 This is Think Tech Hawaii. Community matters here. Welcome to Shrink Rap, Hawaii. My name is Stephen Phillip Katz. I'm a licensed marriage and family therapist here in Hawaii, and today is a departure. We don't have another shrink. We have somebody that we have a lot of questions for, somebody that has never appeared on television certainly in Hawaii, and somebody who is in the middle of an accomplishment that is still in the making but has already broken all kinds of records of anybody I've ever met. I would like to welcome to our show, Marcus Ngie. Thank you. Welcome. Thank you. Also let our audience know, Marcus is in the middle of a two years plus journey on his bicycle which weighs with all of his camping gear and supplies over 150 pounds. He left from Switzerland on his bicycle. When was that, Marcus? Well, so I started the trip in July 2015. And I started in Switzerland, and I cycled all the way down to South Africa. So I biked the length of Africa from the top to the bottom. Which side did you go down? Well, I started, so I started in Switzerland, then I went down to France and Spain, and then I went over by boat to Morocco. And I did the west coast to Senegal and Mali, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo. And then from there I flew to the other side of Africa, to the east side, and to Ethiopia. And from there I rode my bicycle all the way down to South Africa to Cape Town. How long did just that portion take from Switzerland to Cape Town? Oh, that took me about seven months and two weeks, if I remember well, which is pretty fast. That is unbelievable. And where did you stay along the way? I'd say that like about 90% of the time I come, so I slept in my tent. But also sometimes I stayed with local people who invited me to stay at their home. Just people you would meet along the way? Exactly. How old are you now? I was born in 1992, so I'm 24 years old. How long had you been planning this trip before you left? Well, bicycling has always been part of my life basically, so it's always been my dream to carry out this adventure around the world by bicycle. And yeah, when I was a kid I used to ride my bicycle with my dad, with my brother, with our friends, and technically what I'm doing right now is just the logical outcome of what I've always liked to do, riding my bicycle. And yeah, maybe it sounds a little crazy to ride 50,000 kilometers around the world. But translation, that's what, like 37,000 miles or something? No, a little bit less, like 29,000 miles. But by the time I'm going to be done with the trip, I'm going to have 50,000 miles on the clock. That's a hell of a trip, isn't it? Takes me five years in my car to go there. Was there a moment where you said, okay, I'm going to leave Switzerland on this day and this month, I know you said you've been building up to this your whole life, but was there a time where you decided, okay, this is when I'm going to leave? Well, initially, my first idea was to ride my bicycle to South Africa. And I told to myself, if I can ride my bicycle across Africa, then I can go anywhere else on Earth with my bicycle. So being successful from Switzerland to South Africa on a bicycle was just the proof that I would be able to go anywhere. And that's why... So you made the decision when you were in South Africa to keep going or you knew before? Well, I had this idea before, but... Oh, but you figured if you can do that, then you'll keep going. Exactly. It's unreal. Oh, no, it's not. I know it's real. I'm real. You are very real, but what you're doing, you're the first person I've ever met that's doing anything on this scale. So after South Africa, where did you go? I flew to Buenos Aires in Argentina, and from there I started to ride my bicycle all the way up through Latin America, so all the South American countries. And then Central America and Mexico and eventually the U.S. in California, and from there I rode my bicycle across the United States to New York, then I went up to Canada, and once again all the way across Canada. So you crossed the Americas twice? Your way across and came back? Yeah, exactly. I mean, once across the U.S. and once across Canada, yeah. But still it's like at least 3,000 miles each way. It's a long way, especially if you ride your bike against the wind. Which would be on the way back going west? Exactly, yeah. Yeah, I had more tailwind in the U.S. and way more headwind in Canada, but that's part of the... That could be more difficult than hills, yeah? It can. Especially if it's really flat, like in the middle of the country in Canada. Does it get boring? Sometimes it does. Yeah. And does it get lonely? Remember when I started this adventure, when I was in South Europe and Africa at some point I got really lonely, like I was homesick a little bit, but then I just got used to it. And actually now if somebody asked me, or would you like somebody to join you for this adventure, I would rather choose not to. And I prefer to be by myself because if you're by yourself, it's the best way to meet people around the world and that's how you enjoy yourself the most, in my opinion. Have you met people that you think you will stay in contact with? Oh, yeah. Oh, I'm still in contact with plenty of people from a lot of countries. South Africa, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Senegal. So I know people watching this, some people watching this, there are people who never leave their hometowns their whole life, right? And then there are people that do a little bit of traveling maybe to a bordering state in the United States or if you're in Europe, maybe to a bordering country. But most people don't travel around the world and certainly not by themselves on a bicycle. And I know that other people have it in their heads. Isn't it scary? I mean, there's wars going on all over the world and how do you win—I'm sure I'm not the first person that's asked you that. How come you're not scared? Well, I mean, the world is vast and the humanity is great. And in my opinion, there's a tiny percentage of very bad people and the great majority of people doesn't matter where you are, showing America or in Africa or in Europe. You will find way more friendly and helpful people than evil or bad people. So no, I'm not afraid. I trust people and my trip has actually showed me that there are great people around everywhere. So you would say that traveling around the world has reinforced your theory that most people are good? Oh, yeah, definitely. And I think traveling around the world is an amazing experience because especially on a bicycle, because you learn so much, you learn about other cultures, you learn about other people and other countries. And yeah, I'm glad I've decided to make that when I'm young because now this has changed my life forever. In what ways do you think? Because I've seen so many things and I also had the opportunity to learn Spanish, for instance. While you're traveling. Yeah. And I think it's a great thing to get to see so many things and to meet so many different people. It helps you to understand the world better somehow. What's the longest you've spent in any one place? I actually stayed in Buenos Aires for two months and I think that's the... But also because I have my uncle who lives in Canada and I stayed one month with him. Because sometimes, I mean, riding your bicycle all the time, it's exhausting sometimes it's good to have a break. So how come you stayed in Buenos Aires for so long? Because I went to a language school for ten weeks to learn Spanish. Were you camping then? No, no, no, no. I stayed with friends. Oh, you knew people before? Yeah, exactly. Because when I landed in Buenos Aires, I didn't speak any Spanish. And I told myself, if I'm going to ride my bicycle all the way across Latino America from Buenos Aires to the top of Mexico without being able to speak Spanish, that's going to be too hard. And that's why I stayed two months there and I made the right decision. Later on, I was glad I had some Spanish skills to communicate with people because traveling in a country without being able to speak with locals, that's really hard on me. So have you had any love affairs along the way? Not really. But it's so romantic. You must have had opportunities. Yeah, sometimes, but I don't want to talk to them. It's too private. So has anybody joined you for part of the way on riding? Yeah, actually, yes. When I was in Canada, I spent about three weeks traveling with two other cyclists that I met on the road just randomly. So that was cool to be with other people. But when I left them, actually, I was glad to be on my own again. But that was a cool adventure, a cool experience to share the adventure with other people who do the same as I do. How does your family feel about it? I think sometimes they think I'm crazy. But they're also aware that I know what I'm doing and I'm careful and they admire me in some ways. But they will be glad when I will be back home. My mom actually always asks me to come back, but she knows that I'm enjoying myself and I like what I'm doing. So she's also happy about that. You want to say hello to your mom? Yeah, well, I can grab the opportunity to say hi to all my family and friends in Switzerland back home. And I really look forward to seeing you again when I will be back. And thank you so much for listening to this TV show. Hello. Okay, we're going to come right back after this short break. Don't touch your mouse. We'll be back with Marcus Gie. This is Think Tech Hawaii, raising public awareness. Aloha. I'm Tim Appachaw, host for Moving Hawaii Forward, a show dedicated to transportation issues and traffic. We identify those areas where we do have problems in the state, but also the show is dedicated to trying to find solutions, not just detail our problems. So join me every other Tuesday on Moving Hawaii Forward. I'm Tim Appachaw. Thank you. Ted Rawson here, folks. You're a host on Where the Drone Leads, our weekly show at noon on Thursdays here on Think Tech. We talk about drones, anything to do about drones, drones, remotely piloted aircraft, unmanned aircraft, whatever you want to call them, emerging into Hawaii's economy, educational framework, and our public life. We talk about things associated with the use, the misuse, technology, engineering, legislation with local experts as well as people from across the country. Please join us noon on Thursdays and catch the latest on what's taking place in the world of drones that might affect you. Welcome back to Shrink Rap Hawaii. I'm still with my friend, Marcus Gie. So of all of the countries, you know how many countries you've been to so far? On this trip, 30 or 31. And still counting? Yeah. Is there a favorite country? Oh, that's a tricky question because obviously I've been to so many nice places and also met so many nice people. So I think it wouldn't be too fair to pick one particular country. But I can fairly say that I really love the Latin American culture from Argentina to the top of Mexico. I was part from the beginning to the end with the people I met and the experiences I had along the road. And yeah, I really enjoyed the Latino culture. And honestly, I can tell you that if I had two lives, I would spend at least one of them down in Latino America. But I also love Switzerland. So that's why I want to come back. Well, maybe someday you'll have enough money to have different residences in both. Maybe who knows. What country would you stay in first? Probably Mexico or Costa Rica. What stands out in your mind about those places? I mean, the Latino people, in my opinion, they have a richness of spirit in a way that for them it's natural to be friendly and smiley and helpful to people. And also it's part of their culture to be generous and giving to other people. Yeah, honestly, I was lucky to meet a lot of people who invited me at their home, either to have lunch or dinner or to overnight at their place too. And I really loved their friendliness all the time, no matter if it rains or snows. Well, it doesn't snow down there. But you know what I mean. Just to tell our audience, the way that we met was through an organization called Warm Showers.org, which is a support group for bicyclists who are looking for a free place to stay. Other bicyclists provide an open house for them to stay for a few nights. And that's how we met, yeah? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, this is also a great way to meet local people. I stayed with people from this community, Warm Showers, in many different countries. And I'm still in contact with most of them. And yeah, it's always interesting to stay with people who live in different countries and have different habits and eat different things that we... Yeah, I would think the food is a big thing along the way. Yeah. Yeah. And thank you, by the way, for cooking us such a good meal. Oh, really? Did I? That was fabulous. Yeah. Okay, thank you. Do you remember what you made for us? Oh, yeah, I made pizza. Yeah. I made actually pizza, and somebody from the community, Warm Showers, told me how to make the pizza that was in Argentina. Marcus actually rolled out his own dough, made his own dough right there. And we even had some leftover for the next day, which was a wonderful thing. That was really easy to make, so nothing complicated about it. Oh, it's easy once you have the nerve to decide to do it. That's right. And what about the bicycle repair? You must have had a lot of flat tires along the way. Oh, well, I don't count them anymore. Yeah, I couldn't even tell you roughly how many I had, just too many. That's the right answer. Yeah, I had a couple of other issues, like I broke my rims two times. Broke your rims? Yeah. Where did that happen? The first time it happened in Peru. Uh-huh. And what do you do? You have to push your bike to the next bike shop? No, I cheated. I asked for a ride to somebody. Oh, is that cheating? Yeah, a little bit. You can't ride with a broken rim. Yeah, I could have carried my bike, but that didn't happen too hard. So I hitchhiked for about, I don't remember, maybe 10 miles, and I went to the next village, next little town, and there was somebody that was able to sell me a new rim to me, and we could fix it. Yeah, apart from that, I had a- What about your chain? It must have broken? No, no. Well, I actually changed my chain every 3,000 miles. Wow. Just in case. So I never had- And I always carry a spare one. Uh-huh. So just in case it- You carry spare- What kind of brakes do you have? Uh, disc brakes. Disc brakes. So the mechanic one, not- Uh-huh. Do you have to change the discs? I change them once, only. Wow. They last? Yeah, they last long, yeah. You traveled through Alaska? What part of Alaska did you go to? Uh, I actually rode my bicycle all the way to the Arctic Ocean. From starting where? Well, I entered in- Oh, I don't remember the name. Oh, I think it's Beaver Creek. It's a little- It's a little village. I mean, there may be 50 people- In the south. In the south, yeah, bordering with Canada. It's actually, I think, about 200 miles east of Fairbanks. And then how far is it up to the Arctic Ocean? It's 600 kilometers- 600 miles from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay, which is the end of the Pan-American Highway. And that's a section that it's mostly unpaved. So it's a really rough road. How far did you say that was? Uh, 660 miles. 660 miles of unpaved road. I mean, part of it is paved. But most of it's not? Yeah, I would say so. So what is it? All different things, just dirt or gravel? Uh, dirt, gravel, a lot of potholes. Um, I had quite a lot of rain when I was there. And I went over a pass that lies at 4,600 feet. And when I went over it, it was snowing. So I had to deal with the snow and the freezing temperatures. Could you ride all the time? Oh, no, I had to push my bike a lot. And then on the other side, it was icy, so I couldn't cycle because it was all slippery, so I pushed my bike for, I don't know, for another 20 miles or something like that. And then I actually turned out into mud. So I had a lot of mud on me when I made it to the Arctic Ocean. I was exhausted, but really proud of getting there. So you must have had whole days of pushing your bike? Uh, no, not that bad. Most of the time I could ride my bike, but sometimes it was really healy and really muddy. Did you have warm enough clothes? Yeah, but that was borderline. Borderline? But that was okay. I made it. Good clothes? Yeah, but yeah, my fingers were cold at some point. You camped out during that rain? Yeah, there is nothing in between. There is just gasoline station in the middle. And you don't need gas? Exactly, but just in case. And for the water supply. But apart from that, there is no food supply, no restaurants. And I had to pack all my food for 10 days. You had enough water? The water is so pure up there, so you can just fill up the water from the streams. Oh wow, it's real clean. What month was this? That was about three weeks ago, but the winter starts really early up there. That's exactly, I think that's about 200 miles above the polar circle. So actually they can have snow any month of the year, and they have frost even in June. So how many hours of daylight did you have? Because I was there in the end of August, the sun would set at about 11 p.m. But if I had been there in June or early July, I would have had full sunshine. So if somebody was going to do this trip, that part of it in Alaska, what advice would you give them? Actually I think I would recommend not to do it. It was so rough and very hard on me, and actually up there, there is nothing because it's basically, it's an oil company that runs the oil field for the OBEI. Nobody lives up there? Or just all workers? Nobody lives there permanently, but there are about 2,000 workers here. That's such an ugly place. I mean, there's nothing there, and most of the time it's raining or bad weather, cloudy. So how did you get back? I actually flew directly, there is an airport of course. At Prudhoe Bay? Yeah, there is an airport. It's called Dead Horse Airport. I flew directly from there to Honolulu. I remember when we saw you, you still had the Alaska mud on your bike. Exactly, I brought the Alaska mud to heaven. So, we only have a couple of minutes. Quite honestly, what is your overriding impression about Hawaii? It's a great place, but it's a little small. I think it's a great place to spend vacation or to be here for a couple of weeks, but living here year-round, I don't think I would like it. First of all, it's crowded with tourists. Yeah, this island is anyway, yeah. Exactly, and there's a lot of traffic all the time. But it's definitely a paradise place for vacation. Were there any negative impressions that you took away besides it being crowded? Yeah, unfortunately, there are great amounts of homeless people in Hawaii. There's more homeless people than anywhere else in the United States. And I think that's kind of sad to see all these people living on the street, especially in such a wealthy country. Yeah, you hear that, Governor, and Senators and Representatives. So, here's somebody from Switzerland telling us what we already know. We have to do something about the homeless situation here in Hawaii. And you're saying it has such an impact on you that you would have a reservation about living here partly because of that? Not only because of that. I mean, of course, it's sad to see people who cannot afford to live in an apartment, but I think it would drive me crazy to live on such a small island. I like too much moving from places to places. You think you'll ever settle down and stop traveling? Oh, yeah, definitely. I mean, I'm completely aware that what I'm doing right now is just one part of my life. And by the time I'm going to be back in Switzerland, that's going to be a three-year trip. But I also look forward to doing something else. And all the things I've learned on the road is going to help me to do something else in Switzerland and also to settle down. You're going to write a book about this? I might, I'm not sure yet. Make a movie? Yeah, I wouldn't have enough story to tell it yesterday. Yeah, yeah. It's really changed your life, huh? Yeah, I think it has. Do you have any... Oh, you're telling me we're just about out of time, so I just want to thank you, Marcus. Oh, do you have anything, any last words you want to say to the world, to your family, to anybody? Yeah, I just would like to say to anybody if you have a dream, to travel, just go for it because seeing the world is the most amazing thing you can do and don't wait to get too old because then you're never going to do it. Right. Thank you so much for coming here to Hawaii and being on the show. And I'll look for you around the planet. Thank you so much. Thanks, Marcus. Thank you. Thanks for tuning in to Shrink Rap Hawaii. See you next time. Aloha.