Lessons learned from cycling 17 countries in ’17

As we rest and reflect on an amazing year gone by, most of it cycle touring, I started to think about the many lessons we have learned along the way. It was one of the goals of this trip to open our minds to other cultures and different kinds of thinking, and it has. We still have a lot to learn, but here’s a start…

First, pizza is an international food. Get over it, Italy! Yes the pizzas in Italy are often profound, but pizza anywhere is good, whether paneer tikka pizza in India, quatro stagioni in Italy, or feta and olive in Greece.

Next, nowhere is as scary as you think, and most places are safer than the US. We had scary notions about countries like Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, and India. But the reality is that all of these places are like everywhere else, filled with ordinary peaceful people going about their lives. Nowhere did we feel unsafe besides a few scary moments on the road. Meanwhile in the US, there were countless shootings, my former neighbor was shot and killed in Twin Peaks, San Francisco, and we lost friends and relatives to accidents and illnesses.

When you move to a new place every few days, no one notices if you are wearing the same clothes. Unless it’s been too long since they’ve been washed; then they notice and generously and politely offer the (usually free – hey it benefits everyone) use of their washing machine!

Cycling is the best way to travel everywhere, and we have grown to hate other forms of travel. Cycling is good for your health, the environment, and turns an unpleasant transfer into an interesting adventure. We get sick in cars, anxious and bored on flights, and walking is so slow… I would rather cycle two days than be stuck in a car for 4 hours.

There is one place in my bag, and only one place, for my toothpaste. I once tried another spot, but I didn’t like it.

The “optimal route” is never the best choice. People worry too much about finding the absolute fastest or most optimal way to get somewhere or accomplish something, and they forget that there is value in every second of life. Valuing only the end goal is missing the point. We always have more fun cycling 4 days through country and small towns versus 3 days on the highway.

Bum guns need to be a thing in the Western world! Forget those pretentious bidets and fancy Japanese toilets. Just put a sprayer nozzle on a hose and Bob’s your uncle! Why wipe your ass with dead trees and smear shit all over yourself when you can take a little bath instead? So much nicer!

We receive an automatic, but unachieved, privilege in most parts of the world, simply because of where we were born as well as our apparent gender and race. While we can just show up in Europe and be waved through the immigration line because of our US passports (Bosnia didn’t even open ours), those born in India or Thailand have to prepare an application that can take 6 months before they can get their visa. We like to think in the USA that everyone is equal and it is only because of our hard work that we have these opportunities open to us. But that’s bullshit. It’s only due to a freak chance that we were born where we were and look like we do, and flat out gifted these opportunities. At random. A trip like ours is really only possible for someone with these privileges, but travel is available to everyone to some extent. It’s important to me that we don’t squander this unique situation and instead do what we can to equalize privilege in the world when we can.

Bananas are available everywhere! And cows like to eat them too, peel and all. Monkeys, too, but you already knew that. And forget the genetically troubled Cavendish banana; you need to support genetic diversity and try some others as well.

Most people think we’re crazy for leaving home. Many cultures we cycle through would never dream of a trip like ours, and some have no desire to travel at all. The concept of wanting to travel on vacation to “get away from it all” seems foreign to many people because, why is your life at home so horrible that you have to travel to be happy? And they have a point, don’t they? We like to think we have different motivations, but it’s interesting to learn that many folks simply have no interest in anything outside their own community. But, it’s also nice to see a few people we meet be inspired to start to think about “what could be”.

“Clean enough” hasn’t killed me yet, and is one of the least important things I look for in a place to sleep. All I need is a toilet and a shower and something bed-like to sleep on. India challenged us a bit with the $7 rooms and moldy buckets to wash up in, but like I said, I haven’t died (or gotten sick) yet…

The hospitality of strangers is overwhelming. Americans as a whole don’t understand the true meaning of hospitality, and it’s only through our travels that I’ve seen how important and rewarding it is to take in travelers as if they are your own family. We have been treated so well by strangers along the way, offered beds, food, clothing, transportation, advice, expertise, and more. From now on, I will always offer up space and support to travelers who need it. You should too, but I promise I won’t preach.

Never believe directions given to you by a non-cyclist. “It’s flat” is never a good sign. That usually means that it’s less hilly than the mountain next door, just a few 500 meter foothills into a headwind.

Ignore the top 10! All those places are so overrun with tourists that they won’t give you much more than what you get at home. If you just want to be lazy, see a Disneyland version of a place, and get away from your life (see above), then sure, go there, but then consider a) how much you could have saved with a staycation and all the same comforts, and b) why is your life so miserable that you need to get away in the first place? You should be traveling because you want something different. Skip Venice, go to Chioggia to see the canals and local markets. Skip Dubrovnik, go to Korčula for the crystal clear waters and walled town, or Zagreb for the history and cafe culture. I’m thinking to post a “Tim & Steve’s Destination Underdogs” article, but I don’t want to ruin the places we’ve found. Just don’t pick the “top” spots, and you’ll find them too, and much of the adventure is in finding them anyway.

Learn the local language. Sure, we might be lucky to be native English speakers, which is often the universal langauge, but when we’ve spent some time to learn the local language, it’s opened us up to so many more interesting and local opportunities.

Appreciating natural beauty is more interesting than seeing all the man-built monuments. Marveling at something that humans built is a little like navel-gazing compared to standing in awe in a river valley at the immovable mountains that dwarf us. After the first dozen monuments (whether they be churches, temples, buildings, statues, etc), they all start to look the same. Monuments are nice for understanding history, but don’t make the mistake of thinking they prove anything about us as humans except for a desire to leave a legacy.

Bicycle glove tanlines look ridiculous. Especially when the logo of the gloves gets burned into your skin.

Meeting local people and people watching are my favorite activities in a new place. Rather than going to see the major sights, I prefer to find the best people watching spot and hang out.

It’s none of your business what other people think of you. My friend Colin gave me this advice, but it took experiencing the intense scrutiny we’ve gotten during this tour to really internalize it. People may stare, ask questions, and even confront you, but as long as you are doing positive things and they aren’t bothering you, it’s none of your business what they think.

A smile doesn’t mean the same thing everywhere. In many parts of Europe, if you smile, people think you’re crazy. You just don’t smile at strangers there. Or if you do, it may be a sign of superiority. In India and Thailand, smiles take on totally different meanings. Thais famously have 13 different smiles, all meaning different things. As an American, we smile to indicate openness or friendliness, but it turns out it’s not one of the universal expressions we have as humans.

You can still gain weight even if you are cycling every day! I blame Turkey, Greece, and India. We have both been a bit chubbier since then. Especially Steve.

Convincing other people to hate is an unfortunately effective way to gain power. Only those who crave power will ask others to have hatred. Need I say more? Read the news.

It’s okay if your life doesn’t fit into other people’s rules, in fact it’s preferable.

The best experiences are the ones that make you uncomfortable at first. Restaurants without menus, talking in front of 600 cadets, staying with a stranger on CouchSurfing or WarmShowers. They all challenge our comfort zones but are the most rewarding.

There is something magical about seeing the ocean. It’s something I am drawn to instinctively and makes me most happy, and I don’t know why. I don’t like laying on the beach and don’t swim too often, but I need the ocean to be there.

Aside from technological advances, the relative cheapness and disposability of everything we take for granted (clothing, etc) is only sustainable because of the poverty where these items are created. I feel like there’s a fundamental problem with currency when people make $2/day to make clothing that is then sold for $500 a piece, with 52 seasons of style per year.

Money can buy you comfort, but comfort is temporary and too often overvalued. It doesn’t make for good stories, memories, and teaches you nothing.

I can’t poop without a proper toilet. Those holes in the ground they call toilets in some places just make me constipated for days. I guess I’m getting old! Sorry if TMI!

When you only have a few things, each one becomes special. The idea of disposable things becomes strange, and you learn to repair what you have.

However, the popular concept of minimalism is a bit too hipster for me when we’ve met people in India living rich lives with far less than we or those famous minimalists have. We may be minimal in what we carry, but the idea that we are “living with less” is ludicrous compared to most of the world.

Curious kids always put a smile on my face. Cycling by a schoolyard filled with bicycles where all the kids come running out to wave at us, those are some.of my favorite moments on this trip.

We are unhealthily removed from our food chain in the US. So many Americans only know chicken as those pre-cooked cubes of tasty boneless pre-cooked meat sold wrapped in cellophane, or even as just a slab of protein in a bun. It’s not healthy to have such a disconnect with our food source. As we travel through rural regions, we see live animals for sale, fruits, and vegetables in all of their forms, from farm to vendors, and it has really taught us to respect and understand where our food comes from. I never understood the amount of land and human effort required to produce our food until I cycled through hundreds of miles of farmland filled with workers bent over all day long working on that land. It puts those tasty chicken cubes in perspective.

And finally, cows always have the right of way! There just no other way about it.

Happy Year New, what are your lessons from last year?