If I'm cycling mountains these days with an unloaded bike I'm flying up this mountain. If I'm cycling with my 45 kilo bike I'm like you know steady but I'm getting there. I think on this journey the most important thing is definitely the mental space. If I have a day where I'm mentally weak, which obviously happens like daily life,
right? Ups and downs. But on this day it doesn't happen very often. But if it happens then it's the most difficult day. Because you know, yes my body can be weak from a lot of cycling. But then kind of I always call it my mind takes over. But if my mind is weak then it's like very difficult. Because I always joke that in Saudi Arabia the distances were so vast. In Europe for example it was often at the end of the day it was like the last five kilometers that were areal struggle.
So I would have like affirmations in my head and tell myself come on Madeline, five more kilometers. And in Saudi Arabia it went to come on Madeline, 40 more kilometers. Just 40 more kilometers. Soitwas just Saudi Arabia was really I think the biggest challenge until now. Becauseof the vastness, the heat, 43 degree you know the desert.
But yeah I mean I was kind of sad when the challenge was over. Have you experienced any language barriers throughout your journey? Of course yeah. Because I mean even in Europe in the rural areas nobody speaks English. So there are some countries people speak a lot of English, then not. So eventually I got really I mean every time I try to pick up some basic words. And then you often talk with hand and feet and gesturing.
And Google Translate is a big help if you have reception. And I mean just from listening I can actually often guess what people are saying. Like when people talk to each other I most of the time kind of get the context. Yeah of course planning the gear was really tricky because I have never done a trip like this before. So I was really like overwhelmed kind of. My main aspect for this journey was also I'm trying to save the environment.
So I tried to make sure that I source all my gear secondhand. So I kind of bought everything on Facebook marketplace. Which is not only good for the environment but also for the budget right. And so my bike is secondhand, my bike bags are secondhand. And yeah so these are very specific things. So I kind of had to hunt them together all over Sydney. But I thought it's so beautiful because so many people came together to bring like my journey together.
Yeah so I have like five bags on my bike. The two little ones at the front I call them my wardrobe. Which have like all the clothes I need. So of course you need like rain gear. And I kind of experienced every season. So I also needed like thermals. Of course the rain jacket and then I have like sandals with me. I had a pair of sneakers with me. In the meantime they died. And yeah like some one outfit for regular days.
Then for the desert I had to get a new one. This is like sun protective clothing. So you know that was very important. Otherwise just would be constantly sunburned. Yeah so these are the two at the front. The middle one it's called the frame bag. It has like the tools in it. And whatever I have to reach easily like a power bank or sunscreen. And then I have two big ones at the back. The one I call the bedroom. It has the tent in it.
The sleeping pad and the sleeping bag. Yeah everything you need to sleep. And the other one is the kitchen. It has my stove and my pot and groceries. Your whole house on your bicycle. Exactly and then it has the toiletry bags as well. Any idea how would that be all together? Yeah I mean 45 roughly. It also depends how much water I have with me. In Saudi I sometimes carry like 7 liters of water with me.
So that's another 7 kilos right there. So what's next after Karachi? So here in Pakistan I want to cycle to Lahore. So Karachi to Lahore which is I think 1200 kilometers. And then I want to cross the Vaga border to India. And in India I want to cycle to Nepal. And hopefully inshallah to the Annapurna circuit if possible. And then maybe head to India again. But to be honest I don't plan to far ahead.
Right now I try to concentrate on Pakistan and India just because of the visa. You know you always have to think ahead. Europe was so easy for me because I'm lucky. But now it gets complicated you know. Because I was kind of stuck in Dubai waiting for the Pakistan visa. Here in Karachi I stayed so I can apply for the Indian visa. So I have to think in advance and I tell you I'm not good in planning. So this is difficult for me.
