After more than two years of cycling, Niels Jansen is back at home in Bergeijk. With more than 42,000 kilometers by bike and a backpack full of travel stories, he was welcomed in the village by family, friends and neighbors on Saturday. “Tonight I’m sitting on the couch with my family and looking forward to sleeping in my own bed again.”
Because for the past two years he slept on an inflatable mat, in a tent and a sleeping bag that he has now worn down to the thread. In his bicycle bag he also had a gas stove for cooking, some clothes, a camera and tools to repair his bicycle.
“I had a very simple life. Things I worried about were finding a place to sleep, how do I get water and what do I eat tonight.”
When he left the village two years ago, his parents and sister waved him off from the driveway in overcast weather. The village left on Saturday to welcome Niels, who is now 26 years old.
At the Belgian border he is met by villagers. At the church a lot of school children are waiting to accompany him the last few meters home. “It’s an amazing homecoming, I didn’t expect this at all. Even people I don’t know personally have followed me over the years and are waiting for me here.”
Niels jumped on his bike just before the corona pandemic on his way to the North Cape in Norway. With the idea: once I’m there, I’ll look further. His mother secretly hoped that he would cycle back home and that his journey was over. But Niels got the hang of it and decided to cycle from Norway to the Southern Cape in South Africa.
“That was quite a challenge, cycling to another continent that we don’t know. But it was his dream and it went well for him,” says a proud mother Marlies.
From Norway he continued his journey via Eastern Europe to Turkey and from there he takes a sailboat to Egypt. He continues on his way to Sudan, has to take a plane trip to cross the border to Ethiopia and cycles further and further south to his final destination. With a special moment in every place.
Reaching the North Cape was a powerful moment for him, just like cycling through the fjords in Norway and the journey through the Bale Mountains in Ethiopia. “If I look at the map and I trace the route with my finger, I can tell a highlight in every place.”
For mother Marlies, the return home of her son on Saturday is the most important highlight: “The moment that he came here cycling with the school children, I thought it was very special and emotional. That relief that after two years he is safely home again. As a parent you secretly sometimes think: as long as it all ends well. But we have always said to each other: we keep faith.”
Niels has no idea what he will do in the near future. “It will take me a while to process these experiences and the adventure. But I have to say, this way of traveling is addictive. If I ever made another trip, I would love to cycle from North to South America. But I’ll wait a little longer.”