EPISODE 35
Bitten and Back: Overcoming Fear After a Dog Attack
For cyclist Julia Esser, a dream journey through South America turned into a nightmare when she was brutally attacked by three dogs in a remote Colombian town. Forced onto crutches and faced with a long, painful recovery, Julia had every reason to fly home to Germany. Instead, what happened next is a testament to the power of human connection and inner resolve, as Julia found the courage to get back on the saddle. Join Julia’s adventure and discover how she turned a major setback into her greatest source of strength, in the process becoming a bikepacking ambassador, especially encouraging solo women travelers. She is currently continuing her ride towards the end of the world, supported by a network of friends, the sight of beautiful landscapes, and the occasional slice of cake.
Episode Transcript
Julia: I was afraid of dogs. It belongs to my top three nightmares of the trip here in South America, but I did not expect that something like this would happen.
Gabriel: You just heard Julia Esser, recalling her terrible encounter with three dogs outside a convenience store in Salento, Colombia. For unknown reasons, the previously calm dog suddenly attacked Julia, biting her repeatedly on the left arm and both legs. Julia had to go to the hospital and for the next four weeks could only walk on crutches. At any point during her rehabilitation, it would have been easy for Julia to catch a plane back to her native Germany. However, with the support from friends and family at home, helpful locals, and a guardian angel named Laura, Julia found the inner strength required to overcome her fear, return to the bicycle and resume her dream of one day reaching Ushuaia.
Sandra: You’re listening to The Accidental Bicycle Tourist. In this podcast, you’ll meet people from all walks of life and learn about their most memorable bike touring experiences. This is your host, Gabriel Aldaz.
Gabriel: Hello cycle touring enthusiasts! Welcome to another episode of The Accidental Bicycle Tourist podcast. Today’s guest, Julia Esser, was directly recommended by Yann Tourman, who is featured in the episode “Zigzagging Across the Americas.” Yann assured me that Julia’s story would make for an excellent episode, and now I’m fortunate enough to have Julia on the line to tell it in her own words.
Gabriel: So, first of all, I should ask, should I be calling you Julia or should I say Julia? I mean, German or English? Or Julia? Should I say Julia?
Julia: Yeah. Here I always say I’m Julia. I like the strong J in the beginning, but you can just call me Julia or Julia. It really doesn’t matter. I’m fine with everything. You can choose.
Gabriel: Yeah, so Julia, thank you for being a guest on The Accidental Bicycle Tourist podcast.
Julia: Thank you for inviting me. I’m very excited.
Gabriel: So, let’s start off by finding out, how exactly did you meet Yann?
Julia: So, there’s a cycling group on WhatsApp, where I think like hundreds of people are in there, who are currently cycling in South America. And I think it was Yann who was writing that he’s about to start the “Oh Boyacá!” route in Colombia. And I reached out to him telling him that I’m just, like, two days behind. And so I would start the route two or three days later than he did. And we were just starting to have conversations via WhatsApp. And then he started the route. I followed and we exchanged tips all the time on the route, which was really nice. In this route, there’s like a loop included in El Cocuy where you can do like a one-day loop. And he just returned from that loop. So at that time I could catch up with him. And we met for a brief coffee in a panadería in El Cocuy, which was really nice. I think we haven’t met any further since that, but we still have very good contact through WhatsApp. Yeah, because it just feels really nice connected through that coffee date in El Cocuy. And since then we’re just, like, exchanging tips again. So he’s now in Peru already. I’m currently in Cuenca in Ecuador. So I will follow in the same direction. So it’s really nice to get some inspirations or some good spots for camping or something like that that he can recommend.
Gabriel: Well, you must have really made an impression because Yann only recommended two people to be guests. And you were one of them. And the second one I didn’t hear anything from. So you made an impression and it’s cool that you’re still in touch, and are sort of following in his tracks.
Julia: Yeah, kind of. Also, when I listened to Yann’s podcast, he’s traveling for quite a long time, right? So you can also tell that he has a different way maybe of traveling as I do. I think everybody who’s doing it has their own preference of pace and where to stay and how to interact and everything. So yeah, although we’re following the same direction, I think every path is very individual.
Gabriel: Sure. I want to find out more about, of course, your background, but I’m very curious about this WhatsApp group with hundreds of people. So who else is on this WhatsApp group? Previous guests, besides Yann?
Julia: I guess Melanie was also in this group. But actually there are like a lot of people that I connected through Instagram with, like in this group. So through the algorithm of Instagram, yeah, I get presented a lot of other people bikepacking and it was actually really nice, because through that I also met them in person, because I saw that they were close by. And then, you know, when you read the name in the WhatsApp group, you are, okay, this is this person that we already, I don’t know, chatted on Instagram. So sometimes it’s really nice to have like this virtual connection with the people. And in general, this WhatsApp group was, like, really big help, because everybody is in the same situation and is very eager to share information. So it’s an amazing source and something that I really love about the cycling community, that’s very supportive for each other.
Gabriel: Yeah, and me being so old- fashioned and old-school, I hadn’t considered all of these virtual meetings. There was a connection made between Melanie and Giacomo, and I thought that they had met each other. But Giacomo said, “No, no, no, we met on Instagram. And then through that, we met personally.” It’s like, oh yeah, of course, that’s how people do it these days. So I’m sure Giacomo is also on the WhatsApp group.
Julia: Yeah. I mean, I also chatted a lot with Giacomo through Instagram and we never met. I was actually really sad that he left South America, because I would have loved to meet me in person. But actually, there was another encounter recently. There’s Dani from Spain. I also followed him like randomly on Instagram. And then I saw that he’s signing a trip to Ecuador. A few days later, he posted a picture of the Cotopaxi in its pure beauty. I was like, oh my God, when did you take the picture? Because of course, when you’re going to the Cotopaxi, you want to see it without clouds. And then I didn’t get a reply. And that day, I also took off to Cotopaxi and then I reached the camping ground and there was like no one. And I entered the dorm and I was saying, “Hola” and no one responded. And then there was this one person, and he said, like, “Oh yeah, you have to go to the kitchen.” And then I went to the kitchen, talked to the owner and went back out to pitch my tent. And then this guy was like,” Hey, you’re Julia, you just wrote me. I just saw your message.” So I just met Dani that day on the camping ground. And it was just so amazing. We had the evening together on the camping ground and it was just so lovely to meet him in person. So I’m really thankful for all these beautiful encounters.
Gabriel: Maybe this time I’ll get contacted by Dani, and he’ll say, “I’m the Dani in the episode.”
Julia: I really like this idea of like the ping- pong, you know, talking about one person. And in the next episode, you will hear more about that person. That’s really nice.
Gabriel: Let’s then hear a little bit about your background and how you got to Cuenca, Ecuador. What is your bicycle touring or bikepacking background?
Julia: Yeah, so it started basically in 2021, when I first bought my bike. So I remember very, very well and I was walking with some friends. It was still the COVID lockdown phase and we were walking through a park. And a friend of mine told me that he is just waiting for his bike, which costs like a four-digit number. And I was laughing about him like, oh my God, he spent so much money on a bike. But he still inspired me. So I’m very thankful for that, because I was looking for a new hobby because during COVID, I was running a lot, but I got like an injury so I couldn’t continue. So I was looking for something new and I was like, yeah, okay, I maybe just try the bike thing. And I was writing, I think, 80 bike shops in Cologne and around. Finally, I could find a bike. I did some trips, like, you know, on a daily basis. But in to Nepal already in 2020, but it was canceled due to COVID again. So I had like a three- weeks holiday and I was like, yeah, I just bought a bike. Okay, I will just buy some bike bags and hop on a train. So I booked a train ticket to Innsbruck. It was actually kind of a bold decision to just go on that bikepacking trip. Everybody was also like, “Okay, okay, you’re going on a bikepacking trip. Have you done that before?” And I mean, at that point, I didn’t know how to change tires or anything. So what’s the worst that can happen? Like if there’s anything that doesn’t work out fine, I can still hop on a train and go back home, right? So there’s like nothing too bad that can happen. Or let’s say that something bad that can happen as well in Cologne in Germany, right? And honestly, like the first Innsbruck with my bike with everything that I needed, I just completely fell in love with this idea of bikepacking. And I started there, went through Tirol, through Austria, in the direction of Slovenia, following a bit of the Alpe-Adria trail through Italy, the Dolomites, and then back through the Brennerpass. Back then I was carrying, like, jeans and a sweater and like, you know, way too much weight.
Gabriel: Blue jeans. This is the absolute worst thing you can take on a tour because they take forever to dry. Classic beginner mistake, taking too much gear, classic beginner mistake.
Julia: Yeah, I stayed in some hotels and hostels when I reached a place where I wanted to stay. Yeah, it was amazing. I really enjoyed just this feeling of being on the bike and having everything with you that you need to have, like this minimalism that bikepacking is providing. I think it was the third trip that I did. I bought a tent. And I directly bought a good tent because, I don’t know, I felt quite sure that I would continue with the bikepacking. And also other people were like, “Yeah, maybe start with a cheaper one from Decathlon. So it’s not an investment that you maybe regret.” And the first one I did in Switzerland with a tent, I just remember so well, how I was like overwhelmed with all the stuff that was in the bags and I had to put out in the evening and back in the morning. The first two, three days I was really frustrated and like, OK, is this really it? Like, I don’t enjoy it so much to set up my home every day. But then, I don’t know, it made click and I really started enjoying it. Yeah, that was really nice because from then onwards, I continued to use my tent for the following trips. I mean, not always sleeping in the tent, of course, but always having it with me as an option.
Gabriel: I think what you’re describing is very common. It’s great that you stuck with it and certainly you got into the rhythm.
Julia: Yeah, and then I continue to do some trips in Austria, in Switzerland, in southern Germany, Netherlands. Maybe the most adventurous one I did outside of the European Alps was in Georgia.
Gabriel: Let’s talk about your trip to Georgia.
Julia: So I did that in September, 2023. And it was actually kind of spontaneous because again, I had like three weeks of holidays left and I was not sure what I wanted to do. Yeah, I asked some friends, maybe weeks or months ahead if they would be into a bikepacking trip, but none of my friends had the time to join me. I was just checking the flight tickets. Obviously, the closer the date gets, they get more expensive. Prices were rising and like, OK, I just take this now as a sign and I broke the flight. I never flew with a bike before. Luckily, I had a friend who had, like, a bike box I could borrow. And then it was like really three weeks until this trip that were like super busy, because I was planning the setup and everything. Quite intense. But yeah, I arrived in Kutaisi in Georgia and left the bike box there and did like two loops. So to the Big and to the Small Caucasus. It was really amazing, because it was also completely different to what I experienced, like landscape- wise, people-wise in the European Alps, of course.
Gabriel: The road quality is not that great overall, but the hospitality of the people in Georgia is something special, I think.
Julia: Yeah, absolutely. I reached a small town after the first two days and I wanted to visit one of the towers that are quite famous for the region on the northern Caucasus in Georgia. And the person who was doing the tour could only speak Russian. So we could not communicate with each other, but we tried to do it with like hand and feet and a bit of like Google Translate. And then he showed us the tower, which I think the German TÜV, the company that is allowing the cars to be on the road…
Gabriel: Yeah.
Julia: They would probably not gave the approval of someone going up in that tower. I was actually quite happy when I left the tower, because it was very adventurous and the stairs were just… the wood was rotten and everything. It was a fun adventure. And after that, the man invited us to his home and we were sitting – there were like two other travelers that I met, they were on a hiking trip and I met them in the village as well – and we had homemade honey, bread, and cheese, and it was just incredible. He was just inviting, like, three strangers that he gave the tour to his home. And although we couldn’t communicate, we just had definitely the best time. So I remember this very well. It was a very, very nice encounter.
Gabriel: There was probably also tea.
Julia: More wine and schnapps.
Gabriel: OK, well, we’ve also heard about that, the alcohol. That’s a wonderful story and I think very representative of the people in Georgia. And the cuisine is also fabulous in Georgia.
Julia: Yeah, I really loved it. I’m a vegetarian, so it’s sometimes a bit maybe more difficult, but they still had a lot of options like the khachapuri, which is like a bread with the cheese and the egg inside. They have like a lot of salads, tomato and cucumber with walnuts and onions. It’s amazing. So I really, really enjoyed the Georgian food.
Gabriel: Yeah, the khachapuri, that’s an excellent bicycling energy boost.
Julia: Yeah, and they also have kind of a, they call it Georgian Snickers. So they have nuts that they put, like, on a cord and then they put it into juice, into fruit juice. So it is like nuts covered with fruit juice. So it’s really nice. Once I was on the road, I met some people and they also gifted it to me. So it was a really nice snack for the road.
Gabriel: OK, I don’t know about that one. What was this called?
Julia: Oh, wow, I don’t remember that name.
Gabriel: Okay.
Julia: Yeah.
Gabriel: Oh, and then lastly, there’s also those dumplings.
Julia: Yes!
Gabriel: I think there’s some vegetarian versions of them.
Julia: Yes. Khinkali. Oh, yeah, I also love them. Really good.
Gabriel: Also delicious. That trip was also a success. And unfortunately, you couldn’t find any friends to go with. They really missed out on a great experience, I think.
Julia: I have like a very nice friends group back home that I got to know through cycling. Actually, all of them, they would just love to join all the trips. But we are all in very different stages of life. Some have kids. For some, work- wise, it’s not possible to join. They are sometimes, let’s say, apart from my parents, maybe who are like my biggest fans, they’re like really big supporters.
Gabriel: Yeah. You are then from Cologne or from the Cologne region of Germany?
Julia: I lived in Cologne for 14 years in the middle of the city. Yeah.
Gabriel: Did you move there for university or for work?
Julia: Yeah, exactly. For university. So I grew up on a more on the countryside in a region that is called Eifel. It’s close to the Belgium and Dutch border. And after school, I moved to Cologne to study there. My bachelor and master sent some time abroad in Spain and the US. Did some internships when I was outside of Cologne. But basically, since 2011, I lived in Cologne before I started this trip.
Gabriel: Interestingly enough, my wife got her… Whoops, now I don’t know if it’s… I should know this. Was it her bachelor’s or her masters in Cologne? She did one in Flensburg and one in Cologne. But what school was it exactly?
Julia: So it was the University of Cologne and I studied business administration.
Gabriel: I think she studied business administration in Cologne.
Julia: Yeah, nice.
Gabriel: And now it’s not the same in Germany as in the US, but you might be, like, alumni together. That’s a big deal in the US. If you discover someone who went to the same school as you, it’s like, “Whoa!”
Julia: Actually, that happened like two, three days ago when I was on the road and there was a car stopping and it was a guy from the US and I asked him where he’s from. And I always hope that people say, yeah, “I’m from Minneapolis.” And then he was like, “Yeah, I’m not from Minneapolis, but I studied there.” And he studied also at the University of Minnesota, which was really fun, always like these kind of connections.
Gabriel: Yeah. Oh, it’s a big deal. If you say “University of Minnesota,” then, “Go Gophers!”
Julia: Yeah, exactly.
Gabriel: That’s the American way. I mean, people get so excited about it. When you were first looking for a bike, you had to write to so many bike shops because at that time there was an extreme shortage in bicycles during the COVID times. So that’s why. That’s not something you would usually do, but because of the COVID times, you needed to try to find a bike. And what brand of bike did you get in the end?
Julia: So it was a Stevens. Stevens Supreme, which was a really good choice because it did a really good job for everything that I did before this big trip. Yeah, I really enjoyed it.
Gabriel: And that’s the bike you took all around the Alps.
Julia: Yeah, exactly. And also to Georgia. But before the trip, I sold it to a friend of mine, which is really nice to know that it’s in good hands. And he wanted to get also a bit more cycling, so it’s nice that he took it over. But before the trip last year, I built a new bike myself with the support of a good friend and some parts where I needed the bike shop because I wanted to ensure that I have a nice bike for this trip with a good transmission, wide tires and everything. So that’s what also kept me busy last year.
Gabriel: So you picked out a frame and then all of the individual components.
Julia: Yeah, exactly. I definitely wanted to have a steel bike or steel frame. So if something happens to the frame, I can just go to any car or bike shop and they could, like, weld it. Yeah, I want to have like a lot of how do you call it, like the points where you can fix stuff.
Gabriel: Oh, the braze-ons?
Julia: No, like the… how’s it called, like where you can screw in a bolt to fix the bags and stuff.
Gabriel: Yeah, those are called braze-ons.
Julia: Oh, OK.
Gabriel: They used to be called braze-ons because this was an operation that was done after the main frame was completed. You would braze on this little piece that would stick out and it would have a little threaded hole. But yeah, now they’re maybe not brazed on anymore. Certainly not if it’s a carbon frame. That’s not the word you’re familiar with.
Julia: Well, I just didn’t know the word.
Gabriel: Did they call it eyelets?
Julia: Yes, yes, it’s the eyelets. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah. Well, and I learned a new word.
Gabriel: I’d like to clarify this a bit. A braze-on is any fitting that has been permanently attached to the frame, such as water bottle cage mounts, cable guides and stops, and derailleur hangers. Brazing is a process in which two metal items are joined by melting a filler metal into the joint. These days, braze-ons may also be welded, molded or glued into the frame. The specific braze-ons that usually look like small tabs with threaded holes intended for mounting racks and fenders are called eyelets.
Julia: To be honest, it was really exhausting. I was looking for quite a while into the frames and everything. The biking world and the bikepacking world in general are like rabbit holes. And I think you can spend all day looking at videos, reading texts and everything and getting into all the different areas. So it was tough to decide on something. But finally, I found a nice frame from Kona. And then, yeah, the next step was to find, like, all the other components I wanted to have on the bike. And obviously, because it’s very hilly here, a lot of mountains, and I also really enjoy biking through the mountains, I wanted to have a good transmission. So I’m really, really happy with the final result.
Gabriel: Wow, that sounds like fun that you were able to customize your bike. It’s time- consuming, but the end result is worth it, I think.
Julia: Yeah, absolutely. Also because I learned more about the bike itself, right? I mean, before I was, of course, able to change the inner tube and stuff. But it also allows me to learn a lot more about the component itself, maybe how to change stuff and to adjust things. So that was also like an intention behind it, that I get better prepared for the trip itself.
Gabriel: What is your next trip, the South America trip, the big one?
Julia: Yeah, actually, last year I planned to go to Kyrgyzstan with one of my friends from this group. So we wanted to spend three weeks in Kyrgyzstan in the summer. But then we actually had to cancel the trip because I had some back issues and it was not really getting better. And I was really afraid that if we were like super remote in in Kyrgyzstan, that I would screw my back completely because, of course, we were like, I don’t know, three, four days in distance of the next village, not even talking about a hospital. So we in the end canceled this trip and I just did another trip in the Alps. Then I decided to do this trip. And actually, my friend, her name is Anna, that I wanted to go to Kyrgyzstan with, she just booked her flight to Peru. So we’re going to meet each other in Peru for a few weeks. So that is awesome, that instead of Kyrgyzstan, we are now able to spend some time together in Peru, which I’m really looking forward to.
Gabriel: I think in Kyrgyzstan, you’re pretty much remote the moment you leave the three or four cities that the country has to offer.
Julia: Yeah.
Gabriel: Kyrgyzstan didn’t work out, but did you already have your sights set on South America? Or when did that first come up?
Julia: It came up, like already a few years ago, actually, like in 2018. It was a year where I watched the documentation of people going on a motorbike from Alaska down to Patagonia, and I was really impressed by that. And in that year, I also did my motorbike license. So I was like, yeah, I just going to do that maybe one day. Some years passed and I bought the bike. The algorithm put me more into the bikepacking bubble, showing me other people who were doing this trip on a bike. And I was like, maybe I won’t do it on a motorbike, but on a bicycle. And it just kept in my head for a really long time. But I always thought it was a way-too-big thing to do because in some matter, I would say I’m a proper German, so I’m structured. I like to have a plan. I sometimes prefer safety. It’s also something that’s what I love about bikepacking, that it takes me out of these habits, because sometimes it’s nice to have these habits, but not always. And I really enjoy, through bikepacking, to break out of this structure and be more adventurous and don’t know what the day will bring, right? So I was really happy to see on Instagram that there are like some women doing this trip in South America or in other parts of the world. For example, @giant_cheerio, she’s Lara, she’s a German woman. And I was really like, you know, there’s like a potato doing such cool, adventurous stuff. So when she can do it, I could maybe do it as well.
Gabriel: Wait, did you say there’s a potato doing this trip?
Julia: Yeah. I just call the German potatoes.
Gabriel: OK, so Kartoffel.
Julia: Yeah, Kartoffel.
Gabriel: That’s something you made up?
Julia: Yeah, I think so. Yeah, I sometimes call the Germans like that.
Gabriel: OK.
Julia: Because it’s also funny, like all the people here in South America, when I’m always amazed by the variety of fruits and vegetables, they’re like, “OK, what do you grow in Germany?” And the first thing I always say is like, “Yeah, potatoes.”
Gabriel: True.
Julia: So it’s just…
Gabriel: OK, that’s very funny.
Julia: Yeah. So I was really inspired by other women, and I think, yeah, still a lot of couples doing trip like these, but not so many women. So it was really nice to see other strong women doing it. And then in March quote of a Belgium bikepacker and he wrote something like, “OK, the most difficult part is actually to really get out of your comfort zone.” And I was like, yep, this is true. So in end of 2023, I decided that 2025 will be the year where I’m going to do the trip. So I needed to fix like a starting point because otherwise I would probably never do it. So that’s, yeah, actually the timing where I told myself, OK, I’m going to do it. The first thing that I did, in December 2023, was to talk to my parents about this because I wanted to have, let’s say, their kind of approval because although my parents are my biggest fans, especially my mother’s afraid when I’m going on this trip. I’m alone. I’m a woman. You’re just exposed to different dangers than when you’re traveling as a man. I think we don’t need to hide this information. I wanted to hear them say it’s OK that you do this trip and not that they would scream like, “Yeah, go for it! Do it!” But more that I have like the approval that they are okay with it. And I did that actually really as a first thing before I told anyone else. And also with the idea behind it that they had enough time to get used to this thought that I will go on this trip. So they had also some time for preparation. And then slowly 2024 was continuing. And definitely the first thing that made it like really, really clear that I’m going on this trip is when I quit my job in June, which was crazy.
Gabriel: Why was it crazy?
Julia: Because it was the first job after university, or the first company I worked for. And to leave a safe environment, so, knowing that you get a salary each month, you have your structure and everything. And it also was crazy because I was like, OK, I just quit my job. So this was the really like a starting point that I will go on this trip. I mean, of course, I didn’t book my flight yet, but it was really like, OK, I’m doing things to make this really happen. And this was super, super powerful, but also scary.
Gabriel: Yeah, it just got real when you quit your job.
Julia: Yeah. At work, the first thing they said was, “I mean, it’s super sad that you’re leaving, but this is amazing. You will love it. We are proud of you.” It’s just so much nicer to go all through these hard things of leaving or preparing and sacrificing things, and people are supporting you, than if they would say,”Ah, yeah, you will be back in two weeks.” Right? I think I would still have done it, but it was just way nicer of people supporting me all along the way. I had a good and responsible job. I had a good reputation in the company. So it would have been easy to just stay in the comfort zone, right? But it was a good timing to also leave the company. Yeah, it was maybe destiny.
Gabriel: Yeah.
Julia: And then in September, my flat followed. So there was just like a three-months notice. But that was also a really hard part because I really, really loved my flat in Cologne and to give up your home. It was really a lot. Like, I sacrificed a lot last year to get started on this trip. And of course, saying goodbye to family and friends is also a very, very hard part.
Gabriel: So step One, you quit your job. Step Two, you quit your flat. I guess Step Three, this was the time when you were picking out your bicycle frame and components, gathering all of your equipment, planning your route. And where did you fix as the starting point?
Julia: Well, maybe to add, I think the Step Zero was actually really starting with the frame. Like I really started in January last year to think about the bike. And it took me quite some time to find the frame that I wanted. So I started the bike project in January. And I think I finished it in November.
Gabriel: Oh, wow.
Julia: Yeah, it was quite intense.
Gabriel: Yeah, that’s a longer time span than most for getting a bicycle together. But it shows just how devoted you were to the process.
Julia: Yeah, definitely. Yeah. And then to the question, I started in Cartagena in Colombia. The idea behind it was a bit to go from the northern parts of South America to the southern one in Colombia. There’s actually a point that’s more northern, but we don’t need to be that exact.
Gabriel: No.
Julia: And I was in Colombia in 2017 already with my backpack, being there for like a few weeks. And I also have been to Cartagena. And I think it was just a nice idea when you start an adventure like this to have, like, maybe a point where you have been before, you feel maybe comfortable. And I didn’t want to start in a big city like Bogotá, because the traffic is insane. So I was quite confident or happy with the selection of Cartagena, because it was also warm and sunny. So it was a nice place to get started. The first part of the first route that I had in my mind was the “Oh Boyacá!” route in the Departamento de Santander and Boyacá, which is also from bikepacking.com. The way from Cartagena to the starting point was just like any route that I took. It was not very adventurous yet. The “Oh Boyacá!” route was really amazing. The landscape was just completely different to everything that I knew before of Colombia. And it was so nice to experience the country by bike, discover it by the bike, get to know the locals. So there are not so many tourists around. I would say like the small villages I passed, they haven’t seen that much tourists, maybe just apart from other bikepackers that are doing this route. I was just going through the mountains. Colombia is so green, it was incredible. Also seeing the first time in my life these frailejones, which are plants that grew in altitude more than three and a half thousand meters. And they’re like very important for the ecosystem in Colombia because they have like very fluffy leaves and they save the water from the air, from the clouds, from the fog and distribute it to the roots. They were just amazing. If you look on the ocean of frailejones in such high altitude, it was amazing. So I really, really enjoyed this route.
Gabriel: And it was your choice of that route that led you to meet Yann.
Julia: Yeah, absolutely. It was on that route.
Gabriel: Yann has set Ushuaia as his destination, like so many others. Are you also in that camp?
Julia: Yes, I also want to go south.
Gabriel: Alright!
Julia: To fin del mundo. I finished the “Oh Boyacá!” route. It was really nice to complete this route, because it was a lot of elevation and it felt like kind of an approval that I would be ready for the rest of the Andes in the other countries. And then I went to the coffee region and unfortunately things changed in the coffee region because… so I got a food poisoning and recovered in Salento. It was all fine. I met with a friend, Laura. She’s also a bike packer from England. We actually also met through this WhatsApp group. We met up in Salento and I was leaving after I recovered from the food poisoning. And it was a very beautiful day. I was very happy to be back on the bike. And I was going up in the mountain and I wanted to buy a bottle of water in the shop. And I was attacked by three dogs, very, very badly and that disrupted my trip for two months.
Gabriel: That sounds absolutely horrific. What happened exactly?
Julia: So I was just entering the property. I saw that they were selling water, coffee and everything. And I just entered that property and I left my bike at a small wooden house. I was walking a few meters and saw that they were laying three dogs under the veranda. Just chilling there. That’s why I said very loud and clearly, “Hola.” So someone knows that I’m coming and with the word hola, the three dogs were just running towards me and directly attacked me, which was really a terrible situation. And I was more than two months on the bike before and I had a lot of dog encounters. But none of them has been like this. I mean, the dogs chase you, they bark at you, but they stop and give you a chance to react. But of course, I didn’t expect anything like this, right? They were just running towards me and directly bit me. Then the owners came out, because I was obviously, I was screaming and we called the ambulance.
Gabriel: How did the owners react when they saw what had happened?
Julia: They were actually really, really shocked. They told me that nothing like this happened before and they are a shop, right? So they should expect people to come there and buy stuff. You could tell that they were also scared when they saw the wound, because we didn’t have any signal up in the mountain. So they were running around there trying to find signal to call the ambulance. And then we were waiting together like 50 minutes for the ambulance to arrive. And they were asking me questions all the time, like, what is my name? Where I’m from? You know, they wanted to ensure that I stay conscious. Yeah. And then they waited with me. Then I was picked up by the ambulance.
Gabriel: Did they bandage your wound or clean your wound?
Julia: Yeah, I wanted to take some water of my bottle because I know it was clean water. So I just, we used my water bottle to clean the wound. Now it’s quite funny to laugh about it, but they just, yeah, run out of the house, had a box in their hands with like medical stuff. And it was actually like a female pad that you put on the wound, because they because they didn’t have anything else to cover.
Gabriel: Oh, my gosh.
Julia: In that moment, I was just like, “OK, put on the wound, whatever you have, I don’t care, to stop it like bleeding.”
Gabriel: Sure. Yeah.
Julia: It was fine for the moment. The time waiting for the ambulance, it just felt like forever. It was really terrible.
Gabriel: In what town did this happen?
Julia: It was in Salento.
Gabriel: So where you had just recovered from the food poisoning?
Julia: Yeah, exactly.
Gabriel: Oh, gosh.
Julia: Yeah, it was so sad because it was the 24th of March. It was the birthday of my father and my brother. And in the morning I called my father to say happy birthday and I didn’t reach my brother and I wrote him or make it like a small message. I was like, “I’m going to call you later again. I’m going on the route to Alto de la Línea.” And my brother was in Colombia with his motorbike in 2019, I think. And he recommended me this route and he just wrote me back like, “Oh, no, don’t call me. Just enjoy the day. Just enjoy this beautiful route.” Because after you do the summit, you have, like, this amazing valley of palm trees similar to the Cocora Valley, but just even more beautiful. So I was so excited for the day. And then I had to write him in the evening that the day went different than I expected.
Gabriel: And were you taken to a hospital in Salento?
Julia: Yeah, exactly. So Salento had a really small hospital and they brought me there. And then I had like six wounds in total. So the dogs bit me on my arm, on the left arm, and on both legs. But the left leg was really very bad. Like when I looked at my calf, I was like, OK, the trip is over, because it was basically open. I could see the grease and everything. It was bleeding so bad. They let me go after they cleaned the wound and stitched it. So I was really just in the hospital for like, let’s say one or two hours. And they cleaned it. And then they were like, “Yeah, you can just go and walk normal.” And luckily I have some friends back home who are doctors. And one of them is Claudia. I mean, I’m still in contact with her like every day because I’m sending her pictures of the wound and the scar every day to see how it’s going. And she was just like, “You won’t be working for the next two to three weeks. Please organize some crutches and get some injections for thrombosis.” So I was really, really happy that I had my friend back home who was supporting me in that matter.
Gabriel: I’m not a doctor, but based on what you described, I don’t think I would recommend somebody just, OK, start walking or even get on your bike and go. It just doesn’t seem like a good thing to do at that point.
Julia: Yeah, I mean, they even had to stitch the muscles, right? It was so deep that they had to stitch the muscles and were just like, “Yeah, you can just walk, go ahead.” And I’m like, “No!” It’s really crazy. So I was really lucky to have the support from back home.
Gabriel: Yeah, great.
Julia: Yeah, I was walking on crutches for like four weeks, couldn’t walk. And I was very, very lucky. Laura, I mentioned earlier, we met in Salento and she was supposed to take off the day after me, so on Tuesday. And I just wrote her that I was bitten by dogs very badly. And she also came to the hospital and she supported me in the following days in a way that is incredible. Like, I still have no words for that. Like, she stayed with me, although she has her own adventure waiting outside of the hostel. She stayed with me, organized medicine, cooked for me because, of course, I couldn’t walk very well on the crutches. And she even stayed longer with me to go to the hostel to spend my birthday with me. That was also during that time.
Gabriel: Oh, no, your own birthday. Your friend, Laura, paused her trip to take care of you?
Julia: Yeah, so she stayed for like nine days with me, let’s say until to a point where she had a good feeling to leave me alone because obviously not only the wound itself was very bad, but also I felt very bad. I was afraid of dogs. It belongs to my top three nightmares of the trip here in South America. But I did not expect that something like this would happen. You know, I thought they would maybe chase me or bite me like a bit, but I didn’t expect them to eat my calf. Oh, it was just really a really tough time. I’m forever grateful that Laura stayed with me and supported me. We just cried and laughed together. And it really, really made the first days bearable for me to not be alone. I stayed like four and a half weeks in the same hostel in Salento and the stuff was amazing. I met really amazing people and they also cared a lot about me and supported me a lot. But of course, Laura was very special because she was a friend to me. And it’s just different when you have someone that you’re closer with. And it also made our friendship grow to a next level. I mean, we have met before that, only like two or three times. And it is incredible what she did for me. And I’m very thankful for Laura and what she did.
Gabriel: For sure, she was your guardian angel for that period of time.
Julia: Yeah, absolutely.
Gabriel: That definitely delayed your plans for a good while. And then finally, you felt comfortable. You tried to ride the bike and you rehabbed a little bit. Is that how it went?
Julia: Unfortunately, not. Like, I had to wait in total eight weeks until I could get back on the bike. So I left Salento after four-and-a-half weeks when I was able to walk, but not like walk normal. You could still see that I had some issue with the leg. So I took a bus from Salento down to the border of Colombia to Ipiales, where I also met a Colombian woman that I met actually before on the road, which was really nice to catch up with her. And then I took a taxi and a colectivo and a bus again and arrived in Ecuador, spent some time at Otavalo, which was a really nice first stop because it’s a village where there’s a big population of indigenous people. And then I took another bus to Quito, where I again met Laura. And we spent a week together in Quito. And in total, I stayed two-and-a- half weeks in Quito. And ten days ago, I was able to get back on the bike because it took a really, really long time until the big two wounds on the left leg were closed. And I wanted this to happen before I get back on the bike, because it still requires some cleaning and care, let’s say. So I just wanted to be sure that when I leave with a bike that I can be without any worries about the wound. Yeah. And now I’m back on the bike for ten days.
Gabriel: And how does it feel when you’re pedaling?
Julia: I’m very, very happy that I don’t feel much when I’m pedaling. So since the scar is almost ready, I don’t feel like any pain or anything. Of course, I can feel that I have like two very big scars on the calf, on the back. But what I feel more is that my physical condition is very poor.
Gabriel: Oh, well, yeah.
Julia: After eight, nine weeks of break. But yeah, I’m very happy that I can just continue to ride the bike, almost the same way as I did before. So I’m very, very happy about this. I definitely don’t take it for granted, you know, when I remember that eight weeks ago, I was still walking on crutches and it was very intense.
Gabriel: At some level, I guess the scars are permanent. That’s a tattoo of sorts that you have now.
Julia: Yeah, I thought about getting a tattoo. I mean, I don’t have anybody, you know, I thought about when I’m doing this crazy adventure for like a year or something that I might get a memory of this. So I thought of a tattoo. But now, as I have already six unwanted memories of Colombia, I think I’m fine.
Gabriel: I wish you strength in the future when you encounter some other dogs that are barking. And I hope you can just get through those situations without any trouble, because it has to be some kind of PTSD or something, you know.
Julia: Yeah, so now that I’m back on the bike for a few days, I can tell that, of course, I’m even more worried about dogs than before. So I was already before very, very cautious, because in 2022, I was bitten by a dog in Bolivia while I was on a hiking trip. It was really nothing bad, like nothing compared to this now. But, you know, I would rather not cuddle a dog or pet it because I was like, no, I know what could happen. So I was already very cautious before. And you never know what the dogs will do here in South America. They are just laying next to the road and they are chilling. And the next moment, they are just like standing up and barking. Just before I arrived in Cuenca, I had such a situation where I saw I was going up a mountain on the Panamericana and it looked like a small factory. And I was like, oh, yeah, there are probably no dogs or I didn’t see any around. So I’m already screening quite a lot for dogs now on the road. And then I was almost past this factory and out of the sudden, like two dogs were just jumping out of the bushes and they were so aggressive, like even more aggressive than all the other dogs. And I just stepped off the bike. You know, the things that I always do, step off the bike, take the bike as a limitation between you and the dog. But he was very, very aggressive. Luckily, the owners came and the dog went away. The next moment, I was just crying really bad and trying to calm down myself, with like a technique someone also from back home told me, you know, like tap your shoulders with the opposite hand. And I was just standing there on the highway and crying. It is just really intense when the dogs are approaching me in that way, because I obviously have the picture of the attack back in Salento then in my mind. I mean, I really don’t want to have like any trauma from this, because I want to continue the trip. But I can tell that my body still needs a bit of time to get used to all the dogs.
Gabriel: Yeah. It’s brave of you to continue, and I think it’s great that you’re doing it.
Julia: Yeah.
Gabriel: I can completely understand. It’s a whole new level of intensity, with that flashing back in your mind.
Julia: Yeah.
Gabriel: I wish I could say, well, you’ll soon be leaving the dog region, but unfortunately…
Julia: No, I even heard that Peru is worse.
Gabriel: Oh, gosh.
Julia: But let’s see.
Gabriel: That is an intense story. And how did your poor mother react? Did you downplay it with her? Some of the guests kind of downplay the situation with the parents.
Julia: Well, I mean, it was still the birthday of my father. So I called them and told them that I was bitten by the dogs. And of course, they were completely freaking out. I mean, I was like three months in, in the journey, and you could really tell how it chilled my mother was getting. So it was amazing. Also because she was following other travelers on Polarsteps that I met before. So it was really nice. So she could see other travelers, other stories, what their experiencing. And not only like, what? My daughter is going alone on such a crazy adventure, but seeing that other people are doing it as well, helped her to calm down and be like really relaxed. Obviously, when I told her about this and I sent them the pictures of the wounds…
Gabriel: Oh, no, no. You sent photos?
Julia: Yeah.
Gabriel: I said downplay it, Julia.
Julia: No, no, no, no. No, I couldn’t. Honestly, I couldn’t. And like I tell my parents everything.
Gabriel: Alright.
Julia: I could have not hide it from them. So after two, three days, they had some time to let it sink in. And I sent them the pictures. They were completely worried. It was insane. Also because in the beginning there was a really high risk of infection, because these kind of dog or animal bites, dogs don’t have the cleanest mouth. We were just not sure if the medical care was the best there, so they were really scared. And I would say, since I’m back on the bike, they are relaxed again. So it took them also some time to get used to the situation and deal with it and also deal with the feeling of being powerless, because obviously they couldn’t do anything for me while I was waiting in Salento. I just really had to wait.
Gabriel: Infection is one thing, but rabies is also a concern, isn’t it?
Julia: Yes, but luckily because it were domestic dogs, they had the vaccination. So when the ambulance came, the owners already had the three papers of the dogs for the proof of vaccination, already at hand. And also the owner of the hostal where I stayed, he told me that there is like no rabies in Salento. That’s why it was at least one topic less that we would have to worry about.
Gabriel: Oh, it’s good that they had the proof of vaccination and all of that.
Julia: Yeah, absolutely.
Gabriel: Oh. Alright. Well, I think we’ve covered the bite story. So we definitely want to move on to something more cheerful.
Julia: Yeah.
Gabriel: What’s something you can tell about these ten days? You mentioned you went to Cotopaxi.
Julia: Yeah, well, I’m really grateful that I could see actually Cotopaxi in the morning because I was camping there and it was covered in clouds. And then the owner told me, no, no, you just need to go up to the laguna and then you will see it. And I already accepted it, that nature didn’t provide as I expected to. But then when I was going up, it was a really, really beautiful moment for me to be back on the bike and have this view of the Cotopaxi, because obviously it was something that I wanted to see and that I waited for before I got back on the bike. But yeah, also when I was going through the small villages, I pitched my tent in a small place and the next morning there was a bakery and I was chatting with the women and she was like, “Are you going to leave?” I’m like, “Yeah, I’m just leaving soon.” And then she just came back and handed me back with like two breads and two bananas, which was just like a so nice reminder of the hospitality and yeah, the friendship of the people, which is something that makes such a backpacking trip really special. That was just so nice to leave that small place with this gift of the woman.
Gabriel: Great.
Julia: I just have like a few hundred kilometers left till the border to Peru. Krenka is actually a really, really nice city. It feels safer than Quito. It has also like really old, beautiful houses, museums and the mountains around it. I really enjoy taking here some rest days and also treat myself with it before it gets back on the road and probably gets a bit more remote or you just get through more small villages, you know, where you probably not have the best selection of food and everything. I also met Laura again for one evening before she set off.
Gabriel: OK, so Laura is also more or less following the same route down into Peru?
Julia: Yes. So her aim is also to get down to Patagonia. I’m very sure that our paths will cross more times in the future.
Gabriel: Oh, yeah, for sure. When you go to Peru, are you going to go in the coast or also in the Andes?
Julia: Definitely the Andes. So the Peru Divide and yeah, the mountains of Peru, I’m just so much looking forward to. It was actually something that kept me really motivated during my time where I had to wait to be back on the bike, because I knew that there are like so many beautiful landscapes and adventures are still waiting for me. I’m super, super excited for the mountains of Peru.
Gabriel: Will you try to make it to Machu Picchu?
Julia: Let’s see what the time is saying in the end. In Arequipa, like around that area, there are also some really nice routes that I would love to take. You know, Laura once said, I mean, I know that I already missed out quite a lot because I had to wait such a long time, but she made this nice comparison to a festival and she was like, “The trip is like a festival. And there are so many artists that you want to see, but you cannot do it all at the same time. So you have to choose.” That’s actually really nice because when I’m like struggling or getting FOMO or something, I’m just like, yeah, it’s the festival. You cannot see it all. And I know that I will be back in Colombia and Ecuador. Also with the bike and the same probably accounts for Peru because it’s it’s amazing, the options that you have there, not only for biking, right, but also for hiking, which I’m also a very big fan of.
Gabriel: Oh, yeah. And of course, Patagonia offers a lot as well. You can’t see all of that either.
Julia: Yeah, exactly.
Gabriel: I look forward to hearing about your further adventures.
Julia: Yeah.
Gabriel: I like the festival analogy. And yet there are still some people who maybe don’t even dare to buy a ticket to the festival. So what advice would you give to someone who wanted to get into it, but maybe was having doubts?
Julia: I would just love to encourage, especially women, to go on bikepacking trips and start their adventure. I found it very interesting when I was in Salento, I met two men that were like, “Oh, I also want to do such a trip, but I was not sure if I would be able to.” And I found it, yeah, like very nice and honest that they were saying their doubts with me. But I also know that there are like a lot of women out there who are afraid to do such a trip. But the amazing experiences and moments that I experience on this trip, they absolutely outweigh any negative things that are happening. So I just really hope that maybe also with the podcast itself, maybe it’s just one woman who would say, “Yeah, now I would more like to go on a trip like that.” So I think this is something that I’m always trying to support. And also if there’s like anyone who wants to reach out or has any questions or something, I’m just always very happy to support anyone to get started in a bikepacking adventure.
Gabriel: That’s great. And what is your Instagram?
Julia: My Instagram is @graveljeater, so it’s “gravel” and then “j” and “eater.” Eater is the English version of my last name, Esser. And it’s so good because I also, you know, when you’re off the bike, I really love to treat myself with like a slice of cake. So that’s why it fits very well, with the eater. Back when I was a child, actually, I was bullied quite a lot for that name. But now I’m really happy that this is a good combination of loving cake and my last name.
Gabriel: Well, I hadn’t even made that connection, to be honest. But yeah, it makes sense. You’ve embraced it in your Instagram.
Julia: Yes.
Sandra: The transcript for this episode is available on The Accidental Bicycle Tourist website. I welcome feedback and suggestions for this and other episodes. You’ll find a link to all contact information in the show notes. If you would like to rate or review the show, you can do that on your favorite podcast platform. You can also follow the podcast on Instagram. Thank you to Anna Lindenmeier for the cover artwork and to Timothy Shortell for the original music. This podcast would not be possible without continuous support from my wife, Sandra. And thank you so much for listening. I hope the episode will inspire you to get out and see where the road leads you.
Julia: You’re going to send it to me before you release it or you just release it?
Gabriel: Oh, I can. That’s the German side, right?
Julia: Yeah.
Show Notes
Julia is very happy to support anyone looking to get started on a bikepacking adventure. Her Instagram is @graveljeater.