Trip Summary

I've been back home for four days and it's time to do a trip report. I'm also including some websites and apps that have helped me with planning and traveling. I hope they will help others as well.

First is a summary of my trip in terms of the routes I've taken. I started the trip on a bicycle and bike toured to Canada, United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Germany, and Poland. I had to store my bicycle in Wroclaw, Poland, since the weather got cold. Then I backpacked to Prague and Dresden before taking a flight to Cyprus to get out of the Schengen Area. I then went to Jordan and Egypt before coming back to the US.

Part one of my 2025 bicycle tour route in North America

Part two of my 2025 bicycle route in Europe

The total cost of my trip is $11,383.43 for over 7 months of traveling. That includes everything: housing, food, transportation, etc. I averaged about $1423 per month. Here's a monthly breakdown of my expenses.

Month	Destinations	Cost
May	USA	$711.72
June	Canada	$1,040.90
July	Canada and UK	$2,309.97
August	UK and Europe	$1,724.22
September	Europe	$1,342.56
October	Europe	$2,112.68
November	Middle East	$1,405.33
December	Middle East	$736.05
	SUM	$11,383.43
	AVG	$1,422.93

The most expensive countries in descending order are the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Germany, Canada, Poland, Cyprus, Jordan, and Egypt.

Here's how I plan my trip:

1. Visit https://travel.state.gov/en/international-travel.html and research about visa requirements. I also use https://www.passportindex.org to get an overview of visa requirements, but I rely on the state.gov website for official information.
2. Check for ETA (Electronic Travel Authorization) for the destination country since some countries require you to register and submit an online form before arrival. Examples include the United Kingdom, The Philippines, and others.
3. Make sure to check if the country requires an onward or a return flight ticket. You can do that by a simple Google search. Some places won't let you board the plane if you don't show an onward flight ticket.
4. I book all my flights using Google Flights. Another good option is Skyscanner.com.
5. I research about my destination using ChatGPT by asking "Things to do in (fill in your city)." I also use Wikivoyage.org as an online guidebook so I don't buy paper guidebooks anymore.
6. For restaurant recommendations I use Google Maps.
7. As for housing, I mainly use Booking.com. Sometimes I also use Hostelworld.com. When I was cycle touring, I used Warmshowers.org and Couchsurfing.com. I recently signed up for Workaway.info but haven't used it yet.
8. Depending on the country, there are different ride sharing apps to download. In Europe, there's Bolt, in Southeast Asia it's Grab, and in the Middle East it's Careem. Uber works in some of these regions as well.

As for this trip, and all my other trips, I have to thank all the wonderful people I've met. They truly made my trip special. I think the best thing about traveling is the people. They make me feel like humanity is on the right path, but there's still so much work to do. Thank you all for being part of my experience. I had a wonderful time!

I had planned to bicycle the world when I started on May 4, 2025. Obviously, I didn't make it. I think it's best if I bike tour or backpack for six months at a time. That way, I won't get too much travel fatigue. From now on, I will take shorter trips and explore a region of the world more thoroughly. I think that's the best way for me to travel.

As for my next trip, I will return to Wroclaw, Poland, in the spring of 2026 to retrieve my bicycle. I will probably cycle to Italy before coming back home.

So for now, it's time to enjoy some home comfort. Hope everyone have a good holiday season and happy travels!