The Dad, The Son, And The Stars

Once upon a time, a child from a remote city of Layyah in Pakistan was afraid of the dark. Waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to spot a speck of light in the room terrified him. He couldn’t go back to sleep. The darkness choked him. He felt disoriented … Read more

You Are Not Lost In Atacama Desert

The Atacama Desert in Chile is the driest desert on the planet. There are some places in the Atacama where no rainfall has ever been recorded. Nothing can survive there, neither plants nor birds or even insects. It is not a typical desert where it’s just dunes. The Atacama offers much more. Valle de la … Read more

Dear Bicycle!

33,105 km with you, my dear bicycle! Four years, sixteen countries, the entire length of South, Central and North America. Some mountains climbed, some deserts crossed, and a few plateaus travelled. Together we endured rain and snow, dust and sand, winds and storms, and sun and shadows. We shared smiles and tears, joy and pain, … Read more

A Night And A Sunrise At Torres

The sun had set behind the mountains, and as the light faded, hordes of tourists started disappearing from the Torres lookout. Our legs ached after a day-long hike on our first day in Torres del Paine National Park in Chile. All the campsite we had spotted during the day were all already full. We kept … Read more

Circle Of Relationship

We humans have limited cognitive capacity when it comes to social relationships. At any given time, we can maintain meaningful relationships to a maximum of 150 people. They are the ones we can easily cooperate with and care about. We consider the rest of the people as strangers, and by nature, it is not easy … Read more

A Short Story of 33,100 kilometers

A year ago on this date, I finished my 33,100 km Argentina to Alaska bicycle trip that took me three years and nine months, almost 10% of my life. Unlike my first tour from Germany to Pakistan that took 13 years from inception to realization, this one was a rather an impulsive decision. From the … Read more

Never Too Lost

Six years ago, if somebody told me I would be travelling by bicycle for several years, I wouldn’t have believed them. Oscar Wilde said, “if you want to be a grocer, or a general, or a politician, or a judge, you will invariably become it; that is your punishment.” Once I too considered my career … Read more

There is a world…

There is a world out there with pristine mountains, mighty rivers, oceans, never ending roads, and vast deserts waiting for you. Once you go and see them, they will change your heart.

Atacama Desert Night

As the half-moon rises above the hills, the Atacama desert glows in the soft moonlight. There is absolute silence. All I can hear is my breath. Thoughts begin to surface! “What brought me to this remote place?” If it is to be alone, then why my mind is occupied by thoughts of friends and family? … Read more

ALMA Observatory

محبت مجھے ان جوانوں سے ہے ستاروں پہ جو ڈالتے ہیں کمند The youth to whom the stars are not out of bounds, are the ones I love indeed. When I was a child, we had a large paint board outside our tyre shop in Layyah, Pakistan. It was a painting of a lonely country … Read more

Men of God

They called themselves “Men of God”. After travelling through South America for five years, they built a house in the middle of nowhere, spreading the message of God to those who passed by, offering them shelter, food and wisdom that they had gathered since the time they devoted their lives to Him. Opinion Disclaimer: Following … Read more

A Floating Tent and A Sinking Dream!

After a day of cycling on the gravel road, I reach the bank of Rio Baker river. Each screw of my body is loose. I wipe off the dust and sweat on my face with the cold turquoise-blue water of the river. It is very quiet but in my head I can hear the bicycle … Read more