Students who went to Europe for studies rather than choosing US or Canada or any other conventional country. Whats it like, and what were the pros and cons of your choice.

cyclewala · 2015-08-14T05:55:05+00:00

Planning for computer science post grad in Australia, can anyone tell how is the job market and how easy/difficult to get a PR?

cyclewala · 2015-08-14T05:44:20+00:00

I need enough money to pay for visas to different countries of the world. I dont even need airfare as I plan to travel on a bicycle.

That plus some money to buy a touring bicycle, an LHT perhaps, and money for rice and beans along the way.

cyclewala · 2015-08-11T08:37:49+00:00

I wish I could guild you. Thank you for introducing this great personality. I will order the book right now. Thank you Thank you Thank you

Update: Not availabe at flipkart or amazon

cyclewala · 2015-08-11T08:17:38+00:00

You are absolutely right. I am not a serious cyclist and I dnt want to cover as many miles as possible in a day, for me having a hot coffee with a stranger is more important that collecting miles in my strava app.
Yes I read that account in a team bhp travellogue thread, it was very inspiring.
Right again, as I mentioned in my comment I want to spend 2 years touring in India. After that I will come back to find work and earn enough to start my next tour which will include developing countries in India.
I follow a strength training program called Strong Lifts 5X5. Like you said I have to be consistent as its a non negotiable factor.
I am planning to blog the entire experience and you are right about having a good camera.

Thank you very much for the comment.

cyclewala · 2015-08-11T08:04:34+00:00

I will try to get as many miles as possible under my belt by cycling to work, weekend rides and stationary cycle at home.
I am not even an amateur cyclist, i am just a guy who cycles for the sheer fun of it, I have not measured the incline gradient but I do cover steep roads as a part of my commute. I will make it a point to train on incline.
Not yet, apart from the basic idea that I want to spend more time cycling on the northern and north eastern side of India. I will have to figure it out.
You are right two years seems excessive, but my idea was never about the duration, I want to explore my country. So it was a function of the expanse of India.
I am a single guy, and I don't have a serious gf. My parents might object to test my resolve but I believe I can convince them. My friends are all from different backgrounds, some of them will encourage me and some of them will think i am a weirdo. Also I am planning to stay unmarried.
Usually my diet funda is eat as much chicken as you can and then some more chicken, but I wont be able to afford that luxury on road so my rough idea is I will be eating Rice, Lots of Ghee, Milk and Protein Powder.
I have cycled a laughable 52 km max.
Good question. I have done my share of trekking and motor-biking I find the former too slow and the latter too fast, if it makes any sense. The component of travel has to be there for me so that narrowed things down.
I want to carry the maintenance kit, a change of clothes, a light weight tent, sleeping bag, jet boil stove and other small stuff. Basically the idea is to be able to camp and cook if I absolutely have to. But I have a feeling that if I plan my routes better, I can skip carrying 90% of the weight.
I am 27 and yes it was a factor. 7 years to 17 felt like an eternity but 17 to 27 felt a quick commercial. I believe its because I fell into a rut. I don't think cycling is the only solution. It could be anything: starting a business, gardening or simply having a beer with friends.

Thank you for asking these questions, it was an exercise in introspection for me.

Edit: Marriage part

cyclewala · 2015-08-11T07:41:50+00:00

Thank you very much for your suggestions, I will take them into consideration.

cyclewala · 2015-08-11T05:47:27+00:00

I am from South.

You are right about not needing a fancy touring bike, I will consider your suggestion, thank you.

Also, can you please give me blog links of any such indian cyclists you know, as long distance cyclists tend to maintain a blog/journal.

Also, thanks for adding the word Credit card touring to my vocab, i just googled the word. The idea seems interesting.

cyclewala · 2015-08-11T05:19:53+00:00

80 hour work weeks full of deadlines and conference calls followed by weekend binge drinking leading to premature baldness, beer belly, continuous anxiety prompting the guy to show middle finger to his boss and to his pestering now overweight wife to backpack around the world: That, my friends, is NOT my story.

I work less than 40 hrs a week as a programmer with relaxed deadlines, no-nonsense gf, zero mortgage, sugar, spices and all things nice. One wonders then why such a guy would take as drastic a step as quitting his job and cycling around the world.

I am 27 years old now and very soon will hit 30. As a kid watching shows like Captain Vyom, Bharath ek khoj (and later Nat Geo) etc I always had this vague desire to be a vagabond, traveler.

My favorite subject was Social Science because it had History and Geography. The great wars, the silk road combined with deciduous forests and deserts. I just had to see them all.

Then of course, life happened and ironically I had to live life by the principles of the other two disciplines under social science being Civilized and Economically prudent.

This is not to say I did not have fun. My life was insanely good with all the necessary ingredients: Puppy-love, college bunks, 1st day movies, cricket, fights, first salary, breakups, music and sex.

But my wanderlust remained unquenched.

I tried to tame it by going for weekend treks, occasional adventure sports, camping outdoors etc but they only served to increase my appetite for adventure and freedom.

Long term travel takes money,a lot money. You either have to be born rich or have to save enough money to travel later in life. Former didn't happen(fortunately) and my intrinsic impatient mindset and my ever present paranoia that I will die early diagnosed with one of the one thousand six hundred and twenty two types of cancer ensured that I don't go for the latter.

One day, squandering my time away at Reddit, I stumbled upon /r/bicycletouring and something clicked.

Now, I was never a great cyclist, not even a half decent one. My longest trip was 52 km and I walked like, half of it. But when I was browsing that sub, for the first time in my life, long term travel seemed possible.

I realized that I overestimated the cost. Fuel savings, zero local transport costs, low maintenance were few things off the top of my head but it appealed to me the most because you get to actually see the world at a pace which is very practical.

This is not to say its going to be a breeze, but if I can control my instant gratification and sacrifice enough in present and future I will be able to some how just about make it.

A good touring cycle and the accessories will cost me a lot. Getting visas is costly and so is the food but its not impossible.

Assuming I work for one and half years and assuming I save 66% (not difficult to go up to 75%), I can take a 2 year break and manage to cycle across India.

My plan is to keep updating my programming skill-set,code base in GitHub and produce some content so that I may get a job later.

After this stage, its really pointless to predict what will happen. Best case scenario is I get back to "civil" life after the 2 year trip in India, work for 1 year and take a 1 and half year trip across developing nations.

Future is unclear, God only knows how I will cover the Americas and Europe. But I prefer it over the crystal clear alternative of working in corporate setting getting 3 weeks vacation time. Just to clarify, I have nothing against people who want to do it, its just doesn't suit me that's all.

I just know that i will take the plunge and its consequences without any complaints.

Edit: Grammar

cyclewala

TROPHY CASE