Trip around the world
So, here we are, ten incredible, highlight-filled months later. Ten months of wanting to stay longer while simultaneously looking forward to the next stop. It certainly doesn’t feel that long, even if certain days felt like they lasted an eternity (freezing in Patagonia, for example, or the ear infection, for another). In less than a week, I will be back in the office. I’m on
…was a text I sent to Vera while watching an endless parade of characters on Hanoi’s “beer street”. And I did get drunk (or tipsy - doesn’t take much these days), and the donut lady did come by again. Prayers answered. And I’m soooo glad, because while drinking my final beer, not only did a flamboyant street magician come by and perform (either he was
Alright, so after a September of two weeks in Italy sandwiched by a couple of three-day bike trips and boys’ weekends in Germany, I was off to Taiwan. On the itinerary: two weeks of cycling around the island with one of my best buddies and one of his best friends, a giant labrador of a human. Constant good vibes haha. Why Taiwan of all places?
Mmm, yeah, title is clickbait, I know, but you'll see why in the end. So...We left off at the end of our whirlwind national park tour, as we were getting ready for our city tour. On the itinerary: Chicago, Philadelphia, Hartford, and Boston. Bear with me (or not), this might get a little long. Chicago Lord almighty was Chicago great. We stayed with friends in
So, long hiatus from writing. It’s strange to write about vacationing in America, but for the sake of my own future nostalgia, here we are. Turning 40 About a week after getting back from Belize, I celebrated my 40th birthday. Friends from Europe joined friends and family from the US in a beautiful collision of my various worlds. It was such a joy to see
The end Even though it’s barely beyond the half way point of my sabbatical, Belize feels like the end of…something. After Belize come two and half months in the US and a month in Europe, so it kind of feels like the end of “adventure”, but I’ll have adventures in both places, so that’s not really it. Maybe it’s more the end of discovery, as
I had about 10 days in Guatemala split between the southern highlands and the northern…jungle? Let’s call it that. The first stop was Antigua, a short 10-hour shuttle ride from Copan. Side note on overland transport I didn’t realize how spoiled I was in South America with the long-distance buses. Those seats give you about the same amount of space as a business-class seat on
Doing virtually nothing in Panama After Lima, it was in a plane and off to Panama for a short week in the country. While my ear infection had started to improve my last few days in Lima, the flight set me back, as I landed and the sensation of having a nail pounded into my head returned. Fun. I really shouldn’t have flown, so count
(The start) The stats Total distance: Roughly 2250km Total climbing: 30,790m (just over 101,000ft) Highest point reached cycling: 4663m (15,298ft) Riding days: 30 Total days owning the bike: 64 Hours ridden: 124.5 Average ride time per day: just over 4 hours Flat tires: 8, from 13 punctures (that’s pretty bad luck!) Other mechanicals: bent the derailleur hanger pretty much every bus ride Crashes: none, and I
My itinerary in Peru was roughly the following: Arequipa & Colca Canyon; Cusco, Sacred Valley of the Incas, & Machu Picchu; Lima. Both Arequipa and Cusco were meant to include multi-day bike trips essentially concluding the bikepacking part of the South American adventure. Arequipa & Colca Canyon After my stop in Copacabana, Bolivia and Lake Titicaca (basically on the Peruvian border), I took an overnight
