After retirement, travel is a great way to see the things that you always wanted to see and do the things that you never had time to do during your working days. One retiree has a unique set of travel goals for her retired life. This 71-year-old isn't taking boats, planes, cars, or trains. She's biking across countries.
When Yulia Mikhailyuk turned 50, the physical education teacher began biking as a way to keep fit in her old age. She's kept it up ever since, saying she "had to do something after her retirement."
However, Mikhailyuk isn't just biking around the neighborhood. The Western Russian woman has cycled across the world's biggest country of Russia, not once, but 16 times.
Mikhailyuk told Russia Today, "Every day from dusk 'til dawn I'm cycling. I do take rest stops, but they used to last an hour or two. Now they are only half an hour. I rest while I eat and then get back on the wheels again."
Biking across Russia and usuing the sport as a daily hobby is not enough for the 71-year-old. Her next goal is to travel across Europe. Mikhailyuk wants to ride from Russia to to Paris to commemorate the march of the Russian army in its defeat of Napoleon in 1812.
"I often get asked, why don't I take anyone along with me. But how can I? Who would come with me?" Mikailyuk says.
She expects the 1,781-mile trip from Tver, Russia to Paris, France to take her two months to complete. She will be bringing a tent to make stops to sleep along the way.
When Mikhailyuk isn't biking, she runs 6 miles every morning in the winter to keep fit. She doesn't visit doctors, but she does bring a first aid kit during her travels in case she falls.
Mikhailyuk's husband is one of her biggest supporters. "Not everyone can lead this lifestyle. You have to be brave and determined and possess enormous will power. She has it, but a lot of people don't," he says.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
