Our highlights show how colourful, creative and multifaceted Burda 2024 was! We take you on a journey through time through all the special moments in 2024.
‘No matter where you are professionally or privately, every ten years at the latest, you resign, step out of your chamber and take a quiet look at what you have learnt and which aspects of life you would like to have more of": Roman Miserre, Managing Director of BurdaProcurement until January 2024, made this pact with himself more than 20 years ago. And he remains true to himself: in 2013, he quit his job as Managing Director of Chip to travel to countries such as Ethiopia, Iran, Laos and China - countries ‘of which I only knew prejudices or clichés and which I thought would make me feel insecure’, as he revealed in his last interview before his departure.
Now, a good ten years later, Roman is travelling again. I catch him in Seoul, South Korea, where he taps into the Wi-Fi of a hip café among students and globetrotters to tell me via Teams - ‘a nice reminder of work’ - about his exciting adventures and insights from the past 200 days, in which he has covered more than 9,000 kilometres on his bike and travelled to 15 countries. He calls his journey ‘One year on a bike’ on social media. A journey around the world - and to himself.
The idea of leaving everything behind every ten years came from observations Roman made when he was in his mid-twenties. What he took away from the conversations he had with people over 50 was that they mostly talked about the things they hadn't done and regretted: the (career) paths they had 'imagined differently' or the hamster wheel they had just given themselves over to without any real fulfilment. I felt that a lot of people were sitting in the backseat of their own lives. It was then that he decided he wanted to take a different path and live a life where he could one day say he hadn't missed out on the things that were important to him.
And so, at the beginning of the year, he got on his 20-kilogram steel bike, equipped with four panniers, ‘in which I have everything I need for a happy life.’ Including: two jackets, rainwear, two pairs of trousers, two shirts and two pairs of pants. He also has a self-standing tent, of which he can only put up the inner tent as mosquito protection so that he can look up at the starry sky, a sleeping mat - which ‘unfortunately has a hole in it at the moment and asks for fresh air several times a night’ - cooking utensils, an alcohol-fuelled cooker and tools. The only luxury item he has with him is a folding chair - ‘many other cyclists have envied me for that,’ laughs Roman.
For months he has only been wearing his Crocs, but theoretically he also has a pair of trainers in his luggage. He has two devices for large water bottles on his bike and a 5-litre water bag for his evening shower, which he tries to fill up every day from 4 p.m. - for example in mosques, at fountains and cemeteries or, if nothing of the sort can be found, sometimes at strangers' homes
After more than 200 days travelling around the world, Roman no longer minds knocking on people's doors: The world gets friendlier the closer you get to it,' he explains, describing how almost every day he is approached by strangers who offer him food or invite him into their homes. People, especially in the Arab world, are quick to open not only their doors but also their hearts. This gives him a sense of humility. Humility in the face of 'everything we think we need at home in our well-padded security containers'. He repeats: I carry everything I need to be happy in my panniers. The rest is just given to me by the world out there. His enthusiasm for travelling still grows almost daily. He has never met anyone who regrets spending at least part of their life being more adventurous.
Of course, it's not all peace, joy and happiness on a trip like this. According to Roman, the hardest part of the journey was the departure, which was associated with many questions, fears and uncertainties. But there were also one or two low points during his journey. For example, in eastern Anatolia, an ‘incredibly deserted area’, when the ‘loneliness’ that he coped well with suddenly spilled over into ‘solitude’. Or on the Lycian coast, which he cycled through during a fierce heatwave in July - ‘I reached my physical limits,’ says Roman. And explains in the next breath: ‘But that's all part of it: The most impressive experiences are usually accompanied by discomfort.’
Nevertheless, the (non-monetary) price of his journey is so high that not everyone would be willing to pay it. For example, quitting his job was not easy for him: ‘I loved my job at Burda, it was definitely not something I wanted to “leave”,’ says Roman. He also often spends hours pushing his bike up hills. Or cycle for several days in the rain - as he just did in South Korea - only to pitch his wet tent again in the evening. Moments that also demand a lot from him.
But they also teach him a lot that can help him in his professional life: ‘I constantly have to deal with new situations and overcome uncertainties. I usually don't know in the morning where I'm going to pitch my tent in the evening.’ This trains skills such as improvisation, problem-solving, communication, negotiation skills and resilience. And opens the mind to encounters and unique experiences: ‘The magic happens outside the comfort zone.’
Roman finds a little ‘comfort’ every few months when his wife Bettina comes to visit him. They last met in Thessaloniki and Tbilisi, with the next meeting taking place in Sydney at the beginning of December. He misses her the most, by the way. ‘And good bread!’ he adds with a laugh. Otherwise, he misses nothing from home. Just the thought of his full wardrobe seems rather strange to him at the moment.
That's why Roman doesn't want to end his journey right away, but rather slowly, little by little, get closer to his familiar surroundings again. After his current stage through Australia and New Zealand, he plans to fly to Morocco in April and then cycle home step by step via Portugal, Spain, France and Offenburg. He already has great respect for this ‘resocialisation’. He has promised Bettina that he will be back in Munich at the end of May 2025 - packed full of unique experiences. And certainly a little changed too.
If you want to follow his journey, you can do so via roman_discovers on Instagram or Komoot, where he keeps a daily digital diary.
