Samer Abou Hamad cycles in Morocco, during a bicycle journey from the northern tip of Europe, North Cape in Norway, to the southern edge of Africa, Cape Agulhas. (Courtesy of Samer Abou Hamad)
BEIRUT — Traversing the Sahara Desert, deftly maneuvering bureaucratic hurdles while seeking sustenance and safe resting spots, Lebanese-American cyclist Samer Abou Hamad encountered a tapestry of “rewarding and unique” challenges rarely met by ordinary travelers during his journey across Europe and Africa on his bicycle.
Just last week, Abou Hamad finished pedaling his way across 27 countries, spanning from the northern tip of Europe, North Cape in Norway, to the southern edge of Africa, Cape Agulhas.
In eight months, the 29-year-old realtor by trade traveled 22,877 kilometers, covering between 100 and 150 kilometers a day.
“It's definitely been very challenging physically and mentally,” Abou Hamad says.
For him, the bicycle was not merely a mode of transportation but a conduit for exploration and self-discovery.
Samer Abou Hamad poses for a picture in North Cape in Norway before commencing his trip from the northern tip of Europe to South Africa, Sept. 1, 2023. (Courtesy of Samer Abou Hamad)
“The bike is the best thing; it’s good for your head. It's like yoga. It's a form of therapy,” he says. Through the rhythm of his pedals, he forged bonds with locals, unearthed hidden gems off the beaten path, and cultivated a profound appreciation for the landscapes that unfolded before him.
“Biking just checks all the boxes,” he says.
With only a three-week break for Christmas vacation, Abou Hamad began his journey on Aug. 31, 2023 and finished on May 4, 2024.
While his journey was mainly solitary, Abou Hamad says he had some short encounters with fellow travelers and a special ride, biking with his father in Namibia for a week.
While supportive, his mother, on the other hand, “was always stressing” about his daring journey. “So, I just got to tell her: No drama, mama, everything will be alright.”
This reassurance prompted the catchphrase that Abou Hamad now frequently uses in his Instagram posts: “No drama, mama.”
Samer Abou Hamad sets up his tent in Guinea on an evening during his bicycle journey from Norway to South Africa. (Courtesy of Samer Abou Hamad)
‘I could overcome anything’
For Abou Hamad, the essence of his journey lies not in the miles traveled or the accolades earned. “I wasn't trying to break a world record or anything,” he says. “I was just trying to push my body and test what I could do and really challenge myself.”
“The biggest challenge for me is putting oneself in so many unknown situations,” he adds. “The journey is like a series of solving small problems, and sometimes big problems, and, when I overcome it, I would gain confidence that I could overcome anything.”
The most challenging aspect of the trip for Abou Hamad was crossing borders. With his American passport, he says it was logistically easy in Europe.
“But for Africa, there were many road checkpoints and cops trying to demand bribes. Usually it's like joking, and you just laugh it off and keep going.”
In one encounter, “a really drunk cop in Guinea pulled me aside and took my passport,” Abou Hamad says. To pressure the police officer to give back his passport, the cyclist started filming him.
It eventually worked out for Abou Hamad. “And now I have a hilarious video of this drunk cop.”
Samer Abou Hamad cycles in the Republic of Congo. (Courtesy of Samer Abou Hamad)
“I never had a life or death encounter. Maybe I'm lucky. But I also think if you exercise good common sense, it should never happen,” he says.
“Life is a sum of our experiences,” he says, his voice tinged with determination. “After biking all of [Western] Africa, how many challenges will I face in my non-biking world that will be harder than what I've already overcome?"
This was not Abou Hamad’s first cycling journey. In April 2022, he ventured on his bicycle from Boston, United States, making it “to the end of the world in Ushuaia,” famed as the southernmost city in the world. It lies in Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina. During that trip, he crossed 14 countries in one year.
Abou Hamad spent the following summer at home in Boston, working two part-time jobs, to save up for the Euro-Africa trip. One job was in construction, and the other was a bike taxi, which allowed him to train and make money for this year.
Samer Abou Hamad poses for a picture in Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, after making the trip from Boston on his bicycle, April 2023. (Courtesy of Samer Abou Hamad)
“With bike travel, you're not spending as much as normal travel, you don't have gas as an expense,” the cyclist says. “The main expenses for me were food and the occasional hotel room, which were relatively cheap, especially in Africa.”
Why travel the world on a bike?
“It all started during COVID,” Abou Hamad says. “My dad is a biker, and so, he was like, instead of working out on the Peloton in the basement, you should come out and bike with me. So he gave me his old bike and we started biking around Boston, in the area where I'm from.”
Following the August 2020 Beirut port explosion, which killed more than 200 people and destroyed huge swathes of the city, Abou Hamad decided to quit his real estate corporate job in New York and move to Beirut.
He started volunteering with a local organization, Offre Joie, which was providing help to people affected by the blast.
When he wasn’t doing that, he was biking all over Lebanon.
Samer Abou Hamad poses for a picture in Cape Agulhas after cycling from North Cape in Norway for eight months, May, 2024. (Courtesy of Samer Abou Hamad)
While Lebanon is a small country, Abou Hamad says, there was so much to discover; “when you travel by bike, you see things that you don't pay attention to when you're driving around in a car.”
“I remember having goosebumps on one of my trips, where I was thinking, whoa, Jesus was walking these lands 2000 years ago, and now I'm biking here!” he adds.
Now, Abou Hamad is poised to return to Boston with sights set on finding a job and saving up for his upcoming journey, slated for next year.
He plans to start his expedition in South Australia, charting a course that will lead him back to his beloved Beirut. However, the logistical puzzle of crossing Asia (and the south Pacific) looms large, as he plans to traverse through Iran, Iraq, Jordan and Syria.
“It'd be really cool to cap it off in Lebanon,” he says.
