Sasch Blogs #1: Start with cargo bike, 40kg of luggage and 1,600 vertical meters

Sasch, a long-time companion of Ticket To The Moon, has adventure in his blood. In the coming weeks, he will regularly share his extraordinary journey to Greece with us. We look forward to sharing his reports with you – from the challenges on the asphalt to the magical moments in the hammock.

Here is his first report on the start of an adventure that already pushed him to his limits:

"Blog posts?!? Aren't those usually entries that start on day 1 and continuously report on subsequent days?!

Seriously!! What's "NORMAL" in a travel blog anyway?

The journey that I, Sasch, 53 – too young to be old – want to tell you about, started anything but NORMAL!

Three days earlier, I had turned my back on 18 years in Saalbach, Austria, and had myself driven to Laax, Switzerland, with a trailer including a roof tent and all my belongings, with the goal of setting up my new base there.

That was the idea, anyway...

The idea of starting from Laax to Corfu with a cargo bike originated in spring 2025. The idea of working as a volunteer at an animal shelter there was born in 2022. A dog chooses ME and we travel on together – just to spin out the entire plan.

In short... I unpacked the Laax stuff from the trailer, sorted it, re-thought everything – until the cargo bike was finally ready to go with a total weight of 40 kg.

Everything packed for the trip – the Ticket to the Moon hammock is a must-have!

And then it started, towards the Lukmanier Pass. The weather was great, not too warm, not too cold, the first kilometers rolled by relaxed. But relatively quickly, initial doubts crept in as I approached the aforementioned pass.

Pedaling was difficult, I couldn't find the right position on the bike; my butt, knee, feet complained, hands fell asleep and... THE EGO henceforth took center stage on the following 15 km and 1,600 vertical meters.
What do YOU think you can achieve here? Too much luggage, not enough preparation, the bike not properly adjusted, a cargo bike at all!?! Not fit enough, too old – just to mention a few thought-snippets from the "BRAINF***" menu.

ACTUALLY, everything had always gone well at the end of the day on some previous bike trips, but THIS PASS here – purely mentally – finished me off!! But really!!

UNBELIEVABLE what thoughts can do to YOU! But that's exactly where a JOURNEY begins for ME!! To be able to experience those limits, to bring them to light, to get to know MYSELF even better, and to LEARN how to deal with such moments.

But then: At the pass, once at the reservoir, all the previous thoughts and "pains" were swallowed up as if by magic.

What happened? Already over? Easy to get up here! No problem, I'll do it again right away!! ;-)

Seriously!! At the summit, with my self-brewed reward cappuccino in hand, I had to laugh out loud when I thought back to the complaining of the last few kilometers.

LUKMANIER PASS!! YOU ARE NOT MY FRIEND! NOT YOU!!"

And what could be better than a celebratory coffee after such a tour?