Over the past eight years, Markus Pukonen has been traveling the world on a journey spanning more than 73,000 kilometers, without using a plane, train, or car, and he didn't even use an elevator.

Pukonen – from Tofino in British Columbia to Toronto – left in a canoe in July 2015 and returned to Canada on July 2, 2023, by bike, crossing the US border via Niagara Falls.

He described the trip as enjoyable and exciting.

Over the years, the 40-year-old said he cycled, skied, kayaked, and walked his way first around Canada and then around the planet.

He also said: “I sailed across the Pacific Ocean, rode my bike through Southeast Asia, sailed on a number of different boats for several years, and eventually got stuck in Rishikesh in northern India during the pandemic.”

When the first lockdown was lifted after eight months in that city, Pukonen traveled by bike across India, and said he bought a 27-foot sailboat in southern India, then sailed across the Indian Ocean to the Seychelles and then Africa.

He also added: “I sailed around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, across the South Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean area, then to Florida where I got off the sailboats and ultimately walked the Appalachian Trail for a thousand miles.”

Many tough moments:

Pukonen said there were many tough moments along the journey, and skiing through British Columbia in midwinter was one of the toughest moments.

He added, “One of the biggest challenges I faced over the long term was simply surviving on the roads around the planet, especially in Asia, where the pollution and dust on the roads is very intense and you breathe the black smoke from the cars.”

Thinking of stopping and giving up:

There was only one brief moment during the entire trip when Pukonen said he actually considered stopping and giving up, and that was while sailing from India to the Seychelles.

He said: “It was supposed to be just a 15-day sail, but I was delayed in making the trip, so the winds were weak, and after 30 days I faced a severe storm where the waves rose, it was nighttime, and my boat started making all these noises I'd never heard before, water started leaking, and I was still far from land.”

He continued: “I was exhausted, and that was the first time on the trip I thought about stopping and giving up.”

Pukonen explained that the main message he wanted to convey is that nothing is impossible, and the biggest challenges facing humanity now, represented by climate change, can be overcome.

He also said: “As long as we take a step in the right direction, I believe we all have the power to make very big changes in the world around us, and everything we do has a much greater impact than we think.”