I’m preparing for the next stage through Central Asia and am currently in Aktau, Kazakhstan. A place I am already falling in love with.
But first, during my winter break, I had time to reflect on several months of travel. This, in turn, has led to what I would do differently. This is not an exhaustive list of things I would do differently but, three areas I wish I had considered more carefully before.
Bike and kit, making decisions and getting advice
Whilst I had researched what I wanted to take carefully, I was poor at making decisions in time before leaving. I had wanted to change my tent (it was on the heavy side) but, after looking at all the options I left it too late to order it in time. I eventually changed my tent in Switzerland, not the cheapest country to buy a new tent! They did, however, have it in stock. Lesson learnt…be more decisive!
Coming to the bike, a bike fit would’ve been useful before. The physio and bike fitter told me that my spine doesn’t bend like others and I need a smaller frame. This is especially problematic if you have already bought the frame. Then there is the geometry of the frame, which is important depending on the places you want to go. I should’ve gone for an off-road style frame, Surly Bridge Club for example. Lesson learnt…get advice early when building a bike!
Take a break…before setting off
In hindsight, I should’ve taken a month, visited friends around Northern Europe and then headed off. Whilst I would not have had the chance to cycle through Northern Europe, I would’ve been more relaxed. In turn, I would have cycled through Europe slowly, better use of the 90 days Brits now have in the Schengen zone.
I only truly understood now, that I was burnt out from work and I carried that into my journey. This manifested as always needing to be doing something, for example, cycling, writing and photography. I was wondering why I didn’t take out the DSLR camera. Whenever I thought this would make a lovely shot, it filled me with dread!
I’ve only truly understood the need for this break after taking a winter break and starting back. I feel more relaxed and comfortable, especially when wild camping.
Mindset.
This is combined in part with the above. Taking a break would’ve given me the time to adjust my mindset. But in all, I had specific visions of what I expected my trip to look like. Beautiful vistas, wild camping every night, good food, etc etc. The reality is always something different. The irony is I knew this, from a three-week trip around Scotland last year. But I guess humans have short memories.
My camp cooking is nothing to look forward to! Pasta and tomato, that staple of student life was just not cutting it anymore. That was all I ate for my second year at uni. I couldn’t possibly do this for three more years! A realisation soon in my trip was that I seem to hate camp cooking. In my next stage, I must resolve this!
Wild camping is very much just stopping where you can for the night and often the view isn’t a guarantee especially if you are near any cities or towns. Or, as I am discovering slowly, just be bolder and camp where people can see you and ask if it is ok. Very rarely have people said no.
A mindset shift to lower expectations is a must if I am to complete this project. But my winter break has already started the shift. Here’s to looking forward to more travels.