MUMBAI: Commuting in this city’s traffic is never fun, but over the past week, Mumbaikars might have spotted a curious sight that made them smile—a European couple cycling on the streets of Mumbai with their dog in tow in a little trailer of its own. German national Lili Dreikhausen (31), her Italian partner Aire Parani (29), and their dog Schnuck (1) have drawn giggles from scores of onlookers they passed by since embarking on an ambitious 12,000km cycling expedition from India all the way to Italy—a journey that will take them through nine countries over what they estimate can take anywhere between nine months and a year.
Their journey began on Jan 10 from Auroville in Tamil Nadu, which runs on ecological principles and a philosophy of human unity, and has residents from across 60 countries.Among them is Lili, who has lived there nearly all her life. It is also where she first met Aire and adopted Schnuck, an indie or ‘desi’ dog abandoned on the streets as a pup.
“The idea was to connect Lili’s village, Auroville, to mine in Rasai, Italy,” say Aire and Lili, who have been training in Auroville with Treehouse Community and TreeCare India to become arborists and master the art of building treehouses as a sustainable and low-cost housing solution.
Their journey will take them to Pune and Nashik next, before they cycle on to New Delhi and then to Punjab, to cross over from India to Pakistan, then Iran, Turkey, Serbia, Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia, before they finally arrive in Italy.
The distance may be great, but travelling by air, or even by car or motorbike was not the ideal option for the couple, whose life and career revolve around leaving as little a carbon footprint as possible. “When Aire came up with this dream of travelling back to Italy from India by bicycle, it made so much sense. For one, we’re not using fossil fuel, we’re powering through on our own steam. It also has a huge impact on us, because we can take the time to really get to know the places that we’re travelling through, rather than passing through quickly by car or flight,” says Lili.
It has taken them nearly two months to cross Karnataka and Goa before they made their way to Mumbai. “It sounds like a lot, but we have already covered 2,000km, with a lot of detours to visit wildlife sanctuaries and friends along the way. So we can say we’ve already covered more than 15% of the way,” says Aire, who has in the past cycled across the length of Italy as well. He says, “When I asked Lili if she wanted to go on this trip with me, she answered in seconds, ‘Yes, but we need to take the dog too’. I never questioned it.”
It’s a physically and mentally demanding path, though. Counting their bags (30kg on each bike), as well as the added weight of Schnuck and her trailer (30kg, combined), the couple haul around 90kg on their bikes every day. They aim to cover a minimum of 50km a day, but have also had days when they pedalled over 80km, stopping only to eat at dhabas or roadside eateries or answer nature’s call. Once the sun sets, they set up their tents by the road. “There are definitely difficult moments, but we’re having so much fun. Sometimes we’re tired and our behind hurts. Sometimes there’s no flat surface to set up our tent and it’s an uncomfortable night. On the other hand, we get to witness every sunrise and sunset. We get to be with each other and our dog all day, every day,” she adds.
In Mumbai, the couple is being hosted by The Gender Lab, a non-profit. In turn, the duo try to give back too, visiting schools and non-profits in cities to share their own experiences and learnings from their work in Auroville, and learn more about the local culture. In Mumbai, they visited Amcha Ghar, a non-profit home and school for girls in Bhayander, and The Dharavi Dream Project, which provides children in Dharavi free access to learning hip hop. In both places, Schnuck was a big hit with kids, even providing them with a little unofficial pet therapy.
Their journey began on Jan 10 from Auroville in Tamil Nadu, which runs on ecological principles and a philosophy of human unity, and has residents from across 60 countries.Among them is Lili, who has lived there nearly all her life. It is also where she first met Aire and adopted Schnuck, an indie or ‘desi’ dog abandoned on the streets as a pup.
“The idea was to connect Lili’s village, Auroville, to mine in Rasai, Italy,” say Aire and Lili, who have been training in Auroville with Treehouse Community and TreeCare India to become arborists and master the art of building treehouses as a sustainable and low-cost housing solution.
Their journey will take them to Pune and Nashik next, before they cycle on to New Delhi and then to Punjab, to cross over from India to Pakistan, then Iran, Turkey, Serbia, Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia, before they finally arrive in Italy.
The distance may be great, but travelling by air, or even by car or motorbike was not the ideal option for the couple, whose life and career revolve around leaving as little a carbon footprint as possible. “When Aire came up with this dream of travelling back to Italy from India by bicycle, it made so much sense. For one, we’re not using fossil fuel, we’re powering through on our own steam. It also has a huge impact on us, because we can take the time to really get to know the places that we’re travelling through, rather than passing through quickly by car or flight,” says Lili.
It has taken them nearly two months to cross Karnataka and Goa before they made their way to Mumbai. “It sounds like a lot, but we have already covered 2,000km, with a lot of detours to visit wildlife sanctuaries and friends along the way. So we can say we’ve already covered more than 15% of the way,” says Aire, who has in the past cycled across the length of Italy as well. He says, “When I asked Lili if she wanted to go on this trip with me, she answered in seconds, ‘Yes, but we need to take the dog too’. I never questioned it.”
It’s a physically and mentally demanding path, though. Counting their bags (30kg on each bike), as well as the added weight of Schnuck and her trailer (30kg, combined), the couple haul around 90kg on their bikes every day. They aim to cover a minimum of 50km a day, but have also had days when they pedalled over 80km, stopping only to eat at dhabas or roadside eateries or answer nature’s call. Once the sun sets, they set up their tents by the road. “There are definitely difficult moments, but we’re having so much fun. Sometimes we’re tired and our behind hurts. Sometimes there’s no flat surface to set up our tent and it’s an uncomfortable night. On the other hand, we get to witness every sunrise and sunset. We get to be with each other and our dog all day, every day,” she adds.
In Mumbai, the couple is being hosted by The Gender Lab, a non-profit. In turn, the duo try to give back too, visiting schools and non-profits in cities to share their own experiences and learnings from their work in Auroville, and learn more about the local culture. In Mumbai, they visited Amcha Ghar, a non-profit home and school for girls in Bhayander, and The Dharavi Dream Project, which provides children in Dharavi free access to learning hip hop. In both places, Schnuck was a big hit with kids, even providing them with a little unofficial pet therapy.
