One of the most frequently asked questions is which route we are going to take. So here is the attempt of an answer:

Basically, the plan is to go to Germany starting in Australia. Having said that, here are some important criteria which figure in our route planning:

• We want to travel overland as much as possible. That means cycling where possible and hopefully avoid flying. As there is water all around Australia (as many of you pointed out 😉 ) we will have to find a way to cross from Australia to Asia. The best way for us would be to find a boat which some people have done but in general is not really easy to do. There is no passenger ferry and we do not have much sailing / boating experience. So if that does not work out we would have to fly.
• We do want to cycle as much as possible, but: As this is not a personal challenge of crossing an imaginary finish line but rather about the people we meet and experiences we encounter along the way, sometimes it might be okay to take a bus or hitch a ride.
• We want to travel overland (again) to see things changing slowly and to get a feel of what is happening around us. This again comes with a ‘but’: Visa requirements mights change or we might not get a visa for a certain country at all. The political situation in an area might suddenly be tense and cycling through there would no longer be advisable. All in all, there is a number of reasons why our planned overland route could change. In that case we would have to consider backtracking, changing our route or even flying.
• We want to have a rough idea where we are going but still be able to spontaneously change our plans.

Having said all that, we agreed on a rough work-in-progress route which is the following:

Cycle from Sydney to Cairns or Darwin and hopefully find a boat to East Timor or Indonesia. If not, fly there. Cycle in East Timor and Indonesia and then to Malaysia up north towards Thailand. Do some loops in South East Asia. Cross over into Myanmar to India and maybe Bangladesh. Try to get a visa for Pakistan to again try and cycle the beautiful Karakoram Highway into Kashgar, China. From there cross Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan into Iran. Make a loop through Azerbaijan, maybe Armenia and Georgia. On to Turkey and then northwards bound to Germany on some not yet defined route.

So, this is our rough plan which will most definitely change somehow. Apart from that we concern ourselves with researching the next few days or possibly weeks (which roads to take, where to sleep, where to buy food). Everything else would just be too overwhelming.