How I got inspired to cycle the world: from a materialist to a minimalist.
Living a life where your home is merely a few panniers is not a lot.. but it is enough and all I will ever need
I cannot believe it sometimes when I even felt proud of having a big apartment with all kind of stylish furniture. I always thought I loved peoples reaction when inviting them at my home and how impressed I could make them just by this one big materialistic show. When me and my girlfriend broke up I kept the apartment and kept running the same show for a little while. After a few months of dragging a few girls to my apartment to impress them(Sad i know), some other things slowly changed within me, I started to see new opportunities I long had forgotten.
From a apartment to two panniers and a tent: The person who told me about a small two days cycling trip became my inspiration to do a 6 months trip across europe
I had figured out as much that I wanted to travel when I was done with my education.. but how? Would I hike a pilgrim route? Maybe hitchhike around? Honestly I never expected me to be gone more than a month.
Until the person I met started talking about a minor cycling trip she had done that sounded absolutely amazing. This is where I jumped in with both feed and decided that I would want cycle.. I would cycle from Denmark to Greece. How exactly I suddenly decided that I cannot tell anything else but it just felt right, like a little voice inside my head said: "this is it".
Within the 6 months of my cycling trip I learned a few things: You can go anywhere on a bike, Steemit is "apparently" a pretty fucking great website to share on and last but not least.. the world isn't as scary as I thought it would be
So here I am, living with nothing but what I can have in my panniers to carry around and while my upcoming trip from Denmark to South Africa might take 18 months or even more. I think we all can agree on that anything can change. If a small conversation could make myself go on a cycling trip across europe, who knows what 20 months full of inspiration can bring? I have a hard time seeing when this madness will end, in fact.. I hope it never will.
-holm
This is so inspiring! I feel like I'm in a similar situation slowly heading in the same direction. My girlfriend left me (amicably) to travel by moving around to seasonal jobs. I have the nice education, full time job and own a house. She wasn't impressed by this. And I don't feel happy. I thought I was ready to settle down (I'm 43), but that isn't for me anymore. I went on my first bike tour with a friend last summer, taking a week to ride from Pittsburgh to DC. I want to do more tours!
While I felt I had a good life, when looking back it just dont make sense to me anymore. I guess we keep changing and sometimes the changes are so drastic that we can seem like a different person. Awesome to hear you already have done a tour! It is addicting!
I have a friend who retired, then went on his first tour. He went out for a year and racked up 16,000 miles traveling to Montreal, Key West, California, Alaska, then back to Buffalo.
http://buffalonews.com/2017/09/20/gallery9137/
http://marfapublicradio.org/blog/west-texas-talk/casey-zmich-cross-country-cycler-trucker-and-nomad/
how are you mr @holm? long did not meet .. did you wear steem chat mr @holm?
Wow, i can not believe this.From Denmark to South Africa, an extraordinary journey & extraordinary achievement.I enjoyed scrolling down and seeing each new part of your adventure...almost like I went on the walk with you! Hats of to man & the photographs are really beautiful.
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Why does every adventure begin with a break up!
Haha I dont know man, I guess something happens when you suddenly have to be whole again:)
Yes, that's it - in times when everything is going as usual we don't need to look at our life - we don't need to find new ways or new inspirations. (; I like the "picture" of becoming whole again... So, there is always something good to find, evan in sad times. Enjoy your freedom!
Cycle touring is the best buzz there is, for connecting to oneself and to Mother Earth.
Have ya tuned into the Warmshowers network? Ya meet fine some really folks similarly tuned.
Oh yes! Met some people who I can call friends through warmshowers! Awesome app for tour cyclists!
Life just take a sharp curve and some new experiences is in front of us life is really beautiful and your experience is outstanding to know thanks for sharing
Damn this is badass, I often wonder what I could do if I was free from my belief that I need to stay where I am to be secure. Things have been complicated by having a baby, but so much is still possible, we could road trip around or even just live frugally and enjoy life to the fullest.
Hey @holm,
thank you for sharing your story on steemit with us! Pretty damn good example of how quickly we can change our current life ... it doesn't matter in which situation we are - life is a gift - and that's how we should take it.
I made a trip to Australia for 8 months and my whole personality from an introvert, shy, bad english speaker changed to the exact opposite.. One little decision changed my life - looking forward to your summary after your trip holm! :)
Nice post