A Dream is Born…

A cursory glance might give one the impression that our trip has only just started. However, if you look a little closer, you’ll realize that our voyage started more than five years ago, in June of 1998, when I was one month out of college. Backpacking alone across Europe for two months, I met Stéphane in Paris when I stepped off the train from London, and since then, our destinies have been intertwined. Though we came from different countries and cultures, we found we had a lot in common. Even though I spoke only two words of French and Stéphane spoke only the most rudimentary of English, we knew that we wanted to see each other again. We travelled down to Spain in a camping car with a few of Stéphane’s friends and within a few days, we decided that we would one day be married (that day came three years later, in July of 2001).

Aside from other things, it was our love of travel that bound us together. From the first weeks, we talked about travelling the world together. Both of us had always dreamt of travelling and even living in foreign lands. For my part, I had dreamed of Spain, and especially Sevilla, since my first Spanish class in seventh grade. I fell in love with the language and the music and what little I knew of the culture.

But what child has not dreamt of travelling far away, even if it be only through losing oneself in a good book or even a movie. Some of my favorite books as a schoolchild were following the adventures of Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn as they rafted down the Mississippi and of Jules Verne’s characters as they explored under the oceans in “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” and circled the continents in “Around the World in 80 Days.” Who has ever read about Phileas Fogg riding an elephant in India and travelling the world in a hot-air balloon without wanting to follow in his footsteps? Well, I’ve since ridden in a balloon over the forests and hillsides of rural France, looking down at the many castles dotting the countryside, but India still awaits…

What attracted us about travelling was not just the many varied landscapes that lay waiting for us to discover, but especially of learning firsthand about different cultures and customs, of meeting other peoples and learning about other ways of life. We talked about wanting to have more intimate contact with the local inhabitants rather than just the habitual contact that you find in hotels, tour groups, and tourist locations.

There were three problems, however: time, money, and method. One day, Stéphane came up with the solution: we could bicycle around the world! He proposed the idea to me, and I thought, “Perfect!”

As to time, we figured that it was either now or never. Better to do it now, while we were still relatively free of family and financial responsibilities. As to money, well, we’ve been saving since those first weeks. Bicycling also seemed the logical solution financially speaking. The only energy you use is the force of your own strength and motivation; therefore, you don’t have to pay for gas or train tickets, etc. In addition, we’ve been fortunate enough to have attracted several sponsors (see sponsorship corner). As to being the perfect method, it worked because the bicycle allows you to enter rather easily into contact with the local population. People see you laden down with baggage, and curious, come to inquire about how you got there and where you’re going, and thus you enter into conversation naturally with them. In certain countries, the population is known to be especially welcoming and hospitable and invites you easily into their homes. Thus, an exchange is facilitated.

It was from these modest beginnings that our dreams started to take root and grow. Steadily, they took hold and grew over time in force and conviction that this was the right path for us to follow. In Phileas’ footsteps, only with one important exception: we do not feel the constraint of his 80 days. For us, it is the journey, not just the destination that is important. We will advance at our own pace, taking time to enjoy the smiles and the fellowship of the people we meet, to enjoy the natural landscapes that surround us, and to enjoy the beauty of the world we live in….