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A Greek student studying in Scotland rode his bike for 48 days to get home to family when flights were cancelled

Jul 14, 2020, 01:33 IST
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Kleon Papadimitriou documented his more than 2,000 mile bike ride home on Instagram.Kleon Papadimitriou
  • A Greek college student studying in Scotland was stranded when the coronavirus prompted flight cancellations.
  • Instead of locking down at school alone, 20-year-old Kleon Papadimitriou set out on a 48-day adventure home.
  • He ate canned fruit and fish, camped in the wilderness, and reached out to acquaintances for showers.
  • More than 450 people followed along with his journey on Instagram.
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Kleon Papadimitriou has finally made it home to his family in Greece, but it wasn't easy.

When the coronavirus started to spread in Europe and airlines canceled flights, the 20-year-old college student decided to go on an adventure.

Instead of locking down in Scotland, he spent seven weeks riding more than 2,000 miles by bike from Aberdeen, Scotland, to Athens, CNN reported.

"It's just now dawning on me how big of an achievement this was," Papadimitriou told CNN. "And I did learn a lot of things about myself, about my limits, about my strengths and my weaknesses."

Papadimitriou kicked off his 48-day trip on May 10, according to a post he shared on Instagram. His first day was marked with snow, hail, and rain, he said.

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Still, he trekked on, eating canned sardines and fruit, and camping in fields and forests along the way, CNN reported.

Papadimitriou's family followed along with his journey using an app as he biked dozens of miles each day, according to CNN.

He made his way through England, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, and Italy. Then he took a boat to the Greek port of Patras, according to CNN. He biked home from there.

Papadimitriou told CNN that the trip forced him to step out of his comfort zone. Along the way, he reached out to acquaintances who let him use their showers or spend the night, he said.

"It was very emotional," he told CNN. "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."

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