January 2018

But where is the end of the world? And where the beginning? Especially if you presume the world is round (no, I´m not a flat-earther) is there actually an end?

Of course this is about a geographical end, the end of a landmass and in this case the south american continent. And there I am right now, in Tierra del Fuego, the land of fire, in Argentina. To go further south is almost not possible, there is only Antarctica and that is too cold for me to cycle. Me and my bicycle came here to Ushuaia by plane, and if you believe the sign, this southernmost city is also the end of the world.

For me it is rather a beginning, the beginning of a new leg of my bicycle journey. In the last two years I stored the bicycle most of the time at different peoples houses and traveled differently, but now I start cycling again. At the airport in Ushuaia I met two other cyclists, who had come all the way from Alaska by bike, such motivation for me. At least I will start to cycle in that direction, not sure how far I will go.

The weather seems to be on my side on the first day, there is no rain and it is not too cold. While cycling out of town I think about the “Why?”. Why am I drawn to these remote places, known for extreme weather? Why on a bicycle? Why always the strenuous way? Why do I leave people and places which I started to love behind, again and again?

“Why not?” I like to answer to Why questions, but this time I don´t want to make it so easy. Another answer comes on it´s own when I see the snow capped mountains in front of me and leave the city behind: This feeling comes over me, it is like an inner goosebumps, my whole body is vibrating from the inside and I can´t help it but to smile from ear to ear. I realize that right now something special is happening, the first step of something great. A dream is about to come true. I´m doing the right thing, exactly what I want to do, right now. And this fulfills me not only with satisfaction but with happiness as well. And that´s it what life is about. At least for me life is is a search for happiness, or let me put it differently, a way to happiness. Since I began traveling by bicycle, I not only have a lot of happy moments, but find life much more worthwhile and I have become a more positive person.

Many, many hours of my life I spend in the saddle, of course not only happy hours, but the memories for the good times prevail and it feels so familiar to push the pedals. I have cycled more than 42000 km already, but this time it will be a little bit different. I don´t want to break any records, I don´t want to push my body to the limits. I want to travel with time and ease. I won´t have a speedometer, the speed is not important neither are the kilometers per day. And I want to continue to share my encounters with people and places I experience, here on this blog. I plan to make another movie as well. But for now it is time to push the pedals and to get into the flow of a bicycle journey.