A journey of 50,000 kilometers begins with a single pedal - Bangkok, Thailand

Distance biked so far: (0 km) 
On November 17, 2013 I am starting at the front door of my condominium in Bangkok, Thailand to circumnavigate the world on a bicycle. The route that will change a few hundred times en-route will take me 2 years, pass through approximately 40 countries and stretch about 50,000 kilometers. There will be mountains, desserts, head and tail winds, rain, snow, unfamiliar languages and customs, bad people, speeding cars and did I mention head wind? Most of all though, there will be kind people willing to show hospitality to a complete stranger.

I am doing this trip to help support Angel House Orphanage in the Philippines. I spent a short time there this month to meet the owner and the children. Angel House opened its doors in 2009 and currently has 11 children. Most of the kids were abandoned by their parents and are in the process of being adopted. The orphanage does not get any funding from government agencies and is not supported by a church, relying solely on private donations for survival. There are 4 house parents living with the children and a social worker that works closely with the Department of Social Welfare to ensure the children’s interest is maintained throughout the long adoption process.

Here are a few pictures of the orphanage.

 

Here are some of the kids waiting to be adopted:

I invite everyone to visit the website and to see the wonderful work David is doing for the kids. I will be writing more about Angel House as I continue to make my way around the world.

http://angelhousephilippines.com

They are also on Facebook so I invite everyone to share their website with your friends.

https://www.facebook.com/angelhousephilippines

I will be posting my journal entries and photos here as I go. My route at this point is to start in Bangkok and continue in a southerly direction to go through Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand before heading to Argentina. I will bicycle north through South and Central America, the U.S and home to Canada and hope to have that half of the trip completed by Christmas 2014.

I will write again once I am on the road but for now, thank you for following along.

Fred Bouwman

November 9, 2013
Bangkok, Thailand