Back in September, 31 year-old Dean Nicholson decided to quit his job as a welder so that he could travel the world on his bicycle. Along the way, Dean made a little friend he was not expecting to bond with.

Dean began by leaving his hometown of Dunbar, Scotland and bicycling to Newcastle. From there, he took a ferry to Amsterdam, and proceeded to ride through Belgium, Greece, Switzerland, and Italy. He then took another ferry to Croatia before riding to Bosnia, where he met a little baby kitten who was very hungry.

“I was going up a steep hill with my music blaring out of my speaker when I heard a desperate meow from behind me. When I clocked the kitten, I got off my bike to stroke her then that was it, she wouldn’t leave my side,” Dean said. “I wasn’t going to take her with me at first, but I soon fell in love with her and I couldn’t bring myself to leave her there alone.”

Dean fed the kitten and brought her to a veterinarian, where she received necessary shots including a rabies vaccine. Though she was malnourished, the kitten was surprisingly healthy, and he named her Nala.

Dean wanted Nala with him forever, so he had a pet passport made for her so that she could always travel with him wherever he goes.

As of this writing, the two have gone to Albania, Greece, and Montenegro, and their adventures are only just beginning!

“Everybody loves her when they see her popping out of the carrier on the front of my bike and always ask for pictures of her,” Dean explained.

Find out more about Dean and Nala’s adventurous in the video below!