Around the world in 8 'amazing' years — B.C. man's journey without a plane, train or automobile

Over the last eight years Markus Pukonen has been circumnavigating the globe, a trip of more than 73,000 kilometres, made without a plane, train or automobile. He didn't even ride an elevator.

Pukonen, from Tofino, B.C., left Toronto in a canoe in July of 2015. He returned to Canada on July 2, 2023 on a bicycle, crossing the United States border at Niagara Falls.

He described the entire journey as "amazing" and "unbelievable."

Over the years the 40-year-old says he hand-cycled, tricycled, skied, kayaked, SUPed (a stand up paddleboard), bicycled, sailed, and walked his way first around Canada and then the planet.

He's been everywhere. He's breathed the mountain air.

"I sailed across the Pacific Ocean, bicycled through Southeast Asia, and sailed on a number of different boats for a number of years. Eventually, I got stuck in [Rishikesh in the north of India] during the pandemic," he said.

"So, I actually got stuck in a community that was much more social than I was expecting during the COVID times. And it was actually a very lovely, peaceful, spiritual-oriented community where a lot of people go to do their yoga-teacher training."

Around the world in 8 'amazing' years — B.C. man's journey without a plane, train or automobile

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On Wednesday morning Markus Pukonen embarked on the final leg of his eight-year journey around the world without the use of a motorized vehicle. He's kayaking from Saint Catharines to Toronto.

When the first lockdown lifted after eight months in that town, Pukonen bicycled through India. He said he bought a 27-foot sailboat in the south of India and then sailed across the Indian Ocean to the Seychelles and then Africa. 

"I sailed around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, across the South Atlantic Ocean into the Caribbean and then to Florida where I got off the sailboat and then I started paddleboarding up the coast and eventually got on the Appalachian Trail for 1,000 miles."

'It was pretty emotional crossing the border'

Pukonen said "it was pretty emotional crossing the border" at Niagara Falls two days ago.

"I was not expecting it at all, but I started choking up and, like, shaking at the customs booth," he said.

He said when he told the customs official what he had been doing for the last eight years, the officer did not believe him.

"He looked at me [and] it's like, 'Oh, really? Sure. OK, that's what you've been doing?'" Pukonen said. 

After he was granted entry, Pukonen "cycled around the corner next to the Niagara Falls and just started crying my eyes out."

He said he wasn't expecting to feel this way, crossing the border into Canada. "It felt pretty special to get  back into the home country and, you know, a day after Canada Day too."

Pukonen said coming to terms with his own impact on the environment was one of the things that led him to embark on the journey.

"Previous to the journey I had travelled quite a bit through Latin America, a little bit in Africa, and I had seen how my life and what I was purchasing and what I was doing in Canada was affecting people and places around the planet," Pukonen told CBC Hamilton.

'Incredibly proud of my brother'

Pukonen's sister, Tamsin Pukonen, told CBC Hamilton she's impressed by his feat.

"I am incredibly proud of my brother for making and sticking to such a massive goal. I guess at the beginning, I knew he could do it, but now I can't believe he actually did it. He is living a truly amazing life and I can't wait to see what he does next. He will probably sleep for a few months," she said.

"Throughout this eight-year motorless journey, his integrity to the mission has impressed me the most, makes me wonder if he will ever use a motor for transportation again. It feels like more of a lifestyle for him now than a mission."

'Many challenging moments'

Pukonen said there were "many challenging moments" along the journey, with one of the most challenging being skiing across British Columbia in the middle of winter. 

"I had to dig out snow from under a tree, light a fire, cook on the fire, slept in a little bivvy sack, which is like a waterproof sleeping bag, and it was very challenging surviving in the freezing cold weather. I said I'd never do that again," he said.

"One of the most consistent long-term challenges that I faced was just surviving on the roads around the planet, but more specifically in Asia, where the pollution and the dust on the roads is so intense and you're breathing in black exhaust from cars and they're blaring their horns in your ear every time you go by."

Considered quitting and giving up

There was only one brief moment in the entire journey where Pukonen said he actually considered quitting and giving up. It was during the sail from India to the Seychelles. 

"It was only supposed to be a 15-day sail … but I left a bit out of season, so I had very little wind and after 30 days I got hit by a storm. The waves got big. It was at night … and my boat started making all these noises that I'd never heard before, water started leaking in and I was still quite a ways away from land where my girlfriend was waiting for me on an island," he said.

"I was exhausted, and so it was the first time of the journey where I was like if I could hit the escape button ... and called it quits.

"The weather passed and 12 to 24 hours later I was happily sailing toward the island and I had forgotten how afraid I was in that moment."

Pukonen said the main message he wanted to send is that there's no change that is impossible, and the greatest challenges facing the human species right now — climate change — can be overcome.

"As long as we take a step in the right direction, I believe we all have the power to make very large changes in the world around us and everything we do has a much bigger effect than I think we appreciate," he said.

Final leg begins Wednesday

Pukonen embarked on the final leg of his eight-year journey Wednesday morning — kayaking from St. Catharines across the lake with his friend, Rayne, who started the journey with him in the canoe in 2015.

"It's going to be a long all-day paddle, a bit of a suffer fest to almost end the journey. I'm gonna kayak into the west side of Toronto and then have a day or two to rest," he said.

Pukonen has invited family members, friends and anyone in the area who wants to join to walk with him through the city Saturday. 

"I'll be walking from basically the Humber Bay Arch Bridge to The Beaches down at the Balmy Beach Club where there's a party to celebrate the end of the journey," he said.