©
Europe by Bike
So this trip was not my idea. But I wish it was! My friend had planed it for a while and I thought it was a fantastic thing to achive, and what an opportunity to explore the world! When the trip closed in on my friend he asked me if I was interested in coming with him. I said of course yes!
This kind of opportunity does not come twice I thought, so I took my fate in my own hands! Quit my job, bought a bike and used some of my savings to follow through this trip.
Written by Cecilia
Autumn 2013
I have never felt anything so liberating as this adventure. On this trip we didn´t care about the time at all, and the needs of my body and mind adapted naturaly. When to sleep, when to eat, take a rest etc. No worries, no stress. We did everything in our own pace and that, my ladies and gents, is the true feeling of freedom!
On our way I learned a few things about myself, about traveling together with someone and hear eachother out. The importance of having the same goal, the same expectations, and the importance of having some credential knowledge. For example how to read a map, use a compass, and some basic road rules... And this is what I want to share with you from my first big adventure!
When I joined my friend on this adventure, I didn't understand that we had different goals with the trip. I thought we would do this trip to experience the cultures, get new friends, to see as much of nature as possible. But my friends goal was to bike to the mediterranean sea, not more or less. We learned to compromise a bit, stayed longer at some places doing tourist stuff. But in my point of view we didn't take the chance to meet new people. We kept to ourselves most of the time, by then I didn't have the courage to go out by my self, I was afraid to get lost. But the few people we did make acquaintance with have all inspired me and encouraged me to follow my own goals!
Before this trip I had no experience of using a compass nor reading a map, except from when we oriented in middle school. And I tell you those lessons are valuable. Soon enough I got the hang of it and I thought it was really fun to.
Our maps had often the wrong scale, so we ended up on smaler roads that didn't show on the map. But one time we accidentally ended up on a motorway. We couldn't turn back so we just kept as far out to the side as possible and the vehicles that drove by us kept their distance.
It wasn't only on the motorway we risked our lifes on this trip. We both climbed the Excalibur, known as the tallest freestanding rock climbing wall in the world. We actually had to sign a paper to climb this 37 meter tall wall, and we had to show them our climbing certificate aswell. All on our own risk. It was a fantastic view and if you ever want to go there youreself, you can find it in Groningen, Holland.
Another thing I learn during this trip is when you are traveling with someone it's really important to listen to eachother. When someone is down or bitter, uncomfortable or feel insecure. This was harder than expected, from both sides.
My friend on the other hand had a difficult time with not knowing the regular traficrules and that put me in a spot of feeling insecure and uncomfortable when he took the lead. We talked about the road rules many times since I felt we ended up in dangerous situations, but without improvement. After him doing the same mistakes several times over during our trip I began to take the lead. I wasn't comfortable taking the lead on the roads at first, but after a while I felt more confident and I had controll over the situation.
This whole experience made me grow as a person. The best thing with a trip like this is that you learn. You learn what's important to you, is it the trip, the goal or is it what happens in between?
I wish you all a safe and pleasant trip!
