By Sajeev K Peter

KUWAIT: Meet Fayis Asraf Ali, a young engineer from Kerala, who arrived in Kuwait on Saturday as part of a solo cycling trip from India to London. Pedaling his way through 35 countries in two continents and traveling around 30,000 kilometers over a period of 450 days, Ali is expected to cover around 1,000 destinations during the trip.

"Essentially, it is a goodwill journey to generate awareness, particularly among the youth, about the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle," Ali told Kuwait Times on Sunday. He drew inspiration to embark on this herculean global journey from his previous experience, when he undertook a solo cycling tour that took him to Singapore in 2019.

The present trip also seeks to send out a message to the society on the need to protect the rights of children and encourage and inspire youths to undertake challenging tasks in their lives to realize their ambitious goals, Ali pointed out. With this trip, Ali also wants to share a message of peace in a world that is battered by war and conflicts.

As part of the journey, Ali has been meeting with children and youth groups in schools, universities and community centers on topics related to health, nutrition and lifestyle across the countries in which the expedition passes through. Around 500 schools and 35 universities are expected to be covered during the trip.

"Unfortunately, this is vacation time in Kuwait now, and therefore, interactive sessions with school students in Kuwait may be difficult," Ali said. The journey was flagged from Trivandrum by Kerala education minister on Aug 15. In the Middle East, Ali travelled through Oman, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain before reaching Kuwait. He will pedal through Iraq and Iran before entering Europe, and the journey will culminate in the UK on March 24.