Traveling with No Destination and No Goals: Lessons from a 3-Year, 38,000-Mile Solo Bike Ride Around the World with Jacob Lemanski

by

What would happen if you left home with no destination, no goal or deadline, and simply just went until you couldn’t go any further?

Jacob Lemanski rode his bike around the world, traveling 38,000 miles over 999 days, crossing six continents and circling the earth twice. After returning home, he turned his travel journal into a video podcast, How To Move The Stars. He also founded an art and clothing company inspired by the experience and now runs a bike touring business in Colorado.

Jacob shares what it was like to travel without a finish line and how it reshaped his entire approach to life and adventure.

He reveals how three years of solo, open-ended travel deepened his understanding of presence, identity, and emotional endurance. You’ll hear what it took to stay on the road for 999 days, the personal cost and reward of extreme solitude, and how returning home led him to reshape his life through creativity, entrepreneurship, and reflection. This episode challenges conventional ideas of success and shows what’s possible when the journey itself becomes the destination.

Would you bike around the world? What’s one journey you’ve been holding back from because you felt you needed a clear goal or endpoint? I’d love to hear your thoughts, and I hope you’ll share by sending me an audio message.

Tune In To Learn:

  • What inspired Jacob to leave home without a destination and why he expected to quit much earlier
  • What it’s like to live without a schedule for three years and how that changes your sense of time
  • What the trip taught him about limits, identity, and emotional endurance
  • The emotional impact of returning home after years of open-ended movement
  • How Jacob turned thousands of journal pages into a long-term podcast art project
  • Why he built a giant ant farm, and how psychedelics helped him process the trip
  • His best advice for aspiring long-distance cyclists and building a trip around your personal limits
  • And so much more

Resources:

Want More?

Thanks To Our Sponsors

  • Apple Card – Earn 3% back on the Apple products and services you love with Apple Card.
  • Smart Travel Podcast – Before you book, learn how to get the most out of your travel dollars. Follow Smart Travel on your favorite podcast app.

You're almost there!

Drop your email below so we can send your FREE course!

Powered by Kit

Want to Travel More?

You need a plan. Sign up to access this mini-course The 3 Best Ways To Save Money For Travel, get exclusive content and join our amazing community of travelers. It’s all FREE!

You're signed up! Check your email to access the mini-course!