pedal promise

Our first week on the road has passed. Seven days ago we said goodbye to my family and friends in Wattenwil, Switzerland. We said goodbye because we want to ride our bikes to Matt’s hometown in Australia over the next 18 months. The days before the farewell party were filled with organising, packing and those last minute double and triple checks. The day of the farewell party Matt and I were wearing nice clothing. By “nice” I mean non functional, non ultra light, non quick drying bike gear. It would be the last time for a while that we are wearing a decent shirt and a pretty dress. During the party it did not really feel like it was the day on which we’re going to say goodbye to everyone for 1.5 years and cycle halfway around the world. Not at all.

As we went into my bedroom to put on our spandex, it suddenly hit us. We are really leaving now. Are we ready? “Matt did you pack the pegs?”. “Jasi did you put my passport copies on the USB stick?”. All of a sudden it felt as if those twelve months of preparation weren’t nearly enough. But there was no going back as all my friends and family were standing outside, waiting to kiss us goodbye. I was doing fine with the first 50 farewell hugs but then I had to say goodbye to Mum, Dad, my brother and my best friend Anja.

Wiping the tears and the snot off my face I put on my helmet. Matt looked at me and said: “Let’s do it”.  So we rolled off, almost crashed into each other after a few meters, saved it and made it look like a high five. On the first turn I was in such an elated state of mind that for a couple of seconds I forgot which way we had to go. For the first 10 km we didn’t talk much. Still sad from the goodbye and glad to be finally rolling and leaving those to-do-lists at home.

Now after 7 days of cycle touring we are slowly getting into the routine of it. Wake up, deflate the mattress, deflate the pillow, pack away the silk liner, roll the sleeping back into a dry bag, take the dry clothing from the line, make coffee, cook porridge, eat, wash up the dishes, dry the dishes, somehow pack the unbelievable amount of gear into our ten panniers, pack up the tent, fill up the water bottles, put on sunscreen and roll out. Easy as that. We are both surprised how simple it all is. All you need for a bike tour are a bike, a tent and a set of legs.

Still there are a few things we have to get better at. For example we still haven’t worked out how to interact with our cycle computers. It takes us forever to pack and if we need a specific piece of gear during the day there is a 80% change we open up a wrong pannier first. Also, we do not cook enough. Whenever we have eaten we are hungry again one hour later. We are not used to the amounts we eat when being on a bike the whole day. We will get better at those things eventually.

Cycle touring in Switzerland is easy, expensive and mountainous. All over Switzerland you find marked bike paths. Absolutely idiot-proof. Going over Susten – a 2240 meter mountain –  on our third day was maybe not the best idea regarding our fitness and also considering it was my birthday. Great present. Nevertheless we made it to the top. We were not really able to walk straight anymore on our legs but happy that we passed the first big test of our bike journey.

Before we left for our big bike touring adventure we imagined ourselves wild camping on beautiful quiet fields or asking people to camp in their gardens. So far we only stayed in camping grounds. All the places we have been were either full of houses, very hilly, or too visible from the street. Also my decision to buy a beautiful red Hilleberg tent might have been not very smart due to its distinct visibility. Not ideal for wild camping, but still very pretty. We both hope that we will become braver and finally wild camp over the next few weeks. We’ll let you know how we get on.

All in all the past seven days have been a pleasure. We really enjoy the freedom and all the time we have together after the last two years of being in a long distance relationship. In the evenings we are tired and sore but happy. Yesterday we crossed the border to Italy (about five times because we got a bit confused with our route). We are looking forward to pizza, gelato, cappuccinos and pasta.

Talk to you soon
Matt and Jasi (surprisingly, still without sore bums)

Matt thinks it was his idea first and I think I came up with it. We also can’t remember the exact time we first talked about it. So “who?” and “when?” are difficult questions to answer. But “why?” is the hardest one. It is hard to answer because we can’t refer to a single cause. It is a product of many reasons as to why we leave Switzerland in three weeks with two bikes, a few bags and a vague plan.

First of all, a cliché reason: We want to see the world, we want to go on an adventure, and we love travelling. When we are old we want to look back and say: We did it. We lived our dream.
But that is not the whole reason why we are going on a bike touring adventure halfway around the world. The majority of people would agree on the “I love travelling” part but not all of them go on a trip like the one we plan.

A very pragmatic reason for us is: We do not know where to live yet. Do we want to build a life together in Bern or in Melbourne? My home or Matt’s home? Or even somewhere in between? At the moment we can’t decide. As we do not know where to live, we might as well go and see some places. Maybe we will find our future home on the way.

Why are we doing this trip by bike? Wouldn’t it be easier by car or by train? Yes, probably it would. More relaxing, clean, comfortable and safe too. But how much more will we experience on a bike? Travelling by bike will remove barriers between us as tourists and the locals we meet. For example we will never have to wind down a car window to be able to talk to someone on the street. Being outside 24/7, we will see every sunrise and every sunset. Probably we will get enough vitamin D and fresh oxygen for a lifetime. Plus we can eat whatever we want to and however much we want to without getting fat. Say hello to three chocolate croissants for breakfast. Grand.

As often as possible we want to take the unbeaten path. We will ride through the little country side villages in between the big cities. We will experience places that are far removed from busy cities with good train connections or big airports. Places that are pure and genuine and not adapted to the needs of tourism. Places where the locals are not tired of foreign visitors yet.

Throughout our journey we will undoubtedly encounter many difficult situations. We are going completely out of our comfort zone. The struggle will urge us to learn. And overcoming these difficulties will hopefully give us more self-confidence to meet the next. We both love the challenge I guess. We want to push ourselves through sweat, mud, sunburn and bum pain. Those things may sound horrible at first but we believe that it will make us appreciate a warm shower, a good dinner and a dry tent so much more.

And now to the number one reason as to why we go on this bike touring trip: Meeting people. Meeting people of different cultures and countries all over the world. Finding out what others struggle with and what others need to be happy. Simply talking to people who have different points of views, different religions, different ways of talking, cooking, celebrating, partying, learning and consuming it all. We want to taste the secret of each cultures cuisine, celebrate ancient traditions and live, laugh and learn alongside them. Hopefully through those experiences we will unlearn all the stereotypes about other cultures that we have in our heads.

Exposing ourselves to different cultures makes us reflect upon the way we live. In our lives in Australia and Switzerland Matt and I have everything. We can afford a lifestyle where we are well fed, warm and have a roof over our head. We both have had a good education and are surrounded by kind friends and families. Yet we can still find ourselves complaining. We hope that after this bike touring journey we will value the things we have a little bit more.

Thank you for reading our first post. We promise to take you on our adventure throughout this blog.

Talk to you soon
Matt and Jasi