It’s been about a week since I came back to the US. I had a great time traveling and bike touring in Europe for four months.

First, I backpacked in Italy and Malta, then I picked up my bicycle in Wroclaw, Poland, and biked to Athens, Greece. I took trains, ferries, and a bus to get to my destination because I was tired at the end. Due to the heat dome in Europe, I had to cycle early in the morning. I only averaged about 25 miles per cycling day. In Athens, I sold my bicycle and touring gears to Rodrigo and my camping gears to Sarah.

2026 Europe bike tour map 2026 Europe bike tour map

The highlight of the bike tour was the people I met.

I was very happy to meet Henryk in Bratislava, Slovakia. He was such an interesting person and is living a life that I hope to live one day. He works whenever he wants to and goes on bike tours and hiking trips according to his own will. Henryk also gave me the advice of becoming a project manager if I want to return to a corporate life.

Additionally, I met Chuck and Susan. I consider them as the Godfather and Godmother of Warmshowers hosts. Together, they have hosted close to 1600 cyclists by the time I stayed with them in Shkoder, Albania. They also allowed me to stay for nine days, which was a very long time.

There were many other people I met on my bike tour. All of them have changed me in one way or another. I’m very grateful for this experience.

The total cost of this trip was $8745 for four months. This comes out to an average of $2186 per month, or $72.88 per day. Since I stayed in hotels, guesthouses, and hostels during the majority of my bike tour, the expenses were higher than a typical bicycle tourist. For a comparison, in 2018 I spent about $50 per day for my bike tour across the US.

I will not be bike touring for a while now that I sold my bicycle and all my camping gears in Athens. I will do a backpacking trip in Latin America as my next trip in 2027.