I’m not sure about you, but I personally can not believe how quickly time has flown since my last cycling tour around the Scottish Highlands. As last year and the years before, I still don’t have anybody to share my summer holidays with. With that in mind I’m facing two options:
1 – fly somewhere warm, possibly with a beach, pick a book and sit there for few weeks or…
2 – I could once again pack my bike and head off into the unknown and experience some hardships that will make me appreciate once again how beautiful our everyday monotonous life is. You probably know which option I went for.

This year’s tour will be slightly different than any tour I have done in the past. Instead of flying to some distant airport and cycling back home I will be cycling away from home. A plane will be involved, but I will have to get to it first and then meet the airline requirements to make sure that my bike and I will be able to board the plane and return home. Moving away from home and the stress of dismantling my bike and packing it in accordance with the airline’s regulations will definitely have an impact on my stress level and mental state. I’m in the process of solving as many potential problems from home and so far, I have been in touch with one of the bike shops in the town I’m cycling to and I was assured that when I arrive, they will find me a cardboard box for my bike.

I suppose I should tell you where I am going this time and why. Well, I have decided to cycle to Poland! To be more specific, I will cycle to Cracow (Kraków) for World Youth Day 2016 ​and after spending a week with a few million of young people from around the world, I will fly back to UK. As I haven’t been to Poland since January 2013, I shall also visit my mum and the rest of the family.

​Now, let me tell you my simple plan.
I will start cycling either straight after work on 1st July or early in the morning the following day. I can’t be more specific than that at this stage as I need to plan the first two days, which will be the most time sensitive, and if something goes wrong during those two days, it may have an impact on the rest of the journey. Anyway, during those first two or two and a half days I will cycle to Dover and take a ferry to Calais, France. From there, instead of cycling east for Belgium, I will cycle southeast towards Luxembourg. After satisfying my weird desire to cycle through Luxembourg (probably an hour long) I will cycle in a straight line through Belgium, Germany and in the third week enter into Czech Republic and start cycling northeast towards the Polish border. When in Poland, I will aim for my home town Zlotoryja where as I mentioned earlier, I will visit my family. I’m not entirely sure how long I will stay with my family, as at this stage I will be still about 3 days of cycling away from my final destination. At the moment my plan is to have one day of rest somewhere in Germany and one with my family but if I manage to cover more than 60 miles a day for 21 days, I will have more time to spend with my family. Understandably, that can also go the other way too. Just to assure you, the first day that will get sacrificed will be the one in Germany. Though, I do have a family in Germany too, so if I don’t cycle fast enough, someone will eventually tell me off! Let’s go back to that plan, I’m getting nervous already. After leaving my hometown, I will cycle for about three days towards Cracow and hopefully arrive there the day after my birthday on 24th July. Then after spending the week at WYD and sleeping, (probably on a floor in some school or something) I will fly back to the UK on 2nd August. I sure feel tired just thinking about it… :)