Many of the border crossings with poor or no longer functional rail infrastructure are hard to reach by any form of public transport, especially in a time efficient manner. That meant planning to take a folding bicycle along with me – something I previously tested with success on some smaller journeys. A folding bike also avoids the headaches in some countries that still do not allow regular bicycles to be conveyed. Having earlier experimented with a Dahon bike, I firmly have concluded I will take the Birdy (pictured) with me. It is lighter and easier to transport when folded.

After the success of this in 2022, the Birdy has been repaired and will be coming along again in 2023, and after some more repairs will come along in 2024 as well!

The 2022 project was done with 2 months of Interrail passes. The Germany project in 2023 will make use of only regional trains in Germany, and hence will use the 49 Euro Ticket / Deutschlandticket. The Autumn 2023 project once more used Interrail, and the planning as to how to best cover South East Europe in May 2024 in terms of tickets is currently ongoing.