Hey there, Steemit community!
Quite a while ago, a fellow motorcyclist introduced me to this exciting community. “Seriously, I think you should blog there!” @bikergirl repeatedly told me as we were traveling Myanmar together. It did have an impact on me when I finally checked out some of Steemit's trending posts: My first impression was to find quality content with a high level of interaction and appreciation. Right away, some thoughts about what I could share and contribute to this community came to my mind.
So let me introduce myself
I am Michael, a motorcycle traveler from beautiful Franconia, the tip of Bavaria in Germany. In October 2017, I left home and have been traveling since. Overlanding from Germany, I have been riding through the Middle East to fascinating India and after spending some time there, continued my journey towards South-East Asia. The travel experience, overall, is a great one (in fact, I have already shared what it means to solo-travel the world for one year) and so far, there is no end to it in sight.
In my “old” life, I have been studying Mechanical Engineering and Psychology, and worked as an engineer for a big car manufacturer. Finally getting to work after years of study is exciting, especially in such a vibrant environment as developing cars for the future. After two-and-a-half years of work, however, I felt a stronger calling to live out two of my big passions, solo-traveling and riding motorcycles.
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From age 16, I have been riding and fixing motorcycles, which gave me a sense of freedom and therefore became my passion. For sure, it is a plus to know about motorcycle maintenance when on the road, however, I wouldn't say it is a prerequisite -- I can write about that in a separate blog post.
How did I come up with the idea of riding my motorcycle across the world?
It all traces back to a crucial experience when I was in my final year of studies in Munich, intending to visit a friend in ‘Nice’ on the sunny Southern coast of France, who had just graduated from an exchange semester. Why not visit him by motorcycle? From Munich to Nice, it is about 900 kms, passing four borders and crossing the Alps twice (there’s tunnels as well, but of course and particularly on a motorcycle, you would want to enjoy the sceneries of the mountains). Would it be possible in one day? My friend had done it in 14 hours and told me if I could reach in less time, he would buy me dinner. Challenge accepted! I left Munich at 6 a.m. in the morning, and reached Valbonne at 7 p.m.: 13 hours! Not only was my dinner sorted, but the sceneries on the way and the feeling of freedom and accomplishment totally superseded any feeling of fatigue on that evening: What if I could do this for a longer period of time? What if I could ride my motorcycle to India once?
What I can share with you
People usually tell me that it needs a lot of courage to embark on a solo-motorcycle trip. This might be true, and I think there’s no reason to not have courage about your passions, which I am hoping to inspire you to. Having taken the basic preparations, the key is to just take the first step, easy as that! Very soon, I have learned that the world is a much brighter place than the media tends to sell us, and I am trying to pass this picture on to you.
Throughout my travels, I did blog and post on Instagram, which I mostly have been using for pictures and for letting relatives and followers know that I’m fine. I have been searching for a platform to share deeper and more general thoughts about traveling and individual stories, and Steemit seems to be perfect for this. I hope that my sense of adventure can be contagious and that "stories from the road" can be inspiring and thought-provoking. If you’re a traveler or on whatever kind of “life” adventure yourself, I am positive that my content can prove valuable to you.
If you want to stay updated with my adventures from the path less traveled, just follow me on @mikearound.
Thanks for reading!
Welcome to Steemit Micheal,
I saw your #introduceyourself and its nice to meet you.
Blogging is what its all about on this blockchain. The best part is that you could earn money.
I have been here for a while and love it!
But be carefull with all your passwords, Never give those up !! They are yours.
For safety tips visit the white paper.
The Steemify App I use is also great, it is available in the Appstore and free, you can See Whats happening in your account. https://steemit.com/busy/@exyle/using-steemify-to-stay-up-to-date-about-the-blockchain-like-project-destiny-please-consider-blockbrothers-for-your-witness-vote
Also Appics, Partiko and Steepshot are handy and Free. I wish you good luck steeming and I Will See you around🍀
Your value and input is appreciated and if you have questions let me know.
We (@xcountytravelers and I ) are presenting New comers in Our @Heyhaveyamet blogs, and There is a Discord called SteemTerminal for newbies and All questions, join in, I am on steemit everyday ! You can always leave a comment.
Greetings from Brittandjosie from the Netherlands
Thanks for the wishes and the heads up, Britt! And thanks for the feature! Yeah, I'm quite thrilled by the community as well. :)
Let me know if you have questions i Will be around sometimes every day 😉
Hi and welcome here! When I started on steemit, my biggest problem was to find interesting people to interact with. So, to help newcomers getting started I created a directory with other interesting and or talented steemians to follow or interact with. Feel free to check it out at https://www.steemiandir.com I am sure it will help you find like-minded people. Enjoy your stay here and do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions!
Thanks for the heads-up!
Welcome to the steemit community @mikearound!
We sincerely hope you find all that you are looking for here, and have found a new home.
I found this post because @heyhaveyamet promoted your post to help you grow quicker, and should you have any questions or need some guidance, you can go to the Steem Terminal in Discord here:
Have fun and happy steeming!
Thank you!
Welcome to steemit @mikearound.
Welcome the new steemians. Have a great day!
Certainly inspiring and glad that you have also taken your first step here in the community. It will be great to see your journey here on the platform as many communities are always seeking these adventures!
Welcome to Steem! You have taken the first step in achieving many goals here at the crossroads of cryptocurrencies, blockchain, and social media. Consistent engagement is needed to progress and grow your following and influence. I am currently working on a weekly post to curate new users and providing them an introduction to the ecosystem. I have selected your post as one I will feature in an upcoming post! In addition, I have published a post that provides great references to assist you in your journey. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or feedback!
Thanks a lot, really appreciated!
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Great intro. Exciting journey. I will be searching from London.
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WOW @MIKEAROUND!! WELCOME TO STEEMIT AND STEEM BLOCKCHAIN! I CANT WAIT TO SEE YOUR ADVENTURES, WILL YOU BE POSTING VLOGS ON #DTUBE TOO? I WILL BE FOLLOWING YOUR JOURNEY. SAFE TRAVELS! OH AND MY NAME IS FRANCESCA! @PRETTYNICEVIDEO
Hey Francesca! Thank you for the heads up, nice of you!
I have not yet planned to vlog on DTube, and have made only two travel videos so far. For now, I will focus on blogging but will keep DTube in mind. Which one do you prefer?
I like doing video PERSONALLY but you can do both! Lol. I recently did a video answering that question for some other steemian about a week ago.
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Congratulations on the great start here on Steemit! Traveling blogs do really well since they are interesting to many different people. You write very well too, so that certain helps!
You wrote that you've been on the road since 2017. That's a long time to be away from your homeland. What are your travel goals or do you have any? Where do you plan to go from India?
My father was a machinist and mechanic, and we always had motorcycles around when I was a child. My first motorcycle was a 90 Kawasaki. It was a blast, and I had countless hours of fun riding it. Riding definitely gives you a sense of freedom, but the adrenaline rush you get is also wonderful.
I have four children, and them knowing how to ride a motorcycle is a requirement. They need to learn how to ride a bike, horse, and motorcycle, or I feel I will have failed them as a father. haha What was the first motorcycle you rode? Have you done much off roading?
Taking a dirt bike into the woods is an amazing way to go camping!
Edit: The fastest I've ever ridden a motorcycle was going 165 miles an hour up hill on the back of a V65 Magna with my dad driving it. That was insane. As a kid I would ride on the gas tank with no helmet too. It is a miracle I survived to adulthood.
Hey Finnian, thanks a lot!
Yeah, it's a long time indeed. I had taken two amazing months to reach India, where I spent another four. To me, it's a really fascinating country and also pretty huge!
Last summer, I took a small break, to consider where next from India. I have been continuing the journey since September, heading all over South-East Asia, and now in Malaysia.
I have always been hesitant on setting a fixed goal, knowingly that you both can reach great things with a goal in mind, but possibility is always there you are becoming a bit neglecting for the way. So my intention is just to enjoy the travel experience as fully as I can. It certainly motivates me to hear and read all the positive feedback both from home and from the locals I meet on an everyday basis, and some tell me that they are feeling themselves more open-minded when I am telling them how I go about my travels. I wouldn't say this is my primary goal, though. I primarily want to get to know myself better through my travels, so I can share a sense of positivity and happiness with others, if that makes sense.
Yeah I have ridden quite a few bikes, also a motocross one. The bike I am traveling with is a BMW R100R, a road bike, but as long as its not muddy, I am quite amazed how far it goes when off-roading.
My first bike was a 125-cc two-stroke, a Honda NSR that I really loved and that taught me a lot about motorcycle maintenance.
The fastest I've went was with an S1000RR BMW, as I was lucky to work with BMW Motorrad during my engineering studies. I checked out its max speed on a test track, which was around 305 kph or 180-something mph. It felt like riding a cannon ball.
180! Wow. I'd rather have a dirt bike in the woods than a sport bike on a track. Speed is fun and all, but getting dirty and jumping are more fun to me. :) Yes, I agree that most people are good and interact voluntarily and peacefully. We are programmed to believe otherwise though since that favors rulers.
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