By: Heidi Kwok, Staff Writer
Zach Choboter was on day five of a 6–8 month world-record-breaking journey when he picked up the phone for his interview with The Peak. The inline skater is aiming to raise $1 million for the bees and world hunger relief.
Choboter took off in Vancouver on March 1. At the time of the interview, he was somewhere on the northern outskirts of Kent, Washington, in good spirits after downing six shots of espresso after a coffee shop mishap. A dangerously high dose of caffeine was the least of his worries, however, as he nearly got hit by a passing vehicle while skating on the shoulder of a treacherous highway.
Why is he embarking on what some might call an impossible expedition encompassing over 30,000 km across 27 countries and six continents? The answer is in the optimistic slogan of his Blading for Bees World Tour campaign: “For the bees, baby!”
Choboter felt driven to take on this ambitious mission to raise awareness about the unprecedented decline in pollinator populations due to reasons such as habitat loss, pesticides, diseases, and climate change. Scientists projected up to a 70% loss of honeybee colonies in the US in 2025. The Honey Bee Health Coalition reports that the commercial beekeeping industry lost 1.6 million colonies, at an average decline of 62% between June 2024 and March 2025. Currently, about 35% of the world’s food production depends on pollinators. Scientists predict that if all wild pollinators were to go extinct, native plant species would also disappear, with commercial agriculture facing reduced crop yield, increased food costs, or a shortage of fruits and vegetables for sale in grocery stores.
“If we help the bees, we help everyone,” Choboter stated. “If we didn’t have honeybees, or wild, or native bees, then our world would be dramatically different, and the food systems would literally collapse. So the easy connection is no bees, no food.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re rich, or you’re poor, or where you’re from in the world. We all need to eat food to survive, which means we need to take care of the bees.”
— Zach Choboter
Choboter said the idea to skate around the globe was planted as soon as he successfully set a Guinness World Record for the longest journey on roller/inline skates in 2021. At the time, his dad asked him, “Do you think you could just keep going?”
He achieved the record by skating 10,093 km over three months across Canada, which he called a “really big feat.
“It mentally prepared me because I proved to myself that I could do something hard. This is basically the Canadian trip’s older brother or sister,” reflected Choboter.
This older sibling in question took more than three years of planning. It involved pinpointing the best asphalt routes around the world, strenuous physical training, applying for visas, and more. Safety-wise, Choboter is decked out in cyclist lights. A GPS on his backpack and wrist ensures that five people know his whereabouts at all times, while allowing the public to follow his journey via a real-time map.
Choboter said all donations to the campaign will either go towards the Blading for Bees Foundation or partner charities, including the Pollinator Partnership Canada, the United Nations World Food Programme, and Save the Children. Contributors may also choose to support the on-site travelling team to help cover travel expenses. When asked how donations would be allocated, Choboter said the Blading for Bees Foundation’s Board of Directors would distribute them evenly.
Before The Peak left Choboter to continue on with the rest of his journey, he had one last piece of wisdom: “My favourite quote in the world is ‘when the tide comes in, all boats rise.’ So when we all stick together and help each other rise up, we’ll all get better together.”
