What do you need to go on an adventure? Some say a pair of legs, some choose motor vehicles, but Nicolás Marino has chosen a bicycle to take him round the world on the roads less travelled.

To date, Marino has travelled almost 77,000km and is currently making his way in Africa. He’s been on the road for over 5 years pedalling through 85 countries, taken 74,689 photographs and counting.

An adventure is not without any close calls, and Marino’s had his fair share with 10 crashes, 3 close calls on the 2 bicycles that he’s been on. His worse history of punctures is 20 in a day, when he was in remote Kyrgyzstan!

What kind of personality does it take to do this?

Honestly, anyone can do it – but only if you truly have the will and desire to. That’s the only thing that can keep you going. It is not easy, sometimes it can get pretty nasty, so you need a true love for discovering the world – says Marino.

When the going gets tough

In Tibet, Marino revealed that he was hit by a blizzard at 4,400m and only just avoided freezing to death. While in Congo, it was unbearably hot and sweaty, and he had to push through mud up to his knees whilst constantly looking out for deadly bugs and avoiding plants that could slit his skin open.

Facing Mother Nature’s toughest challenge

“Riding the Tibetan plateau at 5,100m on steep icy slopes with a massive headwind at -15c was tough. And at the other end of the scale, in the Sudanese Sahara it was 57 degrees, with a strong headwind blowing hot air and dust in my face. That was like trying to cycle behind a rocket,” continued Marino.

With an adventurous personality, Marino says he won’t stop travelling anytime soon.  “I might temporarily slow down but when you are born an adventurer, you just can’t put your travelling bug to sleep for long,” added Marino.

Read more on Redbull.com