He saved my life. Now, I tell you how.

he person we speak today about... what I can say, he came into my life during a time, a time that was difficult for my heart to beat. I had pain, a lot of pain. Mucho pain, seriously. The pain that makes you feel like you are going to die, slowly but surely. The pain that makes you not moving anymore, because each step in life hurts and you realize the meaning of: HeartPain.

Let us get back to a time, where I was married.

We loved each other and we do today. Léa is an incredible personality, I would never be that person today, if she would not have crossed my path on 9th of May in 2015. But life is not always Disneyland and reality comes, when you start not living the life, that you really should live. Life protects you, so it takes you away from the people you have to get away. Life is always for you, never against you. Of course we human are too stupid to accept this, as we think that we lose something, if something ends. We do not, we always gain. Either experience or moments that make us grow and become stronger for the life that is in front of us.

"Oh, you are divorced, you are loser..."

To be divorced does not mean, that you do not love each other. It simply means, that you go each different paths in life. Divorce is always a topic in society, where people think you failed or you did not made it. I am from Greece, trust me, the social drama around divorce is big. And I felt like this. My divorce was heavy, because I had the wrong mindset and I was not able to look at the bigger image. The good thing about your first divorce is, that you will go into a second marriage with the thought: "In case this does not work out, I will give a fuck, I anyway know that life goes on. Nothing big happens." (no, I am not on the way into a second marriage, I am only on the way down to Patagonia for now).

There was another man at this time, who started to be a massive support in my life. This one here.

‍First divorce advice: Get to your best friends and speak openly about it. Never feel ashamed for what happens.

He could look like the CEO of Aldi for you, but he is not. This beautiful boy on the image (with even more beautiful Emily) is actually my friend Freddie. He is supporting me since day one, when I met him in Bangkok, Thailand. Still, at the time of my divorce I did not had the balls to be that open to many people, so I was only very very deep with Bastian and at later stage, back in Europe, I started to open up massively towards Freddie. We cried, we shared time in Lisboa, Portugal together, we traveled to Cyprus, we went to Chalkida, in Greece - we had some times, nobody ever will take out of our life-portfolio. No matter which hacker exploits the pools in crypto, we keep smiling - smiling out of our hearts, no matter if we stay in front of a supermarket or in the middle of a dance floor in Crazy Frog, Ag. Napa - Cyprus.

Freddie and me, that is another story. One thing is sure: it was the start of a friendship, which connected us on a level that shows us today: Nothing can separate us anymore. At a later point, we are going to dive into this, for now it is about my bike and why the bike I am cycling down to Patagonia is named after my friend: Bastian Barami
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Why Barami? 
Because I had to share time with a man, who was at this time in his life way more clear about things in terms of love, partnership and relationships. And looking back, there was no better friend in life, who could say: "Come to Thailand, be my guest, we are going to get you back into life. Come here, brother and be with me, because I am your friend."

Why the bike4peace bike carries his name? 
Yes, you can believe your eyes. What you read now is true. 100% true. The Cube Kathmandu SL 2019, which we are using to make The One Million Dollar Bike Trip happen, is named: Barami, บารามี (Bā rā mī)

My brother from another mother, here is the full story for you.

We are in Berlin, I will never forget this day. I met Bastian Barami the first time in real life on the DNX Festival, arranged by our friends Marcus Meurer and Felicia Hargarten. Bastian was not only a keynote speaker, also the moderator of the event. His presence was insane, he spread his charismatic and beautiful energy from the stage towards hundreds of people. Today I know that Barami is not by accident almost 2m tall, he became that tall. He does not talk bullshit. When he says things, he acts on them. He is a creator, a person getting things accomplished. I adore his passion, he was teaching me a sentence, back in the days in Thailand: "If it is not a hell yes, it is a no." 

‍Many times in life, before I do something, I am asking myself: "Do I really want to make this happen?" His "hell of advice" was a great eye opener and doing this epic One Million Dollar Bike Trip, I used his words and can tell you now: "Fucking Yes, I am going to make this bike trip for charity happen. I gonna live it and I would die for it."

You know why I love this big boy? 
Because he really! wants to make things happen, he believes in creation. I have seen him suffering, I have seen him loving his life and I have seen him going deep to work on himself. He took me on this ride, introduced me to his deepest fears and desires about life and the values he believes in. This boy is real. Sharing this time with another human, let me tell you: that makes you become best friends. If there is something today, I call him up, he never rejects my call and if, he replies instantly with: "Can I call you back bro?" Tears coming to my eyes, as the moment I am writing this, this song comes up in my Spotify. Press play and enjoy the emotional ride.
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"Hey brother, I get back to the bike, lets have a call, I want to tell you all."

When I told him about the bike trip, he was the one asking a lot of critical questions. That is what real friends do, as they need to really find out WHY you do something. He knows me well and he knows how to ask me things. So his questions could be a bit uncomfortable, but not in this case, as I had an answer on everything he asked me. A day later he decided to pay most of the new bike. We went together for shopping and put together an amazing package. With the help of an Iron Man winner from Germany we arranged everything needed for the long ride. (Johannes Dietrich, a friend of mine, who owns a bike store and who is a loyal supporter of bike4peace since day one. Johannes is a Iron Man Winner and a wonderful human being. His support means a lot to me - you can imagine).

Brother, where is this dog coming from? (Another epic moment in Koh Chang).

You are going to hear a lot more stories about the friendship that I have with Bastian. We are may not at the same spot right now, as he lives in Thailand, still: we are connected and we care a lot about our friendship. I would suggest you to follow him on Instagram and check out his amazing newsletter, where he puts a lot of passion and love in. See officeflucht.de

Now you want to know how he saved my life?

Barami did 3 things:

• he was there for me and invited me to his house in Thailand for weeks
• he inspired me through actions, not by words only
• he came to visit me several times, no matter if I lived in Amsterdam or in the south of Germany

My conclusion: I named my first bike after a woman I had a long affair with, when I was living in Berlin. Do not ask me why, it was like it was. I am not having an affair with Barami, so there has to be another reason, why I am naming my bike after him, right? And no, it´s not because he paid the bike (almost all of it) - I give a fuck who pays, my friends do not see money as money, they see it as something that creates impact, it is a form for energy. They share good energies, so they share their wealth with the ones, they love. Those are my friends, I would die for them right now, to extend their life for one more moment.

I named it after him, because it reminds me, that some people in our life entering our path, to show us what love really means.

Love does not mean to take. It means to give.
Love does not mean to have, it means to share. 
Love does not mean that you will get, it means that you are able to give without thinking what you will gain.

Barami did this. He gave his time, his energy, his empathy for my life situation, he was there for me, while I could not see the light at the end of the tunnel. He walked with me, made me strong and fit, ready to go out again and to do something that I forget because of the divorce: stop crying and complaining, start getting my balls back, leaving the comfort zone and stopping to act like a victim, as I was not. I was just on the wrong path and he was the one, showing me the direction I had to take. And he did.

Fucking brother, I love you!

To end this post with a nice entertainment, check out the presentation he once did on stage for DNX Berlin, you will love it. (it´s in German)