What a difference a year makes!
This time 12 months ago I was tickling the very base of my £1,500 overdraft. I still had the dreams and convictions that had been cultivated over my many years of education…but seemingly no outlet through which to pursue them. I was heading towards 25. I was watching those around me pursue their careers, but found myself unable to find sanctuary in chasing their kinds of dreams. I spent many a tortured hour trying to shoehorn my passions and abilities into a myriad of careers. I failed.
I needed more. I needed that elixir which has fired me since my earliest years. I needed that rush which comes from self-sufficiency, travel and new experience. I needed to escape the comfortable shroud that had begun to suffocate me.
I needed change.
I found “Cycling Home from Siberia”
Written by a guy called Rob Lilwall, it describes a person who decided that the life he was leading wasn’t where he wanted to be. He finished working as a geography teacher in England, bought a plane ticket to Siberia in the middle of winter…and proceeded to cycle home. Seemingly unprepared for many of the places through which he travelled, he nevertheless prevailed two and a half years later. It was a story that completely enthralled me. & it wasn’t because of the physical magnitude of the undertaking – but the way in which it was pursued. Rob took a chance with life. He brushed off the overwhelmingly negative media reports, and instead entrusted his life to a belief in the shared humanity that exists between seemingly different peoples and cultures. It was a wonderful escape from the despair that had begun to manifest itself within me. It inspired me.
Whereas Rob’s journey was an off the cuff, sell all possessions and escape kind of adventure, mine has been different. Years of university, followed by living on a charity wage in the middle of London…these things had emptied my coffers. Starting from such a low ebb, I set myself a tentative dream of cycling from England to Australia. As with all such things, my dreams snowballed. Places cropped up that captivated the imagination, and aspirations as to the purpose of my trip also increased. The route is still very much a fluid one, defined as much by the obstacles of crossing oceans as it is by my desire to cycle particular countries. What I know for sure is that I want to follow a path that’ll take me away from my comfort zone, and that’ll challenge preconceptions of countries. I have never cycled through mountainous regions (Scotland doesn’t really count), nor have I experienced Central or South East Asia. I haven’t cycled in the intense cold, nor intense humidity. I also firmly believe that adventure is something that should be shared…and wondered how I could share such a seemingly individual pursuit.
So with all these things said, what does my own adventure look like;
Departure date: late May, 2011
After 12 months of working & saving, I shall open the door to the family home, walk to my tandem, and cycle away from the life I know. I will have 14 feet of bike and trailer, camping gear, a pannier bag full of books, a mind full of imagined experiences, and a spare seat with which to share them…
UK, France, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tibet, China, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia’s perimeter, then on to the ring of fire; Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Japan, the Aleutian Islands, & then…the Americas? Dare I think that far??
UK, France, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Caspian Sea, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tazikstan, Tibet, China, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia’s perimeter, then on to the ring of fire; Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Japan, the Aleutian Islands, & then…the Americas? Dare I think that far??
Why a tandem?
It seems like such a waste to travel so far, see so much, yet only be able to share it with others in those fleeting moments when my pedals stop turning. With a spare seat, my journey of discovery doesn’t have to be mine alone..
Interested in joining my ride…go to the ‘Contact’ page and send me a message.
Thoughts about this journal entry?
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