For Tomás Mac an t-Saoir the world is no bigger than one turn of a wheel.
The County Kerry man has just returned from cycling across Afghanistan, Iran, India and Pakistan as part of a mission to cycle across the globe, and meet as many people as possible along the way.
"It's become a bit of addiction - the world is so big and beautiful and a bike is fast enough that you can get from A to B, but slow enough - as I am only doing 80-100km a day that you get an opportunity to see the world properly and spend time with the people who inhabit it," he told BBC News NI.In between trips, when he is home in his close-knit Gaeltacht village on the Dingle peninsula he works at his family pub and as a tour guide."Cycling can be as cheap as you want.
"At the beginning, you'll be sore and tired, but after a few weeks you get used to it and feel fitter.""I'm not cycling 21-hours a day, maybe only four to eight - I go steady, stop for breaks and chat to people," he said.In Iran, his chain broke, and despite putting on a spare link it broke again and he was 100km from Tehran, but generally, he has been lucky.
"People see you on the bike and they want to know if you're ok - if you need money, water, food or a place to sleep. "If I tried to camp, it was like I insulted the whole country by having the audacity to sleep in my tent.
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