Samuël Dirksen was born on 17 October 2014 in Belgium and holds Dutch nationality. Since then he has lived in Belgium, France, a village in the Andalusian mountains and now Málaga. Moving countries and starting over is not new to this family. Samuël has been doing it his whole life. He turns twelve just 29 days before he cycles away.
He speaks three languages fluently: Dutch, English and Spanish. That matters more than it sounds. At every shelter along the route he can talk to people himself, without anyone translating for him.
He loves food and cannot wait to try every local kitchen along the way. He loves dogs. Always has. Ask him what he is looking forward to most and the answer is not a country. It is the shelters.
Every dog deserves a home. That is the reason this whole thing exists.
Samuël wanted to see the world. His parents had talked for years about one big trip together, in a camper van. Every time they worked out the numbers, the answer came back the same. Not possible. The plan was quietly filed away as something that would never happen.
Then Samuël asked the question nobody else had thought of: "Why not do it on bikes?"
No camper to buy. No fuel to pay for. Three bikes and a tent instead. That brought the cost down from impossible to almost within reach. Almost, but not quite.
The adults had already decided it could not be done. The twelve year old had not.
Along the way Samuël keeps a diary. His own words, whenever he feels like writing. Nobody edits it.
So here is the honest part. Bikes, ferries, visas, food and somewhere safe to sleep for eighteen months add up to more than this family can cover. The journey only happens if other people help carry it.
This was Samuël's own conclusion. He looked at the distance, 26,720 km across 25+ countries, and worked out that on a normal bike he would not make it. Not because he did not want to. Because the numbers said so. An electric bike gives him the range to ride day after day without burning out. The goal is to arrive, not just to start.
This journey only happens because people believe in Samuël before the world does. He trains on his father's old electric bike, which is too big for him. The bikes that have to survive 26,720 km do not exist yet, and neither does most of the gear. If you make any of it, that is the kind of help that changes this.