February 2020

It’s February, I just turned 20, and in only about two months, I will depart for the biggest adventure of my life. I have no idea about the things I have ahead of me, but I have a pretty good feeling it will be amazing!

Spending my birthday with my family was great but also left me with a strange feeling. I have never had to be away from my family for so long, and I think this will probably be the most mentally challenging thing about the trip. Thank god for Skype!

I am slowly starting to invest in the gear for the trip, and with more sponsors joining my team, I think I can just barely keep my economy on track. Especially thanks to Birger Kjærbye from MTB-Tours in Hareskov, who is supporting me with everything from equipment to mechanics course.
And Ivar Tønnesen from The Adventurers Club Denmark, who is giving me incredible assistance to my planning process and will also be ready to help me with route planning and practicallyties along the journey.

A few weeks ago, I went for a small preparation tour. It was a quick ride to Sweeden and back with a single night in the tent, but as for my mental preparation, this was great! And just the small thing as crossing the border to a different country just felt huge!
And since I did not initially plan this project to be a solo ekspedition, it has also taken me some time to get used to the fact that it is going to be just me and my bicycle. But I think I slowly start to be quite content with this change of plan.
This is my dream, and I can do it!

Solo

Bike For Trees has gone solo. It was my biggest wish to depart with my partner, but it just did not work out. So, for now, the project is a solo expedition. I believe I can do it by my self, but I am not sure that is what I want. I still think that shared joy is double joy, and I hope to find company in some way. If not human, then in the trees and the wind.


I am extremely devasted about this. It feels like a big punch in the stomach, not only personally, but also on behalf of the project. My vision about the trip has turned upside down. My heart is broken, but I still have such strong faith in the project and the goal, so I will keep on going and do everything I can to keep up with the original plan.

Thank you so much to everyone who has shown their support for the project, both verbally and economically. I cannot express my gratitude enough for this, especially right now.

All the best
Isabella

Bicycles!

We are so happy to announce that we’ve teamed up with Trek Bicycles, who have provided us with the bikes of our dreams; the Trek 520.
We can’t wait to try out the bicycles, and we are so incredibly honored to receive this sponsorship!
It is going to be a blast to start riding our way out from Denmark, starting our journey on such excellent mechanics! We feel extremely confident in the bikes, and with the expertise from Trek, we are sure that we will be able to go far and beyond!

Trek 520 – Picture from www.trekbikes.com

November 2019

Planning, planning, planning!

It’s November and the leaves have started to fall off the trees here in Denmark, the cold is coming and the days are getting shorter. We are both working our butts off and being 4.000 km apart (me being in Denmark and Alberto in Italy) makes planning a bit difficult. But not impossible. Looking through the pictures on my phone there is numerous pictures of fingers pointing at a map and screenshots of possible routes and cities to visit, that have been sent back and forth between us the past months. Each day we work and plan individually and in the evening we try to combine everything. So far we have figured out a lot, but there is still so much to be done. But the process of planning is thrilling and makes me even more excited to what we have waiting in just 5 months. The trees are starting to be bald and at the time that they start to bloom again, we will head off for the biggest adventure of our lives. Wow!

Route planning

Currently, we are trying to work out the best route to the east. We are considering going either through Ukraine/Russia or crossing the Black Sea and Caspian sea and then going to the Stans. This is an example of how we try to send pictures back and forth to each other and present different opportunities to each other 🙂 A lot of map-drawings and long phone calls.

Soon we will publish this site and the fundraising and we are excited to invite everyone along for the project! And we hope so dearly that people are willing to support our charity as well as our expedition both with their heart and maybe even with their wallets! If you want to read more about our charity supporting natural areas around the world, look at the page ‘Charity’ 🙂

World Land Trust works with conservation and rehabilitation of natural areas around the world. Planting trees and helping local NGOs acquiring areas for conservation.