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Carlos Venzano (www.cleteando.com) has spent four years traveling the world by bicycle. He’s been to 90 countries and biked over 40,000 kilometres, greater than the circumference of the earth. But he wasn’t always a super adventurer. Before 2016 he led a “super average life” with a steady job and an apartment in Santiago, Chile. He decided to leave it all behind to travel the world and experience different cultures.

He started riding from his home in Chile and rode his bicycle all the way to Canada! In this episode he shares the obstacles he encountered along the way and what it was like getting used to the routine.

But he didn’t stop there. Next, he rode went to Iceland and rode across the entire European continent to Turkey. But that wasn’t enough either. So he crossed Africa from Mombasa, Kenya to Namibia. Then deciding to cross Europe again, he started again in Portugal and crossed Europe and into Asia. He was crossing Kazakhstan when he encountered some problems.

In this episode he talks about all of the challenges he faced on the road, from flat tires to being robbed. He witnessed extreme poverty in Africa that left a lasting impact on him. And extreme generosity from people he met all over the world. Carlos found that the nicest people in the world were found in the countries with 1) the least tourism and 2) the worst drivers! In some places he said he would leave his backpack on the table at a restaurant and return and there would be gifts or his bill would be paid.

It was so inspirational to hear his story and it makes me want to go out and buy a bike!

If you like this episode, you might want to check out the episode with Alexander Pekoff who rode a bike from Key West to Alaska. Or Marina Zoppei who traveled solo through Central Asia and Africa.