Not everyone was lucky enough to be in their hometown with loved ones in the midst of the coronavirus lockdowns. Twenty-year-old Kleon Papadimitriou, for example, was still at school at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, and even though he booked several flights home to Athens, Greece, they all kept getting canceled.
Instead of giving up and accepting being quarantined in the northeastern Scottish city away from his family, Papadimitriou made the bold move to bike 2,175 miles home, CNN reported. Surprisingly enough, the only prior cycling experience he had was competing in a race last year for which he briefly trained for a few weeks. In short, the third-year college student was taking on a completely new adventure.
Nonetheless, on May 10, he was ready to go with a newly purchased bike, on which he brought only the essentials. He packed canned sardines, peanut butter, bread, a sleeping bag, and a tent. While he camped out in woods along the way, he sometimes relied on friends and acquaintances who helped him out with a warm bed and shower.
“As a relatively introverted person, I was forced to kind of get out of my comfort zone in the sense that if I did not do some things, I would not have a place to stay, I would not have water,” he told CNN. “It forced me to kind of have those interactions and reach out.”
Forty-eight days later, on June 27, he finally made it to Athens, where he was welcomed by his family, friends, and even strangers who kept up with his travels. “It was very emotional,” he added. “Coming from a family from two parents that were very adventurous in their younger years, seeing me kind of follow in their footsteps, I think is very emotional to them and obviously gives me a lot of meaning. But I think if anything, they felt relief.”
Now that he’s back in Greece, he committed to a summer job and definitely won’t be going anywhere for a while.
Not everyone was lucky enough to be in their hometown with loved ones in the midst of the coronavirus lockdowns. Twenty-year-old Kleon Papadimitriou, for example, was still at school at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, and even though he booked several flights home to Athens, Greece, they all kept getting canceled.
Instead of giving up and accepting being quarantined in the northeastern Scottish city away from his family, Papadimitriou made the bold move to bike 2,175 miles home, CNN reported. Surprisingly enough, the only prior cycling experience he had was competing in a race last year for which he briefly trained for a few weeks. In short, the third-year college student was taking on a completely new adventure.
Nonetheless, on May 10, he was ready to go with a newly purchased bike, on which he brought only the essentials. He packed canned sardines, peanut butter, bread, a sleeping bag, and a tent. While he camped out in woods along the way, he sometimes relied on friends and acquaintances who helped him out with a warm bed and shower.
“As a relatively introverted person, I was forced to kind of get out of my comfort zone in the sense that if I did not do some things, I would not have a place to stay, I would not have water,” he told CNN. “It forced me to kind of have those interactions and reach out.”
Forty-eight days later, on June 27, he finally made it to Athens, where he was welcomed by his family, friends, and even strangers who kept up with his travels. “It was very emotional,” he added. “Coming from a family from two parents that were very adventurous in their younger years, seeing me kind of follow in their footsteps, I think is very emotional to them and obviously gives me a lot of meaning. But I think if anything, they felt relief.”
Now that he’s back in Greece, he committed to a summer job and definitely won’t be going anywhere for a while.
