Few people have traveled the world as extensively as Heinz Stücke. The German adventurer spent nearly five decades cycling across the globe, covering more than 600,000 kilometers and visiting almost every country on Earth. What began as a short trip in the 1960s turned into a lifelong journey fueled by curiosity, resilience, and a passion for slow travel. His remarkable story later reached a wider audience through the documentary The Man Who Wanted to See It All, which follows his extraordinary life on the road.
Curated by The Landmark
An Interview with Heinz Stücke, The Man Who Wanted to See it All
This is an edited version of the original interview.
For the complete version head to the Source: Travelling Two
TravellingTwo: You’ve spent nearly 50 years traveling by bicycle. Has the way you travel changed over the years?
Heinz Stücke: Yes, very much. Nowadays I enjoy the rhythm of traveling more than anything. I camp sauvage—wild camping—and at the end of the day I look for a quiet place to set up my tent. I cook, read, listen to the radio. It’s a rhythm that suits me better as I get older.
In the early days I wanted to reach cities. I wanted to go out in the evening, drink, go to bars, meet people. Now it’s different. My priority is to travel slowly. On the bike I don’t rush. I stop all the time to take photographs and look around. When I ride somewhere I’ve never been, I feel like I’m searching for little treasures along the way.
That’s very different from daily life where people wake up and work the same job every day. On the bicycle, you take your time.
“On the bike, I don’t rush. I stop all the time and take photographs… I’m always looking for little treasures along the way.”
TravellingTwo: You’ve traveled in so many countries. When you look back, are there places that stand out as favorites?
Heinz Stücke: Every country has something special. Sometimes it’s the food, sometimes the people, sometimes it’s simply that things work well and life is easy for a traveler.
In the beginning I was only interested in exotic places. Western countries didn’t interest me much unless they were far away like New Zealand. Later, after many years on the road, I decided to make it my goal to visit every country in the world. Having a goal makes traveling more meaningful.
Usually I spend several months in a country, long enough to get a feeling for the place—taste the food, see the sights, meet people—and then it’s time to move on.
TravellingTwo: After so many years on the road, have you ever felt tired of traveling or thought about settling down?
Heinz Stücke: No. This is my life. I decided long ago that this is what I want to do. If I had stopped and gone back to normal life, maybe working in a factory again, it would have been very difficult to start traveling again.
Many people feel pressure to settle down, start a family, follow a normal career. But I found my own Shangri-La. As long as I have new plans and new places to see, there’s no reason to stop.
“Once you decide what you want to do with your life, you keep going. I found my Shangri-La.”
TravellingTwo: Surely there must be difficult days on the road when you question it?
Heinz Stücke: Of course everyone has difficult days. But once you’ve decided that this is what you want to do with your life, it becomes easier. In modern society many people do jobs they don’t really enjoy just to earn money. That can be very depressing. But when someone finds the thing they truly want to do—whether it’s music, painting, or traveling—they are lucky. That’s what happened to me.
I like my job.
TravellingTwo: Do you still have plans for the future?
Heinz Stücke: Always. As long as my legs hold out and there are new places to go, I will keep traveling. No matter how long you travel, there are always new places to discover. That’s the beauty of it.
