An adventure on two wheels: Italy-Jönköping round trip

For most people, moving to Jönköping means traveling by plane, train, or car. For Silvia Dal Sasso, it meant cycling all the way from Italy – with everything she owned packed into two bags.

“I’ve been trying to avoid flying for several years unless it’s absolutely necessary. If there’s an alternative, I choose that,” she says.

Silvia, 26, recently graduated from the Sustainable Communication programme at the School of Education and Communication at Jönköping University (JU).

She was born and raised in Vicenza in northeastern Italy but has lived and studied in several countries before coming to Jönköping. After a period working as an au pair in Germany, she continued to places like Amsterdam and Stockholm. A longer journey later also took her to Asia and Oceania.

“That’s where I fell in love with traveling by bike. It completely changed the direction of my life,” she says.

Challenges and freedom on the road

The idea of cycling to Jönköping started as a joke among friends but quickly became reality.

“Suddenly it wasn’t a joke anymore, and there I was packing my life into two bags,” she says.

The journey offered many contrasts, and one of the toughest days was when she crossed Denmark, battling rain and strong headwinds.

“Just before I reached my destination for the day, I got a flat tire. I was completely exhausted, and it took a long time to fix the bike, but I made it and managed to sort it out,” Silvia says.

It is precisely these kinds of experiences that motivate her.

“I love the feeling of independence on the bike – being able to move forward using my own body, through landscapes and encounters with people.”

“At JU, I met wonderful people”

Silvia says she has truly enjoyed her time in Jönköping and at JU.

“I was part of a small but international class. At JU, I met wonderful people, interesting teachers, and found even more cycling-related activities. My thesis was about women, bikes, travel, and communication. It felt like things came full circle when I handed it in,” she says.

During her studies, she was involved in Cykelköket, a non-profit bike workshop focused on reuse, where people take care of bikes that need some love and help to get them back in working condition.

Although Silvia has enjoyed her time in Jönköping very much, she misses the mountains of northern Italy and her family. She will therefore head back to Italy at the end of June. Exactly what the journey home will look like is still unclear, except that it will be by bike.

“I plan day by day. There’s a lot of improvisation, and that’s also what makes it so beautiful,” she says.

Watch a video where Silvia talks about her packing.