Samuel holds Dutch nationality and was born in Belgium. Since then he has lived in France, in a village in the Andalusian mountains, and now in Málaga. Moving countries and starting over is nothing new to this family. Samuel has been doing it his whole life. He turns twelve 29 days before he leaves.
He speaks three languages fluently: Dutch, English and Spanish. That matters more than it sounds. From Morocco to Turkey to America he can talk to the people at the shelters himself, without anyone translating for him.
He loves food and cannot wait to try every local dish along the way. Ask him what he is looking forward to most and he does not name a country. He names the shelters.
He is not doing this alone. Both his parents ride every kilometre with him.
And there has always been a dog in this house. One from a shelter, others that turned up at the door and stayed. He grew up with the idea that a dog you find is a dog you keep.
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 Samuel 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 nearly possible.
We had stopped looking. He hadn't.
We came back to it later, when the first excitement had worn off, and asked him if he really meant it. On a bicycle. For that long. He did.
What came later was what it was for. He wanted to stop at animal shelters along the way, because it isn't fair that those dogs have nowhere to go.
Along the way Samuel 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 nineteen months add up to more than this family can cover. The journey only happens if other people help carry it.
We had planned electric bikes. Safer, we thought, and easier for a boy his age. Then we found out batteries over 160 Wh are not allowed on aircraft at all, and we have three flights to make. And that a motor that fails in Laos or Morocco is not something you fix by the roadside. Samuel was disappointed. Then he said he would do it on a normal one.
This journey only happens because people believe in Samuel before the world does. Katadyn came on board with water and cooking, Kryptonite with the locks. Two second hand touring bikes are lined up for October, and Samuel rides his own. Almost everything that goes on them is still missing: panniers, a tent, sleeping gear, a camera. If a bike builder wants to put him on something made for 20,235 kilometres, we are listening. And if you make any of the rest of it, that is the kind of help that changes this.
Samuel Cycles the World is a family project, not a registered charity. It is run by Wendy Dirksen Hermans. If you want to know who you are dealing with, here it is in full.
Wendy Dirksen Hermans
Málaga, Spain
[email protected]