Traveler’s Journal Preview: Cycling around the world with children

Geared up with two tents, six panniers, two tandem bicycles and one stuffed pink pig, Paula and Lorenz Eber set off from Seattle to cycle the world with their two daughters, 11-year old Yvonne and her 13-year-old sister Anya.

Their dream: to pedal in a complete circle around the world. Their goal: to raise awareness of asthma … a disease that Paula has suffered from her entire life.

On March 30, the Ebers will give a talk and slide show at the Traveler’s Journal series about the exciting, hilarious and inspiring story of their adventures cycling and camping across four continents and 24 countries for asthma.

Guests will follow the Ebers through Europe, Asia, the South Pacific and North America as the Ebers raise their daughters internationally.

School is conducted outdoors on mountaintops. Dinnertime consists of strange foreign foods cooked on a simple backcountry stove in a meadow. The responsibilities of parenting have been expanded to include hunting for a copy of the latest Harry Potter book in English.

And family togetherness takes on a new meaning as the Ebers must work together to survive a 100-degree heat wave in Italy, drug smugglers in Russia, a broken foot in New Zealand and a tornado in the U.S.

During their 16-month journey, the Eber family pedaled 14,931 kilometers (9,332 miles) from Greece to England to Russia to Japan, to Australia and across the U.S. to Washington D.C.

Sponsored by six major outdoor companies and hundreds of individual donors, they raised $65,000 for the disease that almost killed Paula as a child.

The family spoke about clean air and asthma to more than 150 newspapers, magazines and TV stations, including features in Time for Kids, NPR and PBS’s “Road Trip Nation.”

Their book, “Breathtaking: How one family cycled around the world for clean air and asthma,” was recently published by Falcon Guides in the summer of 2022.

The Ebers are the only family on record to complete a full circumnavigation of the world by bicycle.

About the presenters

Paula Holmes-Eber is an anthropologist, a University of Washington professor and the author of seven books. She has published dozens of articles about cycling and adventuring as a family, including frequent contributions to Adventure Cyclist and the League of American Bicyclists Magazine. She is director of Bike for Breath (bike4breath.com), whose purpose is to inspire people to travel by bicycle, promoting clean air and a healthy environment so that all of us can breathe.

Lorenz Eber is an aeronautical and civil engineer who has worked for Boeing, Amazon and the U.S. Navy. In addition to his passion for cycling, he is a private pilot, a sailor and a photographer. His photographs have appeared in numerous books and magazines, including Time and on the cover of Adventure Cyclist.

About the series

Traveler’s Journal, a presentation of the Peninsula Trails Coalition, raises funds to buy project supplies and food for volunteers working on Olympic Discovery Trail projects. Shows start at 7 p.m. at the Dungeness River Nature Center, 1943 W. Hendrickson Road.

Admission is a suggested donation is $5 for adults. Attendees are encouraged, but not required, to wear mask.

For more information, email Arvo Johnson at amjcgj@gmail.com.

2023 Traveler’s Journal Series

When: 7 p.m., Thursday, March 30 (door opens at 6:30 p.m.)

Presenter: Paula and Lorenz Eber

Presentation: “Cycling around the world with children: A family pedals across four continents and 24 countries for asthma”

Where: Dungeness River Nature Center, 1943 W. Hendrickson Road

Cost: Suggested $5 donation (adults)