Mateusz Andrulewicz graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2019 with a degree in Business Management.
Mateusz: We are travelling by bicycles from my hometown in Wroclaw, Poland to Cape Town, South Africa. It is me and my childhood friend, also named Mateusz (or Gluchy) and hence our branding on social media: Matts&bikes.
We left in September 2021 and we are currently in Egypt. In those 14 months, we have travelled 14,500km. It began in Europe and because we started in autumn, we had to move quickly as winter was on our backs. We then cycled through the Middle ast, an enormous chapter of our journey. First it was Turkey, then Iraq, Iran, Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
We are soon to begin Chapter Three: Africa. We are 600 kilometres away from the Suez Canal, where the African continent starts. Africa will be very different from Europe and the Middle East. It will have different people, topography, weather and all the challenges that come as a result of those.
At the University of Birmingham, I was doing my
bachelor’s degree in Business Management and working very hard on the side. During my second year at university, I had 4 part-time jobs
simultaneously. At that time I also got involved with Startup Society started
by Federico and Jack.
Then during my third year I only had one part-time job. I
became the president of the University of Birmingham Start-Up society and committed a lot of my time to this start-up community.
What I remember most was the annual B-Enterprising Boot Camp, which got me into the university’s entrepreneurial community in the first place. That’s also where some of my
fondest university friendships began; Boot Camp was where I’ve met all the
people that I am in touch with now, after graduation.
After university, I moved to Dublin, Ireland
and worked as a salesman for Google for 2 years.
you like people, asking questions and trying to figure out how to convince the
other side to reach a mutual agreement, you will enjoy selling most products or
services.
Now I am cycling the world, but still I am selling all the time. I am selling
to potential new sponsors, to existing sponsors, to media, to our followers, to
places where we could potentially speak and so much more. I love sales.
How it started
childhood friend. Gluchy and I have known each other for over 20 years
now. I wrote about the reasons behind my trip here on another blog: Lot’s of Pedalling ahead by Mateusz Andrulewicz
of cheap transportation. Because we could be almost self-sufficient on the
bicycle, we knew that we will be able to live a life like this for a long time
from the financial perspective.
Photo credit: (Arab News: Meshaal Suliman Al Qadeer)
regularly receiving generous help from people who we randomly meet on the road.
This applies to all the countries, no matter if it’s Ukraine or if it’s Saudi
Arabia (which is very reassuring because these two countries are so
dramatically different and yet still in both you will find kind humans). In the
Middle East, hospitality is a cultural obligation of sorts so often times the
help is much more ceremonial but also generous to the extreme.
popular with tourists, so that is also a contributing factor: the locals get
very excited, and we end up with a hundred school kids around us, all
asking if they can take a quick ride.
people that we have are very special for bicycle travel. Both sides know that
the interaction will be temporary and short-lived and thus both sides try to
get as much as possible from it. This means that the people we meet invite us,
complete strangers met 10 minutes before on the road, to their very intimate,
small and protected worlds.
They invite us into their houses, introduce us to
their family and friends, show us around their town. This is the basic package,
but usually there is much more: old photo albums, local football club, lovers,
secret locations – many unbelievable stories.
something that I love, but it’s also something that costs a lot of energy.
two of us: sometimes we can split the price in half.
Looking ahead
know the exact route. Actually we don’t know much details in general. The route
is simple until Ethiopia – we have to go through Egypt, then Sudan and then
south to Addis Ababa. From here, many route options arise. We will decide on
the go based on how we feel and what the people we meet are going to tell us.
The best thing about this
bicycle trip is that it showed me that the possibilities are really endless.
There is not enough life to realize them all! I have a few ideas but there is
nothing sure yet, so for now I will keep them to myself.
further on. We are now trying to make a small entertainment business out of our
expedition. If we manage to raise more funds, who knows what we will do next.
This bike trip has opened me up to a multitude of unexpected possibilities and ideas on what to do next. Before the trip, I had a stable and good full-time
job. I was following a path that I was prepared for the entire duration of my
life. I then questioned that path and wanted to see if it really is the right
one.
I walked away from it and decided to make my own path. I still do not know
if this one is the right one for me. Nonetheless, the decision to break away
from the previous one made me much more confident when making ‘important’ life decisions.
need to focus on the basics: a safe place to sleep, food, water. This keeps me
grounded and stops me from drifting too far away with all the ideas.
you have nowhere to sleep, you are humbled and focus fully on the present
reality, distant future being a very much distant concern.
Introduced and edited by Bob Lee
With thanks to Mateusz Andrulewicz and Mateusz Gluch
Mateusz Andrulewicz i Głuch na rowerach do Kapsztadu
