Panamericana

During the last weeks and especially days I‘ ve been asked by other people here at the hostel or via e-mail by friends: “When will you be back on the road?”, “Are you gonna stay there forever?” and “Did you quit your bike-trip?”.

The answers are,” I don‘ t know when I‘ ll be back on the road.”, No, I‘ m definitely not gonna stay here forever.” and “I didn‘ t quit.”

I think I just needed a break, do something else than cycling everyday. Though I didn‘ t know that before I came here. I thought I would only stay for Christmas and then hit the road again. But sometimes things turn out in another way as expected. So I met many interesting people here and had (and still have) a great time. Besides exploring in Guadalajara I simply enjoy just to sit in a quiet corner and listen to some music, read a book and drink a cup of coffee. Maybe I needed something steady for a while.

Don‘ t get me wrong, I love to be out there, get up early, hit the road, climb up those hills, take pictures, meet new people and learn more about another culture, go to bed totally exhausted after a long day, then get up again the next day and do the same thing again – never knowing what the new day will bring. It‘ s awesome and I can‘ t think of anything I‘ d rather do now. I wouldn‘ t wanna exchange this for anything else. But I think I realized that this journey is not only about cycling… I might take it a little easier from now on.

A friend (THANK YOU!!!) found the right words when he wrote about my break here that I‘ m “lounging about in Guadalajara for a while waitin‘ for the wind to fill my sails again”. Moreover he wrote, “So, I see virtue in the way you continued your journey in Guadalajara while your bike, suddenly relegated to the inanimate soulless object it is without you, stood idle. You seem to be aware that the journey is grander than keeping the wheels turning. You may see your sojourn in Guadalajara in a completely different way once you’ve left, but the beauty of that little seeming distraction is that you have that distraction to contemplate along with all the other attractions from a thousand other points.”

That matches my situation, the way I feel right now so well that I just had to quote it here. I think my sails are finally filled with wind again and I‘ m ready to discover everything that is still waiting for me out there on and besides the road.

Moreover a new chapter begins. After cycling together with Sara and Sebastien for about 5 weeks I‘ ll cycle alone again. We‘ re still in contact and might eventually meet again somewhere goin‘ south.

I‘ m excited and looking forward to hit the road again.

Hasta luego

Anja

This entry was posted on Mittwoch, Januar 14th, 2009 at 19:15 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.