So, what am I doing?

On 22 May 2026, I’ll take three flights and a very long bus ride to get to North Cape, Norway, where I’ll start pedaling south. I’ll keep going until I reach Tarifa in Spain. Most of the way, I’ll be on my own, camping and occasionally staying in hotels to clean up and recharge. The route will take me through the lush, almost endless forests of Scandinavia, the lowlands of the Benelux, the valleys of France, the caminos of the Basque Country and northern Spain, and finally the Atlantic coast of Portugal. All in all, I’ll cover around 7,000 km.

I just turned 30, but that’s not the main reason I’ve decided to take an extended leave of absence from work to bike across Europe. I’ve been imagining a trip like this for years, and there isn’t one clear reason for doing it, but many.

The only quote I can remember from the (unpopular opinion) pretty average movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” I’ve lived in Switzerland for the past three and a half years, and they’ve flown by at lightspeed. I’ve been fortunate to have amazing experiences, to travel, and to meet people I never would have otherwise. But one thing I haven’t had much of is boredom. I miss boredom. There’s always something going on, which is great, but I agree with Ferris: sometimes you really do need to stop and look around. So that’s what I’m doing.

Another reason is spelled “Morii,” the desire to capture a fleeting experience. It’s a word made up by John Koenig in The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, a collection of invented words that give names to emotions we all feel but don’t have words for. As someone who tries to be creative, I keep coming back to that. I really enjoy photography because it’s about catching a moment and, in a way, making it last. Life feels like that too: we try to enjoy the moment, but we’re usually moving on to the next thing before we really do.

So why am I telling you this? Well, I hope these next couple of months on the bike will let me capture one of those fleeting experiences, a slice of life with a clear start and end. Maybe it will make time slow down, even just a little. There are many other reasons for going on this adventure, but these are just some that came to mind.

Six days to go before I set off. I’m excited, nervous, and hoping I’m ready for the adventure I’ve been looking forward to for so long.

If you want to follow along, you can check out more photos on Instagram @adamisaway, or come back to this blog to read my (hopefully not terrible) updates about biking 7,000+ km across Europe. You can also see my planned route on Komoot.

Cheers,
Adam