Uploaded January 2021 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
Back in 2002, when I got an admission at a university in Germany, I took a flight from Islamabad to Frankfurt. The plane was cruising at 800 km/h at 40,000 feet somewhere above Turkey. Looking down through the plane window, I was mesmerised by the vastness and the landscape below. Rivers appeared as curved lines, towns as brown patches, snowcapped mountains as wrinkles on the old paper. I wondered—how it would feel to be out there, what local people would be like, the languages they spoke, the culture, the food and the music?
Before the plane landed, I had promised myself I would cycle from Germany to Pakistan one day.
Eventually, in June 2011, I set out on my bicycle journey and within 45 days made it to Turkey, where I received the news that mom had been hospitalized due to a cardiac arrest. I cancelled my tour and flew to Pakistan. I spent a few weeks with mom at the hospital, but unfortunately, she passed away.
My dream of cycling home and seeing mom at the doorstep got shattered. I considered cycling as a curse. I went back to Germany, sold my bike, and even quit the idea of cycling again.
Another four years went by. I sank into depression and questioned my existence, but the dream of cycling to Pakistan stayed not only alive but thrived and wouldn't let me sleep at night.
In March 2015, I quit my job, bought a bicycle, and flew to Turkey while it was still freezing out there. I resumed my trip from where exactly I had left four years earlier. Cycling the eastern Turkey roads in snow, I felt cold and vulnerable, but something kept me going. It was this dream I had seen 13 years earlier when the plane was flying somewhere 40,000 feet above this region, and a younger Kamran had made a promise to himself.
This dream kept me awake in the nights during all those years. It lit a fire in my heart on those cold days and kept me pedalling despite all the emotional and physical setbacks.
I don't know if life has any particular meaning or purpose at all. But one thing is certain, there is nothing more meaningful than pursuing your dreams for they come from the Divine.
Follow your dreams, because as the song goes, this could be our last chance!
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Follow me on Facebook and Instagram for more stories: facebook.com/KamranOnBike and instagram.com/KamranOnBike
Song: Last Chance by CHPTRS
Back in 2002, when I got an admission at a university in Germany, I took a flight from Islamabad to Frankfurt. The plane was cruising at 800 km/h at 40,000 feet somewhere above Turkey. Looking down through the plane window, I was mesmerised by the vastness and the landscape below. Rivers appeared as curved lines, towns as brown patches, snowcapped mountains as wrinkles on the old paper. I wondered—how it would feel to be out there, what local people would be like, the languages they spoke, the culture, the food and the music?
Before the plane landed, I had promised myself I would cycle from Germany to Pakistan one day.
Eventually, in June 2011, I set out on my bicycle journey and within 45 days made it to Turkey, where I received the news that mom had been hospitalized due to a cardiac arrest. I cancelled my tour and flew to Pakistan. I spent a few weeks with mom at the hospital, but unfortunately, she passed away.
My dream of cycling home and seeing mom at the doorstep got shattered. I considered cycling as a curse. I went back to Germany, sold my bike, and even quit the idea of cycling again.
Another four years went by. I sank into depression and questioned my existence, but the dream of cycling to Pakistan stayed not only alive but thrived and wouldn't let me sleep at night.
In March 2015, I quit my job, bought a bicycle, and flew to Turkey while it was still freezing out there. I resumed my trip from where exactly I had left four years earlier. Cycling the eastern Turkey roads in snow, I felt cold and vulnerable, but something kept me going. It was this dream I had seen 13 years earlier when the plane was flying somewhere 40,000 feet above this region, and a younger Kamran had made a promise to himself.
This dream kept me awake in the nights during all those years. It lit a fire in my heart on those cold days and kept me pedalling despite all the emotional and physical setbacks.
I don't know if life has any particular meaning or purpose at all. But one thing is certain, there is nothing more meaningful than pursuing your dreams for they come from the Divine.
Follow your dreams, because as the song goes, this could be our last chance!
------------------
Follow me on Facebook and Instagram for more stories: facebook.com/KamranOnBike and instagram.com/KamranOnBike
Song: Last Chance by CHPTRS
