This Guy Cycled Around The World For Two And A Half Years And Didn’t Even Die

We’ve teamed up with Heineken to introduce you to some men and women who have chosen to go beyond their borders, challenge the status quo, say ‘why not?’ instead of ‘it can’t be done’ — and as a result have made the world a more interesting place for the rest of us. For more people worth watching, head here.

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Meet Fritz Walther — a wide-smiling, golden-haired 27-year-old whose story is about to make you wonder if you’ve ever really tasted life’s nectar.

Three years ago, the energetic young German shunned his post-university path, hopped on his two-wheeler, and spent 2.5 years making the wider world his new home. He cycled across borders and through deserts; scaled mountains and sailed seas; all without the luxury of a map. Or a plan. After 88 countries and 150,000km later, Fritz has not only survived to tell the tale, but would do it all again in a heartbeat.

“Believe me, you just need to try it once,” Fritz told me. “Leave home without a map and stop making plans — just travel! This kind of life where you never know where you’ll end up and whom you meet is incredible. Just smile and the world is yours.”

I really wanted to know who sold this guy his balls, and whether I could get their number. Here are my findings:

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#1: Your Flab Is No Excuse

I’m sure many of you are thinking: “Well, cycling across continents sounds fine and dandy on paper, but I can’t even reach my mailbox without requiring immediate defibrillation”.

Fritz assured me that he was far from a pillar of fitness at the start of his journey: he’d been writing his thesis in a dark, windowless room for nearly a year. While life off the beaten bike-path was difficult at the outset, after a few weeks, his body got the gist.

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#2: You Have To Shrug Off Danger

You don’t globetrot for over two years without having your wits tested.

In Siberia, Fritz repeatedly encountered wolf and bear tracks, and slept outside in -40 degree temperatures only to wake up with frozen eyelids. In Africa, he pedaled through lion and elephant territory. In South America, he spent two weeks in the middle of the Amazon, nursing both spider and scorpion bites. In the Americas, he climbed the 6962m high Mt. Aconcagua, during winter, without any company or experience.

It’s obvious that he recalls these daunting moments with fondness rather than regret. He wears them as life-affirming badges.

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#3: Australia Is Boring

To highlight the extent of Fritz’s badassery, he claims to have “skipped” our fair continent, as it’s “safe”. Fritz believes he can head downunder — or to North America — when he’s old with kids.

Considering most of the world views our land as a snake- and spider-ridden desert, populated by knife-wielding convicts and drunken surfers, one can only imagine how this guy defines the word ‘risk’.

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#4: It’s All About Freedom

It can be hard enough to get the motivation to text your grandma on her birthday, so what the hell gave Fritz the drive to keep rolling along? For him, the answer is simple, and seems less about the destination and more about the process:

“To see the world with my own eyes; to experience new cultures and landscapes; to meet people and figure out my mental and physical borders.” But if he had to sum up his motivation in one word, it would be: “FREEDOM!”

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#5: French People Are Good People

“I never have problems with people, wherever I go. I don’t know why.”

Towards the end of Fritz’ trip, Caribbean authorities denied his entry to three countries due to his passport being filled to the last page. He had no choice but to go back — but a man who’s carved his way across the world doesn’t just ‘fly’ home.

Instead, he scoured the local marina, asking everyone with a seaworthy vessel if he and his bike could boat-pool back to Europe. After several rejections, he finally encountered a French family who, five minutes after of meeting him, were shipping his persistent ass to Portugal.

Fritz spent an entire month sailing across the Atlantic with a husband and wife, three kids, and the daily need to purge the contents of his stomach.

He claims to have become the couple’s unofficial fourth child, communicating with the fivesome through a mixture of English and Spanish — a language he didn’t know at the start of his journey.

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#6: He’d Do It Again

When I asked Fritz who would play him in the film version of his journey, his answer was brief and telling:

“I’d love to do it again – so the answer is ME! And only me!”

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