Unlearning By Bike and the Happy Kids Center

It’s day 7 of our bike ride from Waterboro, Maine to San Diego, California!! To mark the first week of our journey, we are kicking off one of my favorite fundraising initiatives— POSTCARDS FROM THE ROAD.

This is something I did on my last bicycle journey and it was a huge hit and a great way to connect people with the journey. Here's how it works:

Once a week there will be a 24 hour donation window that, in addition to warm fuzzy feelings, will also get you a postcard written by either Zoe or I from wherever we are in the country at the time. Keep an eye out for post card days by following along on Facebook and Instagram (@unlearningbybike)

Any donation over $25 counts toward the POSTCARDS FROM THE ROAD initiative and every dollar goes straight to Happy Kids Center in Bhaktapur, Nepal.

In 2016, I started on my first bike journey, traveling from Thailand to Spain. Over the course of this 18 month journey we raised over $15,000 for Happy Kids Center. This allowed us to fund programs centered around education, child marriage prevention, school lunches, after school snacks, community meals, vocational programs, and so much more.

Now, it is 2021 I am off again, this time traveling across the continental US along with my partner in crime, Zoë Shwidock and once again, I am fundraising for HKC. Rather than starting fresh, we want to continue to pay homage to all those who supported my last journey. Therefore, we started at $15,500, and we are upping the goal to $20,000. Think we can do it?

Funds raised this time around will support getting Happy Kids Center programs back up and running and children back in school after nearly 2 years of closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hey all!

Thanks to all that donated on the fourth! Your postcards are on the way!!

Do you want to get regular postcards from me?

By signing up as a monthly donor I will send you one every month from wherever I am in the world!! You will be my team of Unlearners, getting special updates on the journey, unseen photos and a monthly postcard from yours truly.

The monthly donations will continue until I reach Sevilla, Spain, an estimated 6 more months. To sign up go to the donation form, select monthly and enter any amount that you feel inclined to give. Any amount helps.

What to know how your donations will impact HKC? Here are some examples of how we use your gifts.

Before our educate HKC program only 44% of our kids attended school. Now 89% are enrolled. That is because of donors like you.

A single $20 donation paid for an emergency C-section for one of our girls who was married underage. This saved her and her baby's life.

A $23 donation allowed us to take Muniya to an eye doctor and buy her a pair of prescription glasses allowing her to see for the first time.

A single donation of $90 covered the cost of a life-saving surgery for our Krishna

A $129 donation covered one month of our child marriage prevention program.

$130 donation covered one month's salaries for our Nepali staff

Hey Friends and Fam!!!

It's FREEZING here in Uzbekistan, not quite what I imagined when I thought about traveling through a desert but here we are, bundled up in all my clothes. This chapter of the journey has been a little bit different than the rest, in that days on the bike have been extremely limited. After the epic Pamir Highway, Jerry and I were pretty exhausted, belly sick and a bit behind schedule for getting to Georgia before the winter. Luckily, Thomas the Belgian met up with us on the road and gave us a lift to Buhkara and Khiva, two incredibly historic and impressive cities (once you get past all the tourist buses and souvenir shops.) From there we ran into Markus and his dog Vesuvio who are traveling the world by van and they squeezed us in, bikes and all and we road-tripped to see the dried up Aral Sea. Within a couple decades the sea completely dried up, leaving sunken ships stranded in the now-desert. It was an incredible sight to see. And now, the last stretch of transportation will be train and ferry to Azerbaijan where we will mount our bikes again and pedal our a**'s off towards Tbilisi where we will stop for the winter months. While its been fun playing tourist, I'm excited to get back on the saddle and place myself back in the flow of things. Sending love to you all!!! COME VISIT IN GEORGIA IF YOU CAN!!

Best,
Nicole

Hey everyone!!!

I'm in Kyrgyzstan. Loads has happened since my last update. I cycled alone in China where I was escorted by various police officers across half of Xinjiang province. I experienced the most lovely hospitality in Kazakhstan, my best friend Charlie has come and gone already and I'm headed towards Tajikistan!! There is so much to update on so I'm working on blog posts as fast as I can to play catch up.. Overall, my spirits are high and my legs are as ready as they will be for Tajikistans epic riding. In the next few days we'll be climbing to 3,500 meters and then to 4,400 meters at the border with Tajikistan. From then on we'll be teetering between 3-4,000 meters for the remainder of our time in Tajikistan. Because its September, it will be quite cold so Jeremy and I went to the bazaar to go shopping for some warmer clothes. We also got a bunch of lentils, chickpeas, nuts and seeds for the next leg of the trip. We'll be able to get starches like potatoes and buckwheat on the way. I love you all with my whole heart. Thanks for your support for the me and for the Happy Kids Center!!!! BIG LOVE.

Nicole.

Ps. If anyone feels like making me a Spotify playlist for Tajikistan it will be more than appreciated ;)

Friends and Family!

What a whirlwind its been since the last update from Chengdu, China. These past two months have been filled with adventure. Exploring the unfamiliar and testing my limits and boundaries while camping, cycling, and searching for my provisions in nature has been unreal. I've been cycling through Mongolia with three other cyclists, Claudia, Oliver and Jerry. 80% of our time here has been cycling off road through rolling meadows, deserts and coniferous forests. We've carried our food on our bikes, collected water in rivers, streams and slept in tents nearly every night this month and a half. The levels of emotions that are felt in these remote conditions are indescribable. Within a few hours, you will find me in bliss, feeling strong and deeply grounded within my self, and then moments later in tears, shattered to pieces on the side of the road from either exhaustion or from, yet another, part of my bike breaking off in the middle of nowhere. While people and towns were scarce, animals, were never too far away. Giant herds of cows, horses, sheep and goat were everyday sights. Eagles soared above us and purple locusts scattered and flitted around below us. Wild flowers were everywhere and the clouds took shapes found only in children's drawings. While this adventure has already given me more than I could have ever hoped for, YOUR support and kindness in action has me overflowing with gratitude and emotion. This is because this trip is MORE THAN a personal journey. It is also in the benefit of the kids and community that I have grown to love so much. I thank you all, from the bottom of my heart, for your continued support. Wishing you many blessings, love and adventures.

Thank you.

Update!!

For the next 46 hours, I'll be sending postcards to anyone who donates! This is the ONLY time i'll be doing this during this bike tour!! How will you help the world today?!

AMAZING HUMANS!!! Because of your generosity, we have reached $1,912 in a matter of days!!! I’m blown away by what can happen when people choose action, and come together for a cause we believe in. The Happy Kids Center, is an organization I believe in with all my heart. We are a grassroots organization that caters to our specific kids and their needs. We know every child and their background- we sit with their families for tea and join them for hospital visits. They are like family to us . Thank you for aiding in the security of their futures and health. Thank you for believing in us and what we do. Thank you for taking action.

With so much love,
Nicole Heker

Director of Development
Cycle tourist
Human of the world