Last week, we stumbled across the website of Leah Bostwick. In the summer of 2013, she and a couple friends cycled 1,600km across Europe on bicycles that cost just $50 U.S.
As Leah writes on her site, The Vegetarian Traveller:
A wise man once said to me, ‘All you need to cycle is a bicycle and the desire to do it’. He was right. It may have been easier if we had trained, bought expensive bicycles, planned a route, or spent the night sleeping in comfy hotels, but we didn’t. And we made it. You can, too, if you want to.
On their budget adventure, they dumpster dived for food (and even found free beer!), and cooked on a Beer Can stove.
“Because my road buddies and I were always free camping in farmers’ fields, hiding in sand dunes, slipping into an overgrown thicket of trees, or submitting to a bus stop, my friends and I didn’t have the option to build a full-on fire. The beer can stove was our culinary saving grace.”
After the trip was over, Leah wrote the Beer Can Cookbook — a relatively short but nevertheless useful little guide to cooking cheap, hearty meals on the road with a stove you can make yourself. It includes about 20 recipes and tips for what to put in your bicycle pantry.
Get it from Amazon, or download a copy (PDF or Kindle) from her website. Don’t forget to drop Leah a couple bucks via Paypal to say thanks.
Oh, and there’s also this video that sums up their summer adventure. Take 5 minutes and enjoy the show.