Mikearound Is Joining Steemit -- Stories From the Path Less Traveled

Hey there, Steemit community!

Quite a while ago, a fellow motorcyclist introduced me to this exciting community. “Seriously, I think you should blog there!” @bikergirl repeatedly told me as we were traveling Myanmar together. It did have an impact on me when I finally checked out some of Steemit's trending posts: My first impression was to find quality content with a high level of interaction and appreciation. Right away, some thoughts about what I could share and contribute to this community came to my mind.

So let me introduce myself

I am Michael, a motorcycle traveler from beautiful Franconia, the tip of Bavaria in Germany. In October 2017, I left home and have been traveling since. Overlanding from Germany, I have been riding through the Middle East to fascinating India and after spending some time there, continued my journey towards South-East Asia. The travel experience, overall, is a great one (in fact, I have already shared what it means to solo-travel the world for one year) and so far, there is no end to it in sight.

In my “old” life, I have been studying Mechanical Engineering and Psychology, and worked as an engineer for a big car manufacturer. Finally getting to work after years of study is exciting, especially in such a vibrant environment as developing cars for the future. After two-and-a-half years of work, however, I felt a stronger calling to live out two of my big passions, solo-traveling and riding motorcycles.

From age 16, I have been riding and fixing motorcycles, which gave me a sense of freedom and therefore became my passion. For sure, it is a plus to know about motorcycle maintenance when on the road, however, I wouldn't say it is a prerequisite -- I can write about that in a separate blog post.

How did I come up with the idea of riding my motorcycle across the world?

It all traces back to a crucial experience when I was in my final year of studies in Munich, intending to visit a friend in ‘Nice’ on the sunny Southern coast of France, who had just graduated from an exchange semester. Why not visit him by motorcycle? From Munich to Nice, it is about 900 kms, passing four borders and crossing the Alps twice (there’s tunnels as well, but of course and particularly on a motorcycle, you would want to enjoy the sceneries of the mountains). Would it be possible in one day? My friend had done it in 14 hours and told me if I could reach in less time, he would buy me dinner. Challenge accepted! I left Munich at 6 a.m. in the morning, and reached Valbonne at 7 p.m.: 13 hours! Not only was my dinner sorted, but the sceneries on the way and the feeling of freedom and accomplishment totally superseded any feeling of fatigue on that evening: What if I could do this for a longer period of time? What if I could ride my motorcycle to India once?

What I can share with you

People usually tell me that it needs a lot of courage to embark on a solo-motorcycle trip. This might be true, and I think there’s no reason to not have courage about your passions, which I am hoping to inspire you to. Having taken the basic preparations, the key is to just take the first step, easy as that! Very soon, I have learned that the world is a much brighter place than the media tends to sell us, and I am trying to pass this picture on to you.

Throughout my travels, I did blog and post on Instagram, which I mostly have been using for pictures and for letting relatives and followers know that I’m fine. I have been searching for a platform to share deeper and more general thoughts about traveling and individual stories, and Steemit seems to be perfect for this. I hope that my sense of adventure can be contagious and that "stories from the road" can be inspiring and thought-provoking. If you’re a traveler or on whatever kind of “life” adventure yourself, I am positive that my content can prove valuable to you.

If you want to stay updated with my adventures from the path less traveled, just follow me on @mikearound.

Thanks for reading!