It all started at “Mille Miglia“ in the middle of Augsburg. “Mille Miglia” is an Italian restaurant known primarily for its sumptuous cuisine and excellent service. That is where Seyf and his brother Samayo used to work. They grew up in Parma and they love to travel. They are both under 27 and therefore travelling by train on an interrail-ticket seemed like a good idea. The 3buddys_adventure (English) was planned to start in spring-summer 2018. For us at born2.bike adventure is an essential moving spirit and we are thrilled to be able to exclusively present to you the story of the three buddies that has already won more than 15.000 followers on Instagram. German version is here.

“Gone to the dogs”

They were in a threesome, but one of them almost got forgotten in the planning: Buddy, the Border Collie. Although Buddy is a perfectly well behaved and loyal travel companion, he was not a welcome Interrail traveler. There are no Interrail tickets for dogs and a separate ticket would have to be bought for Buddy for each single trip. The choice between Buddy and Interrail was easily made, Interrail was not an option. Now it was up to the 3 buddies to find a way to travel across Europe. It didn’t take long to work out an alternative plan: Europe by bike, namely from Augsburg through France and Spain to Lisbon. Two bikes and two suitable trailers were quickly found, one trailer to accommodate Buddy, the other for the luggage. (You’ll find many other inspirational ideas under “Tours”). 

Start in Augsburg

For the directions to get from Augsburg to Lisbon an old fashioned map was used. According to the map the rout led to the West and to the South. The first kilometers to Ulm, Stuttgart and Karlsruhe were easily navigated but rather exhausting. Lack of bike training made itself noticeable. Then the trip went on across the border to France. In Strasbourg the three buddies took a short but creatively efficient break. From other bikers they had heard that the French long distance bicycle routs are very well developed.

The advice to take the long distance bike routs to Portugal not only turned out to be useful, but also brought a new dimension to the whole trip. Our 3buddys_adventure went on aloof from the motorways, under the open skies, without stress or steep slopes, amidst impressive scenery. The weight of the trailers amounted to around 60 kilos each, including Buddy and the tent that brought the three travellers a lot of flexibility and the freedom to extend the trip.

The trip was also on Instagram under (you’ll never guess): 3buddys_adventure (English) and samayo.diary . 

Route description

If God travelled through France he’d probably do it by bike: the net of bicycle routs is extremely well developed, the infrastructure perfect and new friends easily found, on two wheels, four paws or even wings. Crossing the Spanish border brought new challenges to the 3buddys_adventure: the bicycle routs became few and much more narrow, often one had to share the roads with the cars and along Costa Verde the coast roads were very steep. It wasn’t exactly Camino de Santiago (the Way of St James) – or maybe in some ways it was? To reach Portugal the three buddies had to ride through Galicia and then all of a sudden the final destination Lisbon was within reach.

By then the bodies were so well trained that it seemed all but impossible to turn around and head strait back to Germany. Instead they continued their trip to the south towards Faro and only then southeastwards, back to Spain and across Andalusia. Sun and beaches led them to Malaga and towards Barcelona. By then they had covered a distance of app. 5.555 km (to Malaga) in 3,5 months. From Barcelona they took a boat to Genoa to their home country Italy from where they returned back to Augsburg.

Further plans?

Any plans for the future? But of course! The big dream destination is Bali, Indonesia. The three buddies are planning this Mammoth trip for the spring of 2019 and we are going to keep you posted. And the second goal is to visit 100 countries in the next four years. You are most welcome to become a sponsor of the three adventurers. Do not hesitate contact us for further information or contact 3buddys_adventure (English) directly via Instagram.