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This week, the Bigger, Better World podcast takes a trip to Europe, talking to International Living contributor Sharyn Nilsen about her recent adventure traversing the continent, from London to Berlin, by bicycle.

Sharyn and her husband, Tim, are no beginners when it comes to bike touring. With long-distance trips across Africa, North America, and Australia already on their resume, it was only a matter of time before the varied geography and cultures of Europe called.

Full-time travelers, Sharyn and Tim split their time between exploration missions and the more settled and domestic activity of house- and pet-sitting. Bookending their bike journey across Europe with home stays in the UK, the northern hemisphere summer gave them ample time to see the sights,

"Perhaps we were lucky, but we had only one rainy day. The summer weather was mostly warm and sunny without being too hot, with cool nights for a restful night’s sleep in our tent…. We rolled past rustic-looking windmills, grand old churches with functioning bell towers, and age-old castles in various stages of decay through dappled ancient forests and acres of wheat, barley, and cornfields."

Independent, self-sufficient, and not bound to any strict timetable, Sharyn and Tim’s adventure allowed them to indulge themselves as they liked. With plenty of breaks, no high-mileage rides, and always a cold beer at their destination, there was no need to race through the journey. 

"We’re not hardcore cyclists," Sharyn states. There’s so much to see and do on the stretch between the Netherlands and Germany that it would be a shame to rush it all. On the other hand, there’s no difficulty in taking the bikes on a train to cover some distance either. That’s all part of the appeal, when there’s no set plan and no clocks to punch.

Join host, Jim Santos, as he meets Sharyn Nilsen in the latest episode of Bigger, Better World.

Read Sharyn's full article in the December issue of the International Living Magazine.

If you’re enjoying the podcast, we would really appreciate it if you could leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform: https://lovethepodcast.com/internationalliving.

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