Imphal: People in this part of the world are often forced to sell their bicycles to fill up forms in schools or universities and that doesn’t make the headline. But when you see a Dutch couple on a bicycle – or what they call a bike - tour of the world after selling all belongings, including their house, it draws your attention. With all the economic and cultural differences between us, Harry and Roelie Morskate are cycling around the world to gather knowledge about different people, countries, nature and cultures.

Harry and Roelie Morskate left Oirschot at the end of June for a three-year world trip. By bike. They are now in India.

After receiving six bypasses in heart surgery, Harry Morskate has had enough of his management job. "The fast car, all those useless possessions, going to work top-dressed every day (but with stress in the body), it can not be the goal of our lives." In the eind of 2017, he and his wife Roelie decide to sell their belongings and travel around the world. On 30 June 2018 they turned in the key of their house to the new owners and on the same day they moved on their new titanium bicycles with Pinion gearbox. The planned route goes to Southeast Asia and Australia, and via South and North America back.

Harry and Roelie Morskate from Oirschot led a luxurious life. Now they sell everything they have, except for two bikes and a little bit of luggage. They leave the securities that once were so important. They will spent three years on a trip around the world. ,,We are going to celebrate life" is their intention.

"So much money for a new bike? Then we have to sit on that saddle more often, Harry! "With those words Roelie (42) and Harry Morskate (54) once walked out of a bike store with two trekking bikes. It turned out to be historical words. When they came to live in Oirschot in 2008 from Utrecht and Sittard, they regularly got on their bikes to explore the area. "Roelie had an old bicycle from her mother and I had bought an old barrel via a note at the supermarket. It was time for better material ", says Harry. In the meantime they had thousands of kilometers under the wheels and visited many countries. On June 29 there is again a 'ride' planned ..

Six bypasses got my heart two years ago. "They are going to cut you open," says a troubled and slightly tipsy friend the day before the surgery. After surgery follows a rehabilitation period. I want to take this a step further Tham usual patients and aimed on a long-distance bike ride.