Dutch adventurers Zoe Agasi and Olivier Van Herck left Amsterdam in September 2016 with a simple plan: To travel self-propelled around the world. With the exception of sailing across the Atlantic, they’ve mostly traveled by pedal power, cycling the better part of 2.5 years. Now that the couple has arrived in North America, they’re eager for another sort of locomotion.
Currently Agasi and Van Herck are cycling from Texas to Georgia, where they’ll drop their bikes and hike the Appalachian Trail. After that, likely in August, they’ll take to the water, canoeing the 750-mile Northern Forest Canoe Trail. In a journey of unknowns — Agasi was hesitant about long-distance cycling and Van Herck suffered from seasickness while crewing on a sailboat across the Atlantic — canoe-tripping is the couple’s greatest wild card. “We have almost no experience in a canoe,” admits Agasi. “A long-distance canoe trip like the NFCT isn’t possible in Belgium or the Netherlands so we are really looking forward to traveling many miles on the water. We will see animals that we don’t know, like moose and bears. Our muscles will be tested and everything will be new. We will learn so many things and that’s what our round-the-world trip is all about.”
Across the Atlantic In particular, Agasi says she’s “a little nervous” about “rapids, paddling in cold water and bears.” “We don’t want to rush and we want to film and document our trip, so we think it will take us about 50 days to complete the trail,” she adds. “But actually we have no idea what we can and can’t do distance-wise in a canoe. The first week will show us a lot.”
On their social media channels, Agasi and Van Herck have put out requests for “newbie tips” for canoe-tripping. If the Northeast leg lives up to the pair’s experience so far, there’s no doubt Agasi and Van Herck will receive plenty of encouragement and support. “It’s heartwarming how people have supported us in so many ways,” says Agasi. “People have been offering us a bed to sleep, meals, spare parts for the bicycles, and hot showers.”
Riding into the U.S. Photo courtesy of Zoe Agasi “We were surprised by the hospitality in the U.S.,” she adds. “We thought that people in the Western countries like Europe and the U.S. are more reserved and too occupied to help us, but that hasn’t been the case. People always want to talk to us and are super interested in what we do.” Follow the adventures of Zoe Agasi and Olivier Van Herck on Instagram and Facebook. RELATED: – Connections Across Maine: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 – 25 Days on the NFCT: Skip Ciccarelli’s speed record – A Tale of Two Water Trails: Linking the NFCT and the Maine Island Trail
The article was originally published on Canoe & Kayak
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Dutch adventurers Zoe Agasi and Olivier Van Herck left Amsterdam in September 2016 with a simple plan: To travel self-propelled around the world. With the exception of sailing across the Atlantic, they’ve mostly traveled by pedal power, cycling the better part of 2.5 years. Now that the couple has arrived in North America, they’re eager for another sort of locomotion.
Currently Agasi and Van Herck are cycling from Texas to Georgia, where they’ll drop their bikes and hike the Appalachian Trail. After that, likely in August, they’ll take to the water, canoeing the 750-mile Northern Forest Canoe Trail. In a journey of unknowns — Agasi was hesitant about long-distance cycling and Van Herck suffered from seasickness while crewing on a sailboat across the Atlantic — canoe-tripping is the couple’s greatest wild card.
“We have almost no experience in a canoe,” admits Agasi. “A long-distance canoe trip like the NFCT isn’t possible in Belgium or the Netherlands so we are really looking forward to traveling many miles on the water. We will see animals that we don’t know, like moose and bears. Our muscles will be tested and everything will be new. We will learn so many things and that’s what our round-the-world trip is all about.”
In particular, Agasi says she’s “a little nervous” about “rapids, paddling in cold water and bears.”
“We don’t want to rush and we want to film and document our trip, so we think it will take us about 50 days to complete the trail,” she adds. “But actually we have no idea what we can and can’t do distance-wise in a canoe. The first week will show us a lot.”
On their social media channels, Agasi and Van Herck have put out requests for “newbie tips” for canoe-tripping. If the Northeast leg lives up to the pair’s experience so far, there’s no doubt Agasi and Van Herck will receive plenty of encouragement and support. “It’s heartwarming how people have supported us in so many ways,” says Agasi. “People have been offering us a bed to sleep, meals, spare parts for the bicycles, and hot showers.”
“We were surprised by the hospitality in the U.S.,” she adds. “We thought that people in the Western countries like Europe and the U.S. are more reserved and too occupied to help us, but that hasn’t been the case. People always want to talk to us and are super interested in what we do.”
Follow the adventures of Zoe Agasi and Olivier Van Herck on Instagram and Facebook.
RELATED:
– Connections Across Maine: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
– 25 Days on the NFCT: Skip Ciccarelli’s speed record
– A Tale of Two Water Trails: Linking the NFCT and the Maine Island Trail
The article was originally published on Canoe & Kayak
For access to exclusive gear videos, celebrity interviews, and more, subscribe on YouTube!
More News
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Ocean Rower Fiann Paul Completes Most Grueling Expedition
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