Welcome to TWO-WHEELS.org
This website was set up to share my adventures with the world, as well as to inspire others to ride off in their own adventure. There are of course numerous people who inspired me long before starting to plan this dream... and no I did not swap my bike for a camel as people may think in the picture above.
First of all let me introduce myself: hi, I am Alex. My biggest obsession in life the last few years, as you probably already guessed, has been travelling on two-wheels, the motorised version of course, i.e. the lazy one! I do commute on two wheels every day, more specifically on a bicycle. This website is dedicated on travelling on a motorbiek. My other obsession the last few years has been sport climbing, kite surfing and skiing.
Adventurous trips have temporarily been put on hold for now, in order to save for a bigger dream: to go around the world on two wheels. The plan would be to start around 202? (don't tell my boss...) when two things will happen: morgage paid off & Alex turns 40+. The resignation will probably look something like this:
Title: Resignation Letter
"Dear boss... after spending years stuck in an office, the biggest highlight of the day being the clock ticking at 11:59:59 i.e. lunch time, followed by stuffing my face with genetically modified fake food, treated like a caffeine-addicted sheep, I have decided, unanimously and adamantly with my partner, to say "sod this shit" and follow our dream into an abyss called TWAT, which stands for Two Wheeled Adventure Tour. I would like to thank you for all the salaries you have paid me that last few years, which has made this dream possible. I would like to thank Switzerland for (among others) mainly two things: keeping tax low and exchange rates high. That's how it should be (I'm looking at you, European Union). I would like to thank the swiss population for their extravagant lifestyle, the lifestyle that makes people build a home to live in (near the work place), a 2nd home near a quiet river, a 3rd home in a ski resort, a 4th near a lake etc.etc. the list doesn't end... all of them including a colossal garage to fit the appropriate Lamborghini/Maserati (whatever the case might be). So, I now ask you, who will design and build all these things? Well none other than the architect and engineer involved in each of these projects. According to statistics the average Swiss owns 45m² of living space, which is the highest in Europe, so there was plenty of construction going on in the years when I lived and worked in Switzerland. Once again, a very warm thank you.
After spending an average of 9 hours per day at work, 2 hours commuting, 8 hours sleeping (I wish), 1 hour dinner, 1 hour toilette breaks including shower and brushing teeth, 1 hour for bills and groceries, which left me with a mere 2 hours of personal time (time to pay more bills, yeah!), after moving the mouse at work in sometimes clockwise, sometimes counter clockwise spasms, after 10⁴² gazillion left-clicks (ok less right-clicks but still substantial), in other words after selling my soul to the devil of capitalism, I hereby kindly and unreservedly hand in my much deserved resignation. I hope to be working with you again in the very distant and far future when my money runs out and I am in desperate need of your kind open-handedness once again, where I will come back begging for forgiveness and exoneration. Please delete all my emails and browsing history to avoid any possible upcoming convictions and/or problems with the law. Please feel free to give me a call at any time, I will listen to my messages as soon as I step my foot back in this prison some people call office... and last please do not give me that puppy-faced grimace and ask me "are you sure you want to quit? was I a bad boss? is it my fault?" no Mr Boss, trust me it's not you, it's not us, it's just me. Otherwise this relationship was going perfectly fine as long as the pay checks were rolling and the colleagues were trolling.
Thank you and kind regards,
your X- (soon to be) employee.
P.S. it's been emotional" [end of resignation letter]
There, I said it, I wrote it, now I just have to sit and wait for the time to come. If you want to join me just click here.
Before anyone complains about the hardship he/she might be going through from their evil boss let's all have a moment of silence in solitude for the following employees:
-employees made to eat roaches and wash it down with piss for underperformance (article here).
-19 employees commit suicide at French Telecom (may they rest in peace).
Favourite quotes
- the more I learn about people the more I like my dog, Mark Twain
- you only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough, Mae West
- it's not the years in your life that count, it's the life in your years, Abraham Lincoln
- there is nothing absolutely in our power, except our own thoughts, Cartesius
- every place has beauty, but not everyone sees it, Confucius
- a 1000 mile journey starts from a single step, Confucius
- if you don't change direction you might end up where you are heading, Confucius
- when you talk you only repeat things you already know, when you listen you might learn something, Confucius
- living simply sets you free, by Eliud Kipchoge (marathon runner, record holder at under 2 hours)
The Trip
Everybody has a bucket list. For some it's career orientated, for some it's all about family, for some it's travelling etc. and everyone has different priorities in life. The great thing about our world is that "everyone is different, thank God otherwise life would be so boring" (wise words spoken by my first Uni teacher, Prof. Patrick Holmes). What we see around us is a tiny fraction of what makes our world today. Realising how little I have seen and experienced in our world, I decided to broaden my horizons by adding "circumnavigate the globe" on my bucket list. The more wise we become the more we realise how little we know about our little blue marble, and the more it makes us yearn for knowledge. First expressed as "I know that I know nothing", by Plato said to be quoting Socrates, I have also been yearning to learn about the world where we will spend a fraction of time through our life, compared with its life. It is up to every individual to make the most of it. The more treacherous the path through our journey becomes, the more knowledge we gain, every scar is a scar or cognizance. There are lots of ups and downs in life, most of which we are able to solve ourselves. It's our choice on how treacherous our path shall be and how many scars we are willing to carve into our soul, that will make us what we are today. I have been waiting to quench this thirst of mine for the last few years because, "knowlege is what remains after you have forgotten everything you learnt at school" (Albert Einstein). I am going into this endeavour because when people say "live your life" I say "life is the most insidious prison of them all" (by Alan Moore), if we don't make the right choises before our split second, called life, is gone. So if anyone asks why would anyone go through this uncomfortable endavour? I could not think of a better quote than Solon who said "in order to go away knowing more about life", or an even cleverer quote of "because it's there" (George Mallory).
...and if all goes wrong, just remember this, to remind you how diminutive and insignificant we are in this world.
We all wish that your dreams come true before the cruel world takes you out by Karoshi or other cruel means.
Many thanks:
-to all the Greeks who live in Greece: YES, I will wear a helmet, thank you for reminding me and for your consideration.
-to my mum: yes I will drive slowly and carefully, yes I ate, yes I won't forget my jumper, yes... I will wash my hands before dinner!
Inspiring books:
- The Gasoline Tramp, by Carl Clancy first bike around the world in 1912-13.
- Abgefahren: around the world in 16 years (unfortunately only available in German)
- Jupiter's Travels by Ted Simon
- Lone Rider by Elspeth Beard (in case you wondered, no, she does not have a beard...)
- Ubuntu by Heather Ellis
- Lois on the Loose, by Lois Pryce
- 1000 plases to see before you die
Inspiring documentaries:
- Mondo Enduro & Terra Circa + off. website
- Long way round / Long way down
- Road Heroes
Inspiring people:
- Jason Lewis
- Austin Vince
- Kevin Sanders
- Sjaak Lucassen
- USA couple
- Dutch couple
- German couple under Motorradreisen/ Motorrad Weltreise / Ländeinfo & Reisetip
- Swiss guy
-Swiss climber
- Spanish/Macedonian couple
- Elias Vrochidis from madnomad
- Geoff Hill, wrote "In Clancy's Boots"
- Iranian female biker
- Gunther Holtdorf, from Berlin
Important websites:
- HorizonsUnlimited
- Globe Busters
- Culture
- List of long-distance riders
- free accom. here
This website was set up to share my adventures with the world, as well as to inspire others to ride off in their own adventure. There are of course numerous people who inspired me long before starting to plan this dream... and no I did not swap my bike for a camel as people may think in the picture above.
First of all let me introduce myself: hi, I am Alex. My biggest obsession in life the last few years, as you probably already guessed, has been travelling on two-wheels, the motorised version of course, i.e. the lazy one! I do commute on two wheels every day, more specifically on a bicycle. This website is dedicated on travelling on a motorbiek. My other obsession the last few years has been sport climbing, kite surfing and skiing.
Adventurous trips have temporarily been put on hold for now, in order to save for a bigger dream: to go around the world on two wheels. The plan would be to start around 202? (don't tell my boss...) when two things will happen: morgage paid off & Alex turns 40+. The resignation will probably look something like this:
Title: Resignation Letter
"Dear boss... after spending years stuck in an office, the biggest highlight of the day being the clock ticking at 11:59:59 i.e. lunch time, followed by stuffing my face with genetically modified fake food, treated like a caffeine-addicted sheep, I have decided, unanimously and adamantly with my partner, to say "sod this shit" and follow our dream into an abyss called TWAT, which stands for Two Wheeled Adventure Tour. I would like to thank you for all the salaries you have paid me that last few years, which has made this dream possible. I would like to thank Switzerland for (among others) mainly two things: keeping tax low and exchange rates high. That's how it should be (I'm looking at you, European Union). I would like to thank the swiss population for their extravagant lifestyle, the lifestyle that makes people build a home to live in (near the work place), a 2nd home near a quiet river, a 3rd home in a ski resort, a 4th near a lake etc.etc. the list doesn't end... all of them including a colossal garage to fit the appropriate Lamborghini/Maserati (whatever the case might be). So, I now ask you, who will design and build all these things? Well none other than the architect and engineer involved in each of these projects. According to statistics the average Swiss owns 45m² of living space, which is the highest in Europe, so there was plenty of construction going on in the years when I lived and worked in Switzerland. Once again, a very warm thank you.
After spending an average of 9 hours per day at work, 2 hours commuting, 8 hours sleeping (I wish), 1 hour dinner, 1 hour toilette breaks including shower and brushing teeth, 1 hour for bills and groceries, which left me with a mere 2 hours of personal time (time to pay more bills, yeah!), after moving the mouse at work in sometimes clockwise, sometimes counter clockwise spasms, after 10⁴² gazillion left-clicks (ok less right-clicks but still substantial), in other words after selling my soul to the devil of capitalism, I hereby kindly and unreservedly hand in my much deserved resignation. I hope to be working with you again in the very distant and far future when my money runs out and I am in desperate need of your kind open-handedness once again, where I will come back begging for forgiveness and exoneration. Please delete all my emails and browsing history to avoid any possible upcoming convictions and/or problems with the law. Please feel free to give me a call at any time, I will listen to my messages as soon as I step my foot back in this prison some people call office... and last please do not give me that puppy-faced grimace and ask me "are you sure you want to quit? was I a bad boss? is it my fault?" no Mr Boss, trust me it's not you, it's not us, it's just me. Otherwise this relationship was going perfectly fine as long as the pay checks were rolling and the colleagues were trolling.
Thank you and kind regards,
your X- (soon to be) employee.
P.S. it's been emotional" [end of resignation letter]
There, I said it, I wrote it, now I just have to sit and wait for the time to come. If you want to join me just click here.
Before anyone complains about the hardship he/she might be going through from their evil boss let's all have a moment of silence in solitude for the following employees:
-employees made to eat roaches and wash it down with piss for underperformance (article here).
-19 employees commit suicide at French Telecom (may they rest in peace).
Favourite quotes
- the more I learn about people the more I like my dog, Mark Twain
- you only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough, Mae West
- it's not the years in your life that count, it's the life in your years, Abraham Lincoln
- there is nothing absolutely in our power, except our own thoughts, Cartesius
- every place has beauty, but not everyone sees it, Confucius
- a 1000 mile journey starts from a single step, Confucius
- if you don't change direction you might end up where you are heading, Confucius
- when you talk you only repeat things you already know, when you listen you might learn something, Confucius
- living simply sets you free, by Eliud Kipchoge (marathon runner, record holder at under 2 hours)
The Trip
Everybody has a bucket list. For some it's career orientated, for some it's all about family, for some it's travelling etc. and everyone has different priorities in life. The great thing about our world is that "everyone is different, thank God otherwise life would be so boring" (wise words spoken by my first Uni teacher, Prof. Patrick Holmes). What we see around us is a tiny fraction of what makes our world today. Realising how little I have seen and experienced in our world, I decided to broaden my horizons by adding "circumnavigate the globe" on my bucket list. The more wise we become the more we realise how little we know about our little blue marble, and the more it makes us yearn for knowledge. First expressed as "I know that I know nothing", by Plato said to be quoting Socrates, I have also been yearning to learn about the world where we will spend a fraction of time through our life, compared with its life. It is up to every individual to make the most of it. The more treacherous the path through our journey becomes, the more knowledge we gain, every scar is a scar or cognizance. There are lots of ups and downs in life, most of which we are able to solve ourselves. It's our choice on how treacherous our path shall be and how many scars we are willing to carve into our soul, that will make us what we are today. I have been waiting to quench this thirst of mine for the last few years because, "knowlege is what remains after you have forgotten everything you learnt at school" (Albert Einstein). I am going into this endeavour because when people say "live your life" I say "life is the most insidious prison of them all" (by Alan Moore), if we don't make the right choises before our split second, called life, is gone. So if anyone asks why would anyone go through this uncomfortable endavour? I could not think of a better quote than Solon who said "in order to go away knowing more about life", or an even cleverer quote of "because it's there" (George Mallory).
...and if all goes wrong, just remember this, to remind you how diminutive and insignificant we are in this world.
We all wish that your dreams come true before the cruel world takes you out by Karoshi or other cruel means.
Many thanks:
-to all the Greeks who live in Greece: YES, I will wear a helmet, thank you for reminding me and for your consideration.
-to my mum: yes I will drive slowly and carefully, yes I ate, yes I won't forget my jumper, yes... I will wash my hands before dinner!
Inspiring books:
- The Gasoline Tramp, by Carl Clancy first bike around the world in 1912-13.
- Abgefahren: around the world in 16 years (unfortunately only available in German)
- Jupiter's Travels by Ted Simon
- Lone Rider by Elspeth Beard (in case you wondered, no, she does not have a beard...)
- Ubuntu by Heather Ellis
- Lois on the Loose, by Lois Pryce
- 1000 plases to see before you die
Inspiring documentaries:
- Mondo Enduro & Terra Circa + off. website
- Long way round / Long way down
- Road Heroes
Inspiring people:
- Jason Lewis
- Austin Vince
- Kevin Sanders
- Sjaak Lucassen
- USA couple
- Dutch couple
- German couple under Motorradreisen/ Motorrad Weltreise / Ländeinfo & Reisetip
- Swiss guy
-Swiss climber
- Spanish/Macedonian couple
- Elias Vrochidis from madnomad
- Geoff Hill, wrote "In Clancy's Boots"
- Iranian female biker
- Gunther Holtdorf, from Berlin
Important websites:
- HorizonsUnlimited
- Globe Busters
- Culture
- List of long-distance riders
- free accom. here