Fang Wild An – Julia’s Journey on a Bullitt
One of the many perks of hanging around our flagship store in Copenhagen is that you never know who might roll up on a Bullitt. Recently, Hans spotted someone outside with a wild-looking setup. That someone was Julia – and her co-pilot Yuki, her four-year-old dog-companion.
The next day Julia came back for lunch at the shop, and we got to hear her story. If there’s one thing to take away from our conversation, it’s the same message as her German Instagram handle: Fang Wild An.
In English: “Start wildly”, or perhaps “Start without inhibitions”. Don’t overthink, just begin.
Wanderlust
Julia knew that she wanted to get out there, and had known for a long time. She knew it was either going to be on foot or by bike and had put her studies on pause to start working to save for the trip. She first decided to do a long hike all the way from the North to the South of Germany, but as she says, “I structure everything around Yuki”, and although Yuki is a strong energetic Husky in his best age, the hike was too much for him and had to be cancelled after only a few days on the road.
“The evening of my return from the hike, I was in bed crying, I had €3000 saved up for this, and I still had to get out there. I went online and just looked at what Bullitts were for sale. And then I found one. It was close by - a two hour train ride and exactly within my budget. I wrote to them at 1 AM - and two days later I was on the train to see the bike, and the day after I picked it up, and then we started training and saving for the trip”.
The Road North
Julia set out from Münster on 13th May with Yuki up front in her second-hand Bullitt. No grand plan, no fixed endpoint. Just the simple rhythm of life on the road: waking, cycling, sleeping. “Where do we eat? Where do we get water? Where do we sleep?” That structure became her everyday. “The structure of the adventure has been all I’ve been thinking about. You have a goal - go to point B, and that's all - it’s freeing.”
The route took her from Germany through Denmark on the Hærvejen trail, across Sweden, into Finland and almost into Norway. She turned around in Utsjoki at the very top of Finland, partly because of vet requirements, partly because, as she put it: “It’s not about a fixed endpoint for me. It’s the journey.”
Lapland and the far north left strong impressions – mountains, endless light in summer, and unfortunately, countless mosquitoes. “In Finland, I started cooking while dancing around fighting bugs, then strapped my dinner bowl to the handlebars and ate while cycling,” she laughed.
Life on the Bullitt
For Yuki, the Bullitt became home. Sometimes he hopped out to walk, but often he insisted on riding all day. “We even did 60 km in a row without him wanting to get off. He loves the bike. I didn’t expect that.”
Julia’s Bullitt itself is a story: bought second-hand late one night after a failed hiking attempt, and now fitted with a homemade box made from an old family trailer that once carried her as a child. Now it carries Yuki. “It’s scrappy and not perfect, but I love it. I wanted to use what I had instead of buying new.”
That philosophy runs through her whole setup – scavenged bags from her dad, gear sewn by hand and shop leftovers from her old job.
“Just go. If something breaks, fix it, or replace it. If you don’t need something, get rid of it. Every trip, the setup gets better. You don’t need the perfect gear to start.”
And the same goes for the trip itself:
“I don't need an end goal, I never wanted that - I don't need a goal to have a nice time. It's the journey” as they say “Not some fancy endpoint. I wanted to cycle north until half of my money was gone and then turn around. Sometimes we make 40 km. in a day, sometimes 90 km. Sometimes we follow road signs, sometimes I use my phone.”
Coming Back, Looking Ahead
After more than 140 days on the road and thousands of kilometers, Julia is slowly making her way back south. She admits she feels a little melancholic about the journey ending – but also knows it’s not her last.
Next steps? Maybe finishing her bachelor’s degree. Maybe starting a new one. Definitely more cycling with Yuki. “Reality has to come back sometime, but not yet. We’ll have many more tours.”
Start Wildly
Julia’s story is one of improvisation, resilience, and just doing it. She didn’t wait for the perfect moment or the perfect setup. She just started. A second-hand Bullitt, a desire to see the world and an idea.
And that’s the lesson she left us with: fang wild an – start wildly, without hesitation. “The rest you’ll figure out on the road,” as Julia says.
Follow Julia and Yuki’s adventures.
