He Fled Syria at 12, Now He’s Biking Home!

Meet Hamudi, a 20-year-old Syrian refugee cycling through ALBANIA from his new home in Germany back to Syria on a solo mission.

I’m in Albania and I leave Tirana for Durrës on my bike – in this raw and unfiltered 46-minute vlog, I cycle 40km’s from Albania’s capital to the coast… but this ride didn’t go to plan initially.

Just outside Tirana, struggling with my GPS in the 30°C heat, I cross paths with Hamudi — on Day 50 of his journey. What starts as a bike ride to the coast of Albania as I continue my own journey through this beautiful country, quickly becomes one of the most inspiring days of my trip.

Hamudi fled Syria on foot at age 12 and has lived in Germany ever since. Now, he’s cycling across Europe to return home. We ride together to Durrës, talk about his story, film an interview, and share an afternoon of connection — from beers and beach to spontaneous chats with locals and deep conversations over dinner.

The same day we met, Hamudi’s story aired on Syrian TV, and he’s been gaining a solid following on Instagram and TikTok since he left Germany 50 days ago.

In this vlog expect:
– Cycling from Tirana to Durrës
– Meeting a 20-year-old Syrian biking 4000+ km from Germany to Syria
– Navigating chaotic Albanian traffic
– Backpacking and bike touring through Albania
– Spontaneous moments & local interactions
– An inspiring refugee story, told firsthand
– Beach vibes, Durrës scenery, cold beers, good food, local people & real connection.

FULL interview with Hamudi included.

If you need a dose of human resilience, see some authentic travel, and stories that move you all whilst seeing the beauty of Albania then this one’s worth the ride.

Hamudi is on social media:
YouTube – @hamudiontour
Instagram – @hamude.011_
TikTok – @hamudi_.089

#albania #syria #syrian #travel #durrës #cycling #europe #solotravel

Germany to Syria. Yeah, that’s awesome, brother. And my parents are Polish. Okay. Yakamash. Yakam. Let’s count how long it’s going to take for this guy to come and take our money. Later, we’re going to eat some authentic Albanian food. I can see also if you have one table on the end. Yeah, that’s okay. He’s a Syrian refugee. He left Syria in 2017. I’m super nervous. Today I leave Tana. I’ve got a 39 km bike ride from Torana to Durz. So, I’m heading to the coast to the beach. I can’t wait to get there, but I am nervous about actually getting there. The difference today compared to any other bike ride that I’ve done is that I’ve actually got my luggage with me today. So, I’ll have my backpack on me. And the other thing is is that it’s only just gone 10:00 a.m. and already it’s like 29° C. I just took the rubbish out down to the outside bin and it is damn hot outside. So I’ve had six eggs. I’ve had some bread with some butter. I’ve drank plenty of water. I’ve had a coffee. So I’m caffeinated and I’ve eaten today. That’s the difference between today and yesterday when I did the other mission, but I’m still nervous. So, I’ll check in with you once I get out of the city and let you know how I’m going. So, 36 km to go. Had a bit of an issue with my GPS and getting out of the city. The traffic’s been pretty hectic, to be honest. I have to admit that I’ve definitely underestimated how much pressure this bag was going to put on my back and my shoulders, but most of all, how much downward pressure on my body and my ass pressed against this seat, which isn’t the most comfortable seat in the world. That’s for sure. Let’s go, Jack. Australia. Where are you from, brother? From Germany. Cycling. From Germany to Syria. Germany to Syria. Yeah. Oh, that’s awesome, brother. Day 50. I’m at uh last day I uh come to Tana. I’m a Ty runner. Yeah. So I’m secondary not to shop this year. And after this show ah bro. How old are you man? Where you going? I’m going to DZ. D. Yeah. What’s DZ? Uh on the beach. The sea. The sea. The city. Yeah. Like on the coast. Where are you going now? I’m right there. You’re going there. You want to ride together? Let’s go. Let’s go. Let’s go. [ __ ] off, brother. I like your setup. I seen you before and I thought you got a much better setup. You from Australia? Yeah. My parents are Polish. Okay. Yakim. Do you like Albania? Yeah. Ah, man. Me, too. I love it. Yesterday uh I’m arrived in Tana. I drive on the highway. Wow. People amazing. Yeah. Were the people good to you? Were they uh were they courteous to you? Respectful the drivers. Yeah. Very respectful. Yeah. How’ you like to run it? I love it. Love it. Soon as I landed in Albania, I knew I I loved it straight away. Oh, I’m Rob. Rob. Yeah. Rob. My name is Rob. Yeah. Yeah. What’s your name? My name. Mahmoodi. Hammudi. Hami. Mahmoodi. Yeah. What’s your name? Rob. Rob. Yeah. Robert. Robert. Yeah. Robert. My original name is Muhammad. Muhammad. But the nickname of Muhammad. Uhhuh. I’m getting money because of my life. That’s super cool. Got myself a mate. He’s riding from Germany to Syria. He’s got a bit of a following on Instagram and and on Tik Tok. He says that people are inspired by the fact that he’s riding so far, but he seems like a really nice young man. He’s going to do Durz as well. So, we’re going to ride there together. It just be good to have a yarn with someone, hang out with someone that’s doing something super inspirational. Mammood is his name, his nickname. A legend. But this is Moody. We’ve officially stopped to have a have a meet. They had to do a bit of bike maintenance because the the bag was rubbing against you can see where the bag was rubbing against the tire. Do a bit of maintenance. He’s got a number plate. He’s got water. He’s got banana. Number. So I say thank me for memory. He’s asking me where all my supplies are. He’s like, “Where’s your sunglasses? Where’s your Where’s your water? I got nothing. You guys know I’ve got nothing. Just my shirt, shorts, and bike. But how long we How far we got? Uh, we got We got 16 km to go. Are we going one go or we going to stop? One go. We going one go. I’m right behind you and I’ll I’ll watch if we need to stop. We stop. All right, let’s get going. Yeah. Narrow. You okay, brother? You okay? Yeah. This is the fun part. Yeah. I love this. Go for it. What you want? Yeah. Yeah, that was awesome. Yeah, [Music] look at that. We got the ocean, baby. Woohoo. There he comes. Sorry. It’s okay, man. That’s good. Let’s keep moving. Sorry. There’s no hurry. Well, I had to beat the truck. And then we don’t have each other’s contact details yet. So, I didn’t want to leave him behind. Yeah. But, uh, we go to the end here and then we go left, I think. So, we’ll figure it out. That’s 40 km done and dusted. Let’s uh figure out how to check in, drop our bikes off, put our board shorts on, and go and jump in the ocean. My phone is boiling, so wait for it to cool down in a second. After some [ __ ] around, a whole heap of sweat, finally here. This is it. Smaller, right near the beach. much smaller than the last place I had in Tana. I went like the key for lift to come up. Just carry your bike up. I didn’t even use a lift. Yeah, I just carried my bike up. I have to to to bring Oh, I’ll help you. Wait. No, no, no problem. No, I’ll come with you. No, no, it’s okay. It’s okay. Let’s go. You okay? No, it’s okay. Go. I look I looked in the lift. I didn’t even think my bike was going to fit. Let’s go, baby. All right. You good? Okay. What did you This place. Wow. Ah, it’s not fancy, man. You should have seen my place in Tana, man. It’s fine. Yeah. Cheaper than Tana and right on the beach in DZ in summer. Wow. Lean it somewhere, brother. Leaning it right there. Wherever you want. Turn on Germany. Yeah. For video. This is how a professional Tik Tocker and Instagrammer does it. This is behind the scenes of a behind the scenes of a professional for German TV. I’ve never seen a professional do it. It’s amazing. I got to ask him if he can sign my shirt. Yeah. Sorry, Minnie. Do it again. I interrupted. No, no, it’s okay. It’s good. We’re going to grab a beer. We’re going to go and check out the beach. Grab something cold to drink, which is going to be alcoholic. So, but we’re going to we’re going to smash a water as well because we’re kind of mature like that. Yeah, we’re kind of mature like that. And then we might go for a swim as well. So, we’ll see what’s going on. First time in dur. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it’s my first time. You also, right? Yes. very stressful. And the other thing is is that I feel like this guy’s got a very interesting story and I like people I used to interview people for a living. So I definitely want to ask him some questions if he lets me. So he might not let me but I feel like for starters he’s Syrianborn, escaped to uh Germany in 2017. That’s about as much as I know. But being from Australia, I also know there’s a lot of Syrians that left uh left Syria obviously because of the war, because of the atrocities that were going on there. There’s lots on YouTube these days as well. Uh but many escaped from Syria to Australia as well. So, uh everywhere in the world, everywhere. Yeah. Everywhere you go, you find the Syrian people. Yeah. So, but they’re beautiful people. When you watch YouTube, anyone that travels to Syria, they’re such hospitable people. As soon as I seen this guy on the highway, just a big smile and he made a joke straight away and uh I could just feel his energy straight away and I just knew he was just going to be a good dude. So, we’re going to go hang out. We’re going to have a beer. I’d like to buy him a beer. That would be my privilege. My my privilege. And then uh we’re going to chill out. You are my guest. I give you my beer. And we’re going to chill out. There’s probably a few hot women down there, too. It doesn’t doesn’t hurt to have a Mickey MV. E. All right. Look at this. My moody. Look. Look. Look at this, brother. I’m not so happy, man. Me, too. Where do you want to go? Sometimes Sometimes they say the best spot is right in front of you. Yeah. Let’s go. Wow. This is D, baby. Wow, man. What a spot. I got to get a drink cuz I’m thirsty as [ __ ] Hello. Hello. Can we buy a beer? Can we buy beer? Beer. Beer. Beer. Pivo. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Cheers. Bye-bye. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Yeah. Thank you very much. Enjoy. I call it pik tastes very good. How do you like it? That’s all right. But I had a I had a pushka at the oda restaurant. Yeah. In Tana. It’s like fruity. Super good, man. E. Thank you, brother. Let’s go see this guy and get a bed. We’re going to get a bed down here and we’re going to go for a swim cuz that’s what we’re going to do. We’ll buy a bed. Do the right thing. Will you buy a bed? Bed for only hotel. Which one you going to buy? 100 there. Okay. Hello. We want to buy a bed. Uh where’s the guy? I think it’s here. Here. Here. Go into the restaurant here because he he went inside. He went there. Okay. Thank you. Hello. Hey. Excuse me. Where’s Where’s the guy of the bed or some beds? He’s down there. Go down there to the beach. He may come up. Someone said he come up here. I know. But wait there. He’s going to go. You know him? Yeah. Can we just grab a bed and he come to us so we don’t have to keep looking for him? You have No, you have to wait there. Where’s the the blue chair? Yeah. And wait for him. When he’s going to be there, we’re going to speak to him and he’s going to find you which one you want. Okay. Yeah. Thank you, brother. Where you from? Australia. Where you from? Australia. Australia. Sydney. You came from there? Yeah, I come from there. Germany. Okay. Where you from? From I live in UK, London. Ah, do you? Yeah. Your English is very good. Yeah. And very nice. What took you to What took you to London? Yeah. Why you go to London? More money. More money. Things. But this country I love this country, bro. Yeah, it’s good. I love it, man. I love it. Moody, do you have Do you have beaches in Germany like this? in German. Just cold, snow, rainy, nothing. Nothing like this. Nothing like this. What about beaches in Syria? And we have this. You have beaches? Yeah, we have my I’m teeing up with Hammudi. We’re going to catch up in Syria. We’re going to do a [ __ ] We’re going to do a We’re going to do a a a stint in Syria. Syria. You must come. Cannot wait. Cannot wait. We’re going to catch up in Syria and it’s going to be the [ __ ] best. So beautiful, man. The water is I got shoes. We must have like something like this. I got one pair of shoes, four shorts, four shirts. I got one backpack. That’s what I’m doing. How would you have three? This guy is like cycling 15 million kilometers and he’s got more [ __ ] than me. Hello. Hello. We want to buy a bed. Bed? Buy a bed? Buy a bed. This is you? Yeah. This you? No. Can you take a picture of me, please? Yeah. Yeah, please. I’m a professional. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, mate. I just got employed by a professional Instagrammer. Taking professional photos of a professional Instagrammer. What did you say? Best photos ever. Best photograph ever. Ever. Yeah. Ever. I meet. He’s lying. But that’s okay. No. No. I’m not lying. He’s lying. Be the sarcastic [ __ ] That’s okay. We’re just taking a bed. [ __ ] it. We’re not waiting for someone because At the end of the day, when someone wants your money, they’re going to find you. We know that. They’re going to find you. So, [ __ ] it, mate. Ala, I tell you right now, the food’s great. The people’s great, the beds are great. Everything’s [ __ ] great. Yeah, it’s [ __ ] great. It’s great. You’re great. And we’re going to take a free bed because that’s our old mate sitting in the chair over there. Don’t have a time to I’m pretty sure he’s going to find us in a second. We need the money. come. But right now, he’ll come get our money. We know he will. You going for a swim? Yeah, I go wrong. Just waiting for him. Everyone’s always waiting for me. Let’s count how long it’s going to take for this guy to come and take our money. I bet you it’s not very long. No, we think he want He don’t see us. Thank No, he sees us. Don’t worry. He sees us. He sees us. I know he sees us. And we’ve had a swim. This water is like bath water. Like I promise you, it’s like bath water. Even in Australia where it’s like 40 plus°, if you get in the ocean, the water’s pretty cool. Not here. Like it’s 30° and you get in the ocean and it’s like 35° water. We’re just going for a cruise up the beach. Going for a little bit of an explore later. We’re going to eat some authentic Albanian food, but now we just want to see what’s up here. I don’t know what patella means. What’s patella? But it smells. What’s patella? Patella is this one. Patella. It smells good. Patula silver patula. Silver patula. Silver. I don’t know what it is, but it looks doughy. Sugary and doughy. Yeah. I love No, you want to sit in umbrella? Oh, she’s sexy. Yes, she’s my mother. Your mother? Yeah. But that’s a compliment. I was saying something nice. That’s okay. Yeah. Mom wants to be Mom wants to be sexy. I’m probably old enough to be your dad. beer. Beer. Do you have beer on top? Oh. Oh. Do you have pushka? What? Pushka. Pushka. No. Pushka. It’s fruity from North Albania. What do you want? Pushka. Beer. Beer. Beer. And you? And you have juice. I see. Juice, right? Which kind of juice? You have orange juice. Orange juice. Just orange juice. You don’t have a grape? No. No. Orange juice is the best. I take one orange juice. Yes. Yeah. It’s fresh, man. See? But this one is action 5 Pro. Different different camera. Different. I have GoPro at home too. Yeah, it’s shower time, refreshment time, and then we’re going to go and eat some authentic Albanian food. Traditional Albanian food. That’s the goal. 7:30 p.m. in Durz on a Monday night and Hammoodi and I were going to get some traditional Albanian food. I had picked a restaurant using CH GPT. We got to that restaurant and it’s pretty much dead. There’s like two tables that were being waited on two different couples. The prices were pretty steep and it just wasn’t busy. Whereas this whole street has just had a has had a stack of people and so many eeries have had so many people inside of them. We’ve decided to just mission back this way and pick something that’s a little bit more full. It’s not about the price. We’ll pay the price. But as long as long as there’s as long as there’s people in there, people always to me signify that the food must be good. So we’re going to head back this way. I’m going to pick something different. I can see also if you have one table on the end. Yeah. You can take this on and Yeah. Yeah. I love this guy. Love this guy. Yes. Hello, mate. Hello. How are you? How are you? Fine. You good? That’s good. Yeah. Very beautiful. Thank you. In the in the corner. In the corner. Let’s go to the corner, brother. Let’s go. Thank you. Thank you. Hello. How are you? How are you? Good. You nice to meet you. Thank you very much. Thank you. I want something to drink first. Yeah, please. Do you have pushka? Beer. Pushka. Now, North Albania. Fruity beer. So, we have kcha pa. And kosher. I’ll have kosher. Yeah. Sorry. Sorry for my English. And I’m sorry for my English. My English not better than yours. My English is My English is probably worse than his. No. What a view. How good is this? So, what did he recommend? Oh, lamb me. This was a good choice, man. He’s better than I No, he’s better. But look at all the people, man. Look at the atmosphere. Look at the view, man. I’m so stoked about this. He say not take this one. He said this. He said don’t take this one. No, no, no. We take we must take it because it’s traditional. Wow. Hey, mother. I’m hungry. I’m hungry. Ah, hungry. Yeah, me too, man. Okay. Do you want the juice? Like orange juice? Yeah. Bring one. Okay. Thank you, sir. Okay. I will leave the glass here. Thank you very much. I know it’s a glass with all the beer. But he gave me that but then he didn’t bring me culture beer. He was giving me a I was confused. Ah, beautiful. Yeah. Thank you. Oh, what? Apparently I can’t pour a beer. Cheers, brother. Cheers, brother. To to Albania because we both love this. Love this country. Should go doing two dishes. Two dishes. Two chicken fillet and pleich pork. Yeah. Hi, brother. We take two of this. And what you want? Fill it. And yeah, one chicken fillet and two two of them. I think with soft mushroom, huh? You want the one with sauce mushroom? Oh, you want the sauce? Yeah. One with sauce mushroom. Yeah. What other sauce do you have? Do you have any other option? Any other choice? Oh, yeah. Uh, but Albanian tatiki, right? Albanian tatiki. It’s the same one like Greece. Is it good? Yeah. Albanian satiki. Yeah. One chicken. Yeah. And one are you taking Albanian satsiki as well? Yeah. Yeah. So both of both. Yeah. This one with both of them with Albanian. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you, brother. Wow. I looked at the phone and I was wondering why I wasn’t reacting, but it was because it wasn’t it was already recorded. Let’s go. Yes, it’s beginning. I met Hammoodi today on the bike. I whized past him and then he caught up to me later on and credit to him, he started making conversation with me which I really really appreciate because that’s usually something I do with people. But he did that with me today. So, it’s I’m getting chills down the back of my spine like right now as I think about it because if he didn’t do that, like I would have missed out on meeting such a really really interesting but cool and humble individual. And this guy, he’s doing something extraordinary. He’s he’s riding right now from Germany to Syria. He’s a Syrian refugee. He left Syria in 2017. He fled Syria, went to uh Germany as a young man. How old were you at the time? 12 12 12 12 years old at the time. And from there he had an extraordinary life up until that point in time and then his life continued to be extraordinary in Germany and then now he’s doing something even more extraordinary. But the thing I learned about him today was that when he left Syria and went to Germany, it was a very very rough time when he got there. Tell us a little bit about that time when he got to to Germany as a young man. So it was very difficult because it was just I’m the oldest um boy at the family. I have one sister and two one brother and another sister. So I’m the oldest one. So um it was heavy because you are alone with your mom, brother, oldest and you have two two um what’s mean sister and brother? Siblings. You have two siblings. Yeah. When you have a tech, you have to look about them. You look about your mom. So I tell you uh we go to feet from Syria to Turkey 2 days on the floor floors, you know. So what he said just then he went on foot from Syria to Turkey 2 days on foot as a young 12year-old but then he had siblings that were younger than him. Yeah. Then then I come then I arrived Turkey then I lived there for 4 months I with him from vis then I would then I go to Germany. But uh between all the the short story it’s happening on much of of of stories you know it’s just just know there short of them because it’s it’s happening a lot of of of things in between this time you know. Yeah. Look at that. What Hammood is saying he’s like giving a bit of a summary of what happened because he’s sort of hitting on the the main points but in between that there was so much that that happened. So what was what was life like in Turkey for 4 months? Was it very uncertain during that time? Were you afraid of where you were going to go and what what the family where the family was going to end up? Yeah, it was hard because I said I’m all my mom at the home. I must go to school. I’m also beginning to work at the at the flight mechanic. You know, I said to you, I was beginning to walk. I I walk as I was 10 years old, but I still keep go uh walking for help my mom, you know, as a 12 year old. Yeah. 12. 12. I begin with 10, you walk 10, 13. So, it was very hot because uh we had we don’t have a home, you know. We was for 2 weeks at the hotel, then we sumo host to live there or something like that. Yeah, it was hard. It was hard. And could you speak the language in Turkey? I learned it. I learned it. I can solve little bit. So I can say where I from, how old I am, what I need, but something else. No, it’s difficult because in 4 months, what can you learn? You know, and then what happened from Turkey to Germany? How did that happen? Uh that happened because my dad is going firstly firstly from Syria to Germany, you know, to go with boat to go with feet from Greece to Albania to another country to feed, you know, to to arrive Germany. He arrive Germany 2014. Then he make a vis he he go and say my family live in Turkey. I want to see him. Then we make a vis. Then we got a vis after 4 months and we’re flying to to fly with my with my mom and siblings to Germany. And then when you were arrived in Germany, what was that like? Were you scared? Uh could you speak the language? What what was I couldn’t did you go straight to school? I I could speak the language but one week later I must go to the school. Then I go to school. I had a very very problems with the with the language. The first uh 3 years I had much problem with bullying. I think he is building bullying. Bullying. He had a lot of problems with bullying. Yeah. Um for 3 years it was difficult for me to protect this bullying for me you know because I don’t speak the language. I don’t have any friends and um yeah so the first three years in Germany it was very very hard for me. I just want to say too and I I don’t want to embarrass you by saying this but Mammudi told me before too that he was very overweight and I think I think that’s very important to say because if you look at him now he changed that lifestyle he he was very overweight in in Germany in school he couldn’t speak the language that attracted a lot of bullies but there was a period of time there was a moment in time a little bit later on where he made the decision that he was going to start boxing and he was going to start losing weight and he was going to start working on his life. So, I bring that up not to embarrass him, but I bring that up because if you are 12, 10, 15, 18, 52 and you are overweight and you have had a hard life dealing with your weight, it doesn’t mean that that has to be your life for the rest of your life because he was overweight. going to change it. He was 82 kilos as a young man at school. So, I’m interested in that. Like, tell me a little bit about, you already told me earlier, but tell me a little bit about being overweight, being bullied, and then making the decision to change. Yeah. Then I fall in depression, you know, and I was 24 hours at home. I don’t go anymore to outside because I don’t have a friends. I was still um in my room and doing nothing, just eat and sleep. and depression, you know, for many years. Then I said, I look on Google Maps, where’s the next uh gym? Then I see it’s a boxing gym. I said, “Okay, let’s go. Let’s go there.” How old were you then? Uh 1300 14. Uhhuh. Yeah. Then I said, “Let’s go there. I must go with just to to test it.” So I test the first day. The second day I I fall in love in boxing. So I say, “Let’s go. Let’s make it.” So the f the first two years I don’t lose any weight because it’s calm then corona when I was still home you know then after corona I give full full power and I lost my weight uh my weight yes and then I’m right now 67 kilo yes 76 67 kg as a as a Syrian boy in Germany who clearly has an accent in Germany for sure and you are overweight What were the German guys like when you walked into the gym for the first time? Did they look after you? Did they welcome you? Tell me tell me about that. You know, you you have an accent in German. You are overweight. You are not German. Yeah. What how how was that experience when you Many many boys there was in a box gym in the box club. They look about me. They they they um they want to to talk to me but I can’t um I can’t they wanted to talk but they wanted to connect with me connect with me in a good way. Yeah. But I I was a little bit so I don’t know what what to say. I don’t um I don’t understand it to me they was very correctly and then after long time after one two years they I learned the language then was day for day better in the box club. So then I make more friends in the box club than I was. So then my my daily routine was go to school, eat, go box gym and repeat for many years for five, six years I make not just this eat, sleep, repeat gym. This was Yeah. Were you making friends? Was your life changing gradually? I make I make Could you feel that? I feel it. I feel it very very very very much because you have nobody on on from yet another moment you have somebody to talk with them you know then I had the friends then we go not to all but we go play soccer at all or we go hang up up behind the house it was very very cool so if you have a friend it’s important that you have a friend so uh this was cool I’m assuming I’m guessing that at when you First one in there your confidence was very low. Could you feel the confidence gradually building up? No. No. Maybe with the time yes but firstly not. No. Okay. How long how long did it take for the confidence? It take take many of times take a look for for you to take much of I don’t know how much. How old are you now? I’m going 20. 20. Yeah. So this happened over the last seven years. Last seven years. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. What what advice do you have for someone that is having a hard time with life whether they are young or older? What advice do you have? My advice to the to to the to the to the people at the outside is uh you can you can make your dreams to goals and if you make goals you can um you can you can uh it mean you can you can arrive your goals you know the way to the belt is much it’s beautiful to the goal you know so everything you say I couldn’t not do it, you can do it, you know, you can do everything what you want and uh yes, you can do everything you want. Nothing nothing for every problem you have a solution and for everything you can do not you can do it. Yeah, I really like what he says there about dreams and goals. And we talked about this earlier. And the the thing that Hammoodi said, the difference between dreams and goals is a dream sounds like it’s a dream, like something that you can never achieve. But when you set a goal, it sounds like it’s more tangible, like you can actually touch it. It’s something you can actually you can actually achieve it. Whereas a dream sounds like it’s a dream, you know, like you can’t touch it, you can never get there. So don’t set don’t look at future like goals as dreams. Look at them as goals as something that you can definitely look at the reality a achieve. It’s something that can become a re a reality. But uh you also said earlier when I said to you asked you when there was no camera at all I asked you what’s what’s the one thing piece of advice you would give and what he said was just so so so beautiful and I’ll just remind him a little bit now but he said put your phone down put Instagram down put Tik Tok down put YouTube down put everything down and just focus on yourself focus. So I just want to remind you of that. Yeah, no problem. What would you say about that? I want to say that this a Tik Tok, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, all the social media, it doesn’t impart. It’s disadvantage for you. You know, you have to be uh you have you have to focus in you. You have you have to take a time for you to know what you want to be at the uh in the future to know what you want to make to to know that you make your parents proud of you. Maybe not your parents but your yourself. Make yourself proud of you. what you make. So, um I was from 3 months ago. I still spend on my phone time 8 hours just on Tik Tok, you know. Right now in 8 hours I’m going from a country Albania to to Greece, you know. So, uh focus on you make make changing change your life. Change your life. Don’t don’t if you wake up at tomorrow 5:00, don’t go straight in the phone and look at Tik Tok. Stand up. Make a make a um make make food. eat it. So yeah, started changing. So and focus focus on you. You you you and right now you are doing something extraordinary like I said at the start. So for the last 40 days, 41 days. 50 days today. 50 days today. 50 days today. Last 50 days today. What have you been doing? I I cycling um from Germany to Syria. So today is day 15. I for 2 days I arrived to Rana. Then I’m uh on the way to garage I made. So my life has changing big changing. I’m famous. I’m become a famous because I um posted a video on Tik Tok and they become a million of views. I was so shocked and um the TV Syrian TV posted my picture that I cycled from Syria to uh from Germany to Syria. And this is for me a big changing you know it’s very very very new thing I don’t have in my life you know he was on Syrian TV tonight and a friend of the Syrian president rang him rang him on his phone literally in front of me he was talking to somebody in Arabic and I didn’t know thank you brother thank you thank you very this one it’s with cheese [Applause] no it’s with Cheese. Pres. Sorry. That’s okay. No, no, no, no, no. This is Peskavich. Peskovich. Yeah. Can you call your friend? Friend? No. Of course. Thank you very much. Chicken. Chicken is mine. Yeah. Chicken. Chicken. Thank you, brother. I left here and that’s one for me. Yeah. Yeah. That’s it. It’s okay. It’s okay. Thank you very much. It’s okay. No, you can. No, it’s okay. Okay. Thank you. Enjoy. Wait, before we do that, I just want to finish. Yeah. Yeah. Sorry. Sorry. No. No. Sorry. Call your friend. Let’s go. Yeah. No. Call your friend. Call your friend. Let’s go. Okay. Um, so last 50 days you’re riding from Germany Munish to S Damascus. Yeah. I don’t have been there since 8 years. I want to visit my family, want my grandma, my uncles, my aunt. So yeah, vis the family. I said to Robert, you must come to shoot. You must there. You must come. You must come. I’m going to Syria. Before I left Australia, I already wanted to go to Syria. And now that I met Hammuri, I’ve like you to my home to go with him in Syria, eat the food, meet the people, meet his family, man. I just feel I feel the hair on the back of my neck just like right now as I think about that. But we must go there. I’m going to ride my bike back to Tana to the guys back at bike point. Hopefully they’ll look after my bike. I’ll get on a plane in Tana, fly to Syria. Then you come back and meet and meet uh Hammoodi. So So you will I’m coming to Syria. Coming to Syria. I can’t wait. You stay there for one week. You come back to I can’t wait. It’d be amazing. Yeah, brother. Ah, that’s it, brother. Thank you. It’s such a pleasure for me to meet this young man. You know, I’m two times his age, but just he’s such an inspiration and you know, the conversations we’ve had off camera. He’s uh I can tell you he’s such a humble humble young man. He’s very very polite. Everywhere we go, he smiles. He he he he he just conducts himself like someone who I really want to be a role model for other uh young Syrians in Australia. I just want to end with like in Australia there’s lots of Syrian refugees in Australia and a lot of those kids because I spent some time with those kids last year. uh they’re struggle struggling to find their way and I think this kid here uh this kid this guy this all this man he could definitely be an inspiration for the kids in Australia in America and in Syria all over the world appreciate you thank you beginning let’s eat right I got two main meals I got this which is some kind of like beef and I got the chicken which is like some kind of chicken. I don’t know how traditional this is at all, but that’s okay. That’s okay because M. That’s good. That’s good. Yeah. So, that’s good. Chicken. It looks a little bit dry, let’s be honest. But this is going to make it not dry. [Music] And what is it? Just try. I can’t lie to you. Just try. That’s okay. The view is killer. The company is great. That chicken is great. And the Suziki is great. You could get the driest piece of chicken meat in the world. You put this siki on it. It’s going to be moist. Moist like use your imagination. Want some chicken? No cheat. No, thank you. Thank you. Chips are a bit soggy. It’s okay. The service has been good. Eight. Soon as we walked in to now, it’s good. No chips, bro. Don’t come on my chips, bro. Not bad. It’s 20 to 9. I just want to say thanks to you, brother, for pulling up next to me on the bike on the highway today with big leaving Torana today, pulling up next to me and making conversation, man, because it’s just made this day one unforgettable day. I really appreciate you, brother. Thank you very much. I wish you all the best for your journey. Thank you. I I wish you the best. And we have some plans for tomorrow. Yeah. So, we’ll see how that goes. Oh, tomorrow will be good day. Tomorrow, tomorrow should be a good day. So, it’s going to be a good day. That’s it. Toronto to Berez, meeting Hammoodi, cruising around DZ today and ending with an epic feed, but more importantly, a chat with which I really appreciate. So, thank you very much. Peace out. See you in the next one. Why do you call me Syria? I’m coming to Syria. soon as he lands and then he spends some time with his family, gets comfortable with his family, spends some time just doing his thing and then after that I’m coming to Syria. I can’t wait. Can’t wait. Where was I? Where was I? To eat right here. What do you have? Baklava. Baklava. BLava. Sit and eat on blava on the sea. Congratulation. Look at this. No, thank you. Thank you. I have one. Eat, eat, eat firstly. Eat firstly. I will eat. M. How is it? M. Yeah. M. Yeah. Good. Have one. Thank you. Thank you.