A Tribute to Iohan Gueorguiev (1988-2021)
It’s with a broken heart that we share the news of a fallen friend today. We just learned that longtime bike tourer Iohan Gueorguiev’s inspiring journey came to an abrupt end a few weeks ago. Find a tribute to Iohan here…
PUBLISHED Sep 20, 2021
We received some incredibly sad news this morning from a close friend of Iohan: “Hello friends, it is with a heavy heart that I pass this news. Iohan’s journey in this world came to end on August 19th. He had been struggling with insomnia caused by sleep apnea for several years, and it was finally too much for him to bear. There will be memorial services in Canada and hopefully Ushuaia to help his journey to the next. We will share these with you all. In the meantime, please consider donations to suicide prevention organizations or sleep disorder awareness foundations in Iohan’s name. And certainly reach out to those who you love and let them know that you do. We’ll miss you Iohan. Fly high, brother, fly high. RIP Iohan Gueorguiev. 1988-2021”
We first heard about Iohan back in 2015. Somewhere along his first trip across Canada, he discovered a passion for trying to capture what makes traveling by bicycle interesting, inspiring, and unique. In April 2014, Iohan took off to cycle around the world and decided to document the journey through a series of long-format videos titled “SEE THE WORLD.” Ultimately, the series resulted in a library of 40 videos, the last of which was posted on August 9th, 2021, almost seven years to the day from the publication date of episode one.
Born in Bulgaria in 1988, Iohan has been entertaining us with his self-made films throughout his seven-year bike journey that likely totaled over 100,000 kilometers (he stopped counting back in 2019 “around 70,000ish kilometers”). Iohan is best remembered for his incredible positivity, charisma, and ability to connect with people during his journey. As we wrote in our 2017 Bikepacking Awards, where he was mentioned as Ambassador of the Year, “We’ve always felt Iohan shows a wonderful ability to connect with those around him. We can’t help but admire his enthusiasm that bubbles through on all his adventures, despite how hard they’ve been at times.”
We’ll all miss Iohan, his inspiring videos, and the random email updates he would send occasionally. Fortunately, a lot of his beautiful work will live on. Find a few articles featuring Iohan below, our first mention of Iohan in 2015 featuring See The World episodes 1-4, dig into his YouTube Channel here, find more on his website, BikeWanderer.com. If you’re able, please consider a donation to a suicide prevention organization or sleep disorder awareness foundations in Iohan’s name; we’ve listed a few below.
- Canadian Sleep Society
- Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention
- Crisis Services Canada: 833-456-4566
- Suicide Prevention Hotline: 800-273-TALK (Pledge Your Support)
- Sleep Apnea Foundation
Ride in peace, Iohan. We’ll miss you and your incredible contributions to the community.
More from Iohan Gueorguiev
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