15 March 2014

95 days and looking beyond

“Official” communication:

I'm getting closer to the 100th day of this journey. I had great expectations about it and I was right, because so far everything has been outstanding: roads, landscapes, cities, and above all the people I have met.

On July 31, when I told my project to the world, my little world, I had no idea of how things could go, nor I knew if I could actually achieve something that is for sure beyond my possibilities, if I were to give a judgement that is only based on rationality.

In these 3 months (actually 2+1) I've seen, learnt and said a lot of things. Perhaps I will need years to understand and digest all the information and the emotions I lived. At the same time, while still living this dream, I've already had the chance to meditate about it and about other important things for me (plenty of hours on the saddle must be worth something!): new needs arise, new projects come to my mind, new emotions take the place of the old ones.

It's a matter of priorities: important things must stay on top of the list, always. Whatever they are.

For this reason (consequence of other personal reasons), I've made a decision about the continuation of AEuropean Journey: I won't go to Scandinavia and to the Baltic countries. Instead, the journey will continue as originally planned until Northern Germany (end of May). I will then turn south, following an itinerary not yet defined (I'm open to suggestions!)... Maybe something like this: Hamburg – Leipzig – Dresden – Prague – Krakow – Budapest – Wien – Graz – Italy, finishing at the end of June. Talking about boring statistics, at the end A European Journey will be made of 180-200 days, 10000-11000 km by bike, 5000-6000 km by public transportation.

More important, I'll try to keep going with the same spirit until the end: meeting people, learning and sharing, couchsurfing, having fun, cycling, breathing, smiling.
Norway and North Cape are still a dream, but now I know I can wait, organize another trip in the next future and live it to the full: besides being a more introspective and solitary experience, it might be worth doing it by its own and not after several months on the road.