Bringing Japanese Coffee to Europe on Two Wheels

Three passions – one trip

Making good coffee. Travel on two wheels. Explore foreign countries. Three things, that Rie enjoys doing. One day last year, while sipping on a cup of coffee, she had the idea to connect them all. Meaning: Making coffee on her bike, while riding through many countries. Less than twelve months later, she is pedaling more than 100 kilometres each day, climbing up to the highest passes of the Alps, just to fly them down again a little later.  Every night, when she has reached her destination for the day, she’ll make a coffee in the mini kitchen on the back of her bike, for everyone who happens to be around.

Conquering the mountains

This July, Rie started her journey in Berlin. Since then, she rode almost 3000km, away from home, over highways, cycle ways and difficult mountain roads. She rolled out her sleeping bag on a different place almost every day, met old and new friends and mostly did one thing: Good coffee. Hand roasted coffee from Berlin and Handa in Japan, where she grew up. Because it reminds her of the places she calls home and brings a smile to the face of so many people.

Right now, Rie is pedalling through Catalonia. To get there, she had to cross the Alps and the Pyrenees on her bike. She is sharing all the good and hard moments she had on  Instagram and Twitter. Looking at them, one can understand what it must have meant to keep going all the while.

Feeling the travel bug?

If you have always dreamt about doing a trip like this – this is the time to plan it! Here’s how you plan a long trip in a couple of minutes:

  • Start by finding your start. Type it in the search field or right click on the map.
  • Now, add further waypoints by right clicking the map. Make sure to set them in distances of 120km or less. The most useful way is to put them at the beginning of each stage.
  • Hit “Plan Tour”.
  • Customize if you want.
  • Click “Save” to be able to load the Tour on your phone.
  • Pack you stuff and go.

If you can’t go on a long trip yourself right now, how about supporting Rie? Buy one of her canvas bags here.

Ⓒ All Photos from CharRie’s Café on Instagram