Serving as a paramedic in London during Covid left Pat exhausted.  So he decided to take some time out – and cycle from London to Melbourne!  18 months and 13,000 miles later he describes his journey. Read on to hear his adventures.  Pat has attended philosophy classes both in London and Australia.

Pedalling the Planet

Pat Tibballs, Melbourne, Australia

In 2023 I decided to call it quits, leave my job, pack my worldly belongings and start pedalling. I had moved to the UK in 2015 to work as a Paramedic for the London Ambulance Service and had enjoyed many beautiful opportunities. Travelling and meeting incredible people enabled me to grow as a person. I had enjoyed adventures with friends on many short cycling trips and the idea to try something bigger had been floated on occasion. Now I finally decided to roll with it.

Decision to Pedal the Planet

The decision to leave came after receiving a call informing me that my father was in hospital with a serious heart issue. This timely reminder of my family’s mortality, and a significant dose of burnout after working through the Covid pandemic led me to decide on a date in the Spring to head home.

With bags loaded I left the ‘family’ I had made in the UK and cycled to the ferry. I spent the next 18 months cycling 13,000m (21,000km) through 23 countries. My steed, a sturdy green touring bike that earned the name Frieda, was laden with panniers containing equipment for camping, cooking, bike maintenance, my clothes and other necessities. With my tent, it totalled 40kg.

I was fortunate to have friends throughout Europe offering to accommodate me so route mapping became a game of joining the dots. The GPS in my phone took me (mostly) the right way but my contacts became fewer as I progressed East. More frequently I was graced with the hospitality of strangers.

Pedalling solo

Travelling solo comes with a multitude of challenges, facing the unknown, being self-sufficient, and responsible for all the decision making. The most difficult challenge for me was loneliness. The wanting to share with others all the highs and lows of the experience, which can easily evolve into wanting to be elsewhere, with the comfort of familiar faces. Feeling tired, hungry, uncomfortable, and having plans go awry, or equipment breaking all add complexity to these challenges.

Fortunately, I was equipped with a handful of tools. Being present and listening to the needs of my body before they became overwhelming made fatigue preventable. Not being attached to particular outcomes and surrendering instead to the moment melted intense frustration with broken equipment or misinformation into problem solving. Remembering the loving nature of other beings allowed trust for those curious to help to do so. A variety of other lessons from the wise also helped me to overcome most challenges.

These practices helped cultivate my mind-set, training it to confidently deal with one challenge at a time. If I believe I can get from here to there, this body will meet that goal, a plan will present itself, the challenges are possible and there is no need to quit. There were plenty of opportunities to put this to the test but gradually I became comfortable moving through the unknown.

Wildlife

In Romania I was forewarned that a group of bears had been sighted along a mountain pass that I planned to take. The fear of rolling past carnivores the size of small cars that can run at a speed of up to 30m/h (50km/h) certainly presented itself. Descending down winding switchbacks through incredible woodland I would meet these terrifying animals. After listening to other road users who were generally quite helpful with appropriate warnings I felt ready. But the sedentary bears didn’t pay me a second thought.

In India’s hot, humid, weather, tackling the busy, chaotic roads, I had multiple bouts of food poisoning. The exhaustion that comes with interrupted sleep, the difficulty for an unnourished body to travel even short distances and the demands on the senses to survive amidst the overwhelming chaos of the traffic made for some of the most difficult days of the adventure.

Had the journey been solely hardship, it would have been significantly harder to stick to. Sweating and struggling up hills and mountains slowly became one of my favourite activities. I developed a deep satisfaction from being in tune with and challenging this body, the accomplishment that comes at the summit of a climb, the views that feel earned, and the thrill of the wind as one rolls back down the other side.

“The road provides” is a mantra I became familiar with especially when meeting fellow cycle tourists who quickly became companions whilst we travelled in similar directions. To swap stories, share advice and simply have company felt nourishing to the soul.

Pedalling the Planet with Friends

In Turkey I met Max, a Dutch cycle tourist on the road. We rode together for a couple of weeks, discussing our experiences, sharing war stories. All this while delighting in the highs and lows of the Turkish countryside. Winter was showing itself as we climbed into the mountains. Immobilising mud clung to our tyres and snow coated the roads at various points. Having someone there to share the experience made the hardships easier to deal with. I still have fond memories of sitting around our campfires, rugged up and laughing at the joyous insanity of what we were doing.

The kindness of strangers wasn’t restricted to cyclists. Often locals would remind me of the brilliance and generosity of human nature. They offered food, conversation and even a place to rest for the night.

Most nights I found a space in nature to set up my tent and tuck myself away until dawn. Occasionally my routine would be interrupted. Once, while cooking dinner on a roadside park bench in Romania, some local farmers arrived to water their small field of grass. We had an extensive conversation primarily consisting of gestures and laughter, them not speaking English, and me not speaking Romanian. Eventually I was invited to their home where their daughter spoke English, and where I was treated to share in their dinner. They also offered me a prime place to pitch my tent for the night.

Healing through Pedalling the Planet

I left the UK after Covid with a lot of big questions, and feeling somewhat demoralised at the way of the world. The journey back to Australia highlighted beautifully the small interactions that I had so often overlooked. It put into perspective how convenient life is in the West and the opportunities I had very much taken for granted.

Having been back in Australia for some months, I still occasionally look at a washing machine with adoration. I marvel at how fortunate we are to have hot, clean, running water. I am ever grateful for the warm comfortable bed I can sleep in.

Transitioning back into a “normal” way of living has been interesting. I found incredible beauty in the slow pace of life that cycle touring provided. It goes against the upbeat pace of city living. Day to day life has demanded more conscious attention. It’s easy to get carried away in the momentum of society. So it has helped to set a practice to remain present. Now and then I take myself off on a micro adventure. It’s a reminder to slow down and recalls the joy I found in nature.

I have loved immersing myself in life with my family, friends, and familiar places but I could not more highly recommend taking the opportunity to experience somewhere or something new. Experiencing the culture, history, food and natural environment of a new place and simply being with its people have been fundamental to the bliss of the journey.

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