On Sept. 30, 2014, after a 40-year career in industrial construction, my husband, Eric, age 64 (I’m 54), retired. The next day at 7:30 a.m., we shut the door to our residence in Malaysia and began what is proving to be the most challenging and rewarding experience in our lives: cycling our way around much of the world.
In the past eight months, we have traveled more than 6,000 miles through seven countries in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. (As I write this, we’re in New Zealand and getting ready to leave for Australia.) We have grappled with, among other trials, stifling heat, food poisoning, more than a dozen punctured tires — and no small amount of homesickness.
At the same time, we have explored ancient temples in Thailand and Indonesia, been greeted by hundreds of village children waving and shouting “sa-bai-dee” (hello) in the mountains of Laos, and met retiree cycle-tourists energized from their experiences from many parts of the world.
We didn’t see ourselves starting retirement this way. Our original plan was simply to return to the U.S. But the idea of attempting this adventure together finally took hold.
Our advice to would-be retirees with a desire to do something big and different — and this applies not only to travel and outdoor sports but to starting a business, writing a novel or any of a vast range of possibilities — is to look beyond your fears. Read blogs, join groups, talk to people. Then, pick a date, tell people what you plan to do, take their admonishments and warnings with a grain of salt, don’t overplan, and get going. The rest will sort itself out.
Here’s how we started, what our days are like and what lies ahead.
Wheels begin to turn
We have always enjoyed an active lifestyle, including skiing, running, cycling, hiking and tennis. But it wasn’t until Eric’s final assignment in Malaysia that we became serious about an extended cycle tour.
We had been riding bicycles every morning for exercise and had logged more than 3,000 miles. During one ride in particular around Penang Island, we met a couple in their early 30s who were finishing a two-year, 25,000-mile cycle tour. They were our inspiration and answered many questions about logistics. We already had the bicycles and felt ready to go.
We joined warmshowers.org — a fantastic resource for cyclists — and offered rooms in our home for cycle tourists passing through Malaysia. From each guest we obtained more information about routes, planning and gear. We outfitted our bought-in-Malaysia mountain bikes to be more comfortable and road-friendly.
In particular, we liked the idea of starting the ride the day after Eric retired. We were afraid if we flew back to the U.S. first, we might never return to Asia — finding it too easy to jump back into our old routines. Instead, we shipped a few personal belongings to our storage garage in Washington state. (Our rented house in Malaysia came furnished.) The rest we loaded on our bikes — and we were off.
In a typical day, we will cover 30 to 60 miles, depending on several variables: the distance between adequate lodging, hills (a hard but memorable day in Vietnam saw us climb 8,500 feet) and weather. We take days off when our bodies need it, when we’re in an area that warrants more than one day of exploration, when the weather can be dangerous, or when we just need a good cup of coffee and Wi-Fi.
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