A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Laozi
In 1990 a friend and I rode our bikes from Turkey to Portugal for two and a half months. It was incredibly challenging and rewarding both physically and emotionally. There were some tough times, but there were far more glorious times.
The memories from that trip have lodged in the depths of my consciousness, never too far from the surface and always tempting me to add to those memories with another cycling adventure.
I just needed to find the time. And to commit.
I always thought that after I sent my youngest off to university, I would hit the road once again and I was right on track to do so. I bought a spanking brand new Trek 520 that I promptly named Bella the Beast and started to plan my route. Then life came to a screeching halt for all of us as the pandemic hit in the spring of 2020.
Life got in the way for the next 18 months, as it tends to do, but a holiday trip abroad to Tbilisi, Georgia, and the surrounding Caucasus Mountains with my family, sparked my dormant travel bug into action. I spent a good bit amount of time on my own exploring the neighborhoods and sites of Tbilisi. I love, love, love wandering the streets of a new city, ducking into a café for a cup of tea, browsing the local shops and markets, and hearing the chatter of a foreign language all around me. It felt good pushing the boundaries of my comfort zone.
On my return home from Georgia, before I could think about what I was doing, I booked a flight to Bari, Italy for Bella the Beast and me. Unless something happens that is out of my control, I am now committed to flying to Italy. I have not booked a return flight yet, so if I find myself a complete mess at the end of every day, I can book a flight back home and hightail it out of there at any time. (To be honest, I think that will happen later rather than sooner.)
But I have committed to the trip for however long I decide to take.
Step one – done.