Los Angeles, CA and San Francisco, CA– 450 km (Total Mileage: 18,041/40,075 km) It all feels so familiar. I was born in the Berkeley and have a few memories–images, really–from the time before my family moved north to Oregon. But it’s the West Coast culture that strikes me, the health foods and dominant liberal culture. I’ve been … Continue reading Back West: 11 Photos from LA and the Bay Area
Pembroke Pines, FL to San Antonio, TX– 2,423 km (Total Mileage: 17,591/40,075 km) The last time I was in America, not a single vote had been cast–primary or general. No matter how much you may feel you’ve aged, that was just over a year ago. And after a year of questions from non-Americans about Trump … Continue reading Home Again? 13 Photos from the Southeastern US
Athens/Αθήνα, Greece to Pogradec, Albania– 608 km this section (Total Mileage: 12,522 km/40,075 km) As those of you who’ve read my last few posts will know, my mother and a family friend, Jeanie Daskais, joined me on the road through Greece, Albania and Montenegro. My mother had been volunteering in refugee camp clinics on the eastern Greek island of … Continue reading Summer Ends in Greece: 14 Photos From the Road
Just wanted to update you on plans for the next few months, but first of all: And–drum roll–I’ve finally worked out my route through Europe! I plan on attending the UN Climate Conference in Morocco this November–that’s the sequel to last year’s COP21 in Paris–but it’s too far to bicycle there in time, and I wanted to … Continue reading What’s Next: Athens to Copenhagen
Üzeyir is an agricultural engineer living in Üzümlü, Turkey. We spoke when I visited in August of this year. “In our work, we’re always discussing how the climate is changing. I had lessons on that in school, and this is one of the biggest issues in the world. But in our work, we deal most with … Continue reading Humans of Climate Change: The Farm Engineer
Kapadokya/Cappadocia, Turkey to Λέσβος/Lesbos, Greece– 1,062 km this section (Total Mileage: 11,914 km/40,075 km) I’ve made it through Turkey to Lesbos, a Greek island just off the coast of Turkey. I came here hoping to speak with some of the migrants who have made it to refugee camps located on the island. Many of these people come fleeing conditions and … Continue reading Out of Asia: 15 Photos From the Road
Oltu, Turkey to Göreme/Cappadocia, Turkey– 836 km this section (Total Mileage: 10,852 km/40,075 km) My route cycling west across Turkey. I entered Turkey ten days after July’s failed coup attempt. Earlier this year, when I first announced plans to pass through Turkey, I received messages from relatives and followers concerned about the risk of terror attacks and kidnapping. At … Continue reading The Long Summer Ahead: 17 Photos from the Road
During an idle moment at a laboratory bench three years ago, Forrest first mentioned to me the idea of traveling to Asia and riding his bike home – to Oregon. The mindfulness of his subsequent work was exactly what I had come to expect of my friend and lab partner. A year into following his writing and photography, I was eager to turn the lens on Forrest. How does the narrator of 10,000 km of climate change stories describe what he is doing, and how is he holding up? Continue reading On Tour: 12 Questions for Forrest Watkins, 360 By Bike Founder
From an email I sent out to followers a few days ago, a short retrospective of the past 5 months on the road: Just over a year ago, I took the first pedal strokes of a journey that will eventually cover six continents. I set out to understand what climate change means to people around … Continue reading Milestones.
Baku, Azerbaijan/Bakı, Azərbaycan to Tbilisi, Georgia/თბილისი, საქართველო – 635 km this section (Total Mileage: 9,426 km/40,075 km) Tracing the name Azerbaijan back through history, one arrives at the Old Iranian word Āturpātākān, meaning The Land of Fire. In these lands, oil and gas deposits were known to turn earth to flame. Hindu and Zoroastrian worshipers used oil in sacred rites and channeled gas … Continue reading Azerbaijan, The Land of Fire: 19 Photos From the Road
360 by bike 