So I’m in Cordoba, or amusingly ‘Cordova’ as Google maps calls it, I mean i understand it’s the pronunciation but why only do it on a few cities? Is it just to confuse the hell out of people who use Google maps solely as their route planner? Because you sure as hell wont see any signs pointing to the place you think you’re looking for. Thankfully I have my trusty Michelin maps they generally guide me right. I actually have far too many and must send some home..

Anyway, Cordoba is a fantastic place, it has long been a place tied up with religion, there are Mosques, Cathedrals and Synagogues here. With one of the most extensive historical heritages in the world (declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO). So it’s pretty damn cool to look around. Sells great tapas and I’ve met a lot of English speakers which is pleasant.

Also last night I watched flamenco dancing for the first time, flamenco embodies a complex musical and cultural tradition. Although considered part of the culture of Spain flamenco actually originates from Andalusia (where I’m presently situated so I’m watching it in one of the best places apparently). It’s incredibly interesting to watch and I’m sure I missed about a million subtexts that are hidden in the movements (and the lyrics I couldn’t understand). Amusingly during the intermission I talked with one of the singers and he announced me to the room saying everyone should clap me for my adventurous bike ride. A trifle embarrassing but it’s always nice to have a room of people clap you for your endeavours.

Well the riding here has been pretty evil mind you 40°C+ temperatures soaring while biking hard is no laughing matter. I have narrowed my distances even further and I’m attempting a 2 day jaunt to Sevilla tomorrow, we’ll have to see how that goes.

As for the second part of my post, I read this which got me thinking

“We believe that by simply improving external conditions we can be truly happy. Motivated by this belief, most countries have made remarkable material progress. However as we can see, this does not really make us happier or reduce our problems but instead creates more problems, suffering and danger”

Well I’m inclined to agree on the first part, not so sure about the suffering and danger, whoever thought that before materialism caught on that we were living lives with more problems and less danger is a bit slow. We like to think that simpler means better, not destitute starving, with a lack of hygiene and human rights. Anyhow, that’s off topic, I could write all day on how material improvements have improved our lives beyond belief, despite what luddites and others might say. Although its true not all societies enjoy the comfort we’ve obtained in the developed countries there’s much to say that the situation is improving.

One thing I would agree with though is simply obtaining objects i.e. material gain is in no way beneficial to happiness. Happiness is internal, so you can be (and this might sound strange) just as happy in a prison cell as you are on a beach or a holiday, it’s a mental choice, most people wont believe me on that one, and that’s fine you’d be wrong… There’s a huge body of evidence which I haven’t got the time to reference right now, to say that we create our own happiness and despair, despite the way the world is treating us. Now I’m not saying you can’t buy ‘comfort’ you can obtain a lot of that through money and lets be fair it makes most of us content in life. But depression is the most commonly medicated problem in England at the moment so either people are assuming drugs will make them happier, we are being misdiagnosed or we have a serious disconnect between how we think we can obtain happiness and what it actually is.

So where do I fit into all this? Why am I writing about it. Well I think I’m seeking something, maybe some enlightenment about what I want to be, maybe it’s just a slice of happiness or maybe I was stuck in a rut and I needed to do something like this to snap me out of it. Worse case scenario I’m just running away from responsibilities I don’t want to handle anymore. But either way just travelling and changing the scenery isn’t actually going to get me there. Sure the constant change, the sense of achievement as I clear the summit of a mountain, my confidence at dealing with the unknown and the time to actually consider these things is great. As long as I do consider them and don’t just drift along admiring the views thinking “this will change my life” just because it’s different.

So I’ve been thinking I have to do more, I’m not sure ‘what’ more implies though. I know a regular meditation and writing this stuff up would be a good idea. I even have a book of the main 21 meditations or the path of lamrim (I’m not Buddhist by the way but they do have some interesting concepts and the lamrim is incredibly well thought out and structured). I’ll also e-mail friends and probably ask some questions about what they think of me… I think I need to be honest with myself if I’m going to work out where all this is going, and friends are the best people to tell you what you’re doing wrong.

I am happy by the way, happier than I have been for a long time, but the focus is slipping and I feel the need to have reasons for something like this. As much of a pleasure cruise as it is, I feel that I can achieve more if I strive for it. Well off to Sevilla for me then. Will try and upload photos soon I have a huge number pending. Hopefully write up more as I think/meditate en route.

I have stayed in Sans Sebastian for much longer than I intended, I don’t have any regrets though, this place has been fantastic, people have welcomed me with open arms and extended to me friendships that I think will last me a lifetime.

So the 1,200km bike ride to Gibraltar seems even harder, for me because I feel I’m leaving something special here. But I have decided tomorrow morning I start off again, heading south with little in the way of a plan, just a direction, a map, compass and my bike. I hope the future holds other Houses-on-the-hill, I know for a fact there will be more life-changing experiences, different but hopefully ulitmately as rewarding.

On another note I have a couchsurfer saying he’ll host me if arrive when I plan too in Gibraltar so that’s a massive plus, I need to really motor down there, I’ll be meeting a friend in the south of Spain when I get there so it’s a bit of a rush. Then I slingshot back round to Portugal to meet a friends family then speed up to Andorra.

Hopefully this break wont have damaged my cycling strength too much. But I’ll get it back soon enough, I have some tough terrain ahead of me but I’m confident I’ll cope. So until I next get internet then.

So I arrived on the 30th and it’s been pretty much Fiesta, Fiesta, Fiesta all the time since then, BBQ’s, beer great people and fun. I’m couchsurfing with Tobias, Alec at the house on the hill (expect pictures soon). The beer is cheap the weather fantastic (mostly) and it’s so chilled out I feel like a new person.

The most difficult thing about travelling like this is the fleeting nature of finding places like this, in a few days I’ll move on, never sure if I’ll meet my new friends again. In this case I’m almost certain I will though at somepoint catch up with these guys later after (or even during) my journey.

The one thing couchsurfing and travel does offer me though is seeing how other people live, the paths that others follow and whole new ways of thinking about things. It’s enlightening and also interesting. Foreign views of other places, peoples ideas of what’s important.

Spanish is a real trouble for me, the words slowly stick in my head, I find even the simplest things difficult, just practising numbers, directions and simple greetings at the moment. Doesn’t help I’m in the Basque area of Spain (a region with another language and culture in Spain similar I guess to Wales in the UK).

Either way Tobias and Alec offered me the spare room to rent for a month. It’s actually tempting but I can’t see myself accepting, maybe I’ll offer them a week or two and see what they say. It’s nice to be in a place where I feel I can be anyone I choose to be without judgement.

Still I’ll make my decision later today. Certainly staying here for a week or so I’ll at least get SOME spanish under my belt .

So much has happened in the last month, I’m still adjusting to this new lifestyle. With no fixed abode, no certainty and the only definite thing being the next destination to head towards and that I’ll have to bike there. The bike becomes a companion after awhile, a companion that right now needs a bit of fine tuning on the gears I think, something I should definitely do before I leave for Spain.

Bizarrely, I’m not concerned about my complete lack of Spanish. Nor am I concerned by the , literal, mountains I’ll have to surmount to get to Spain. I would say I’m getting concerned in trying to find a focus in my journey. Maybe it’s unimportant, maybe I don’t always need a reason and I Should just enjoy the moment. But I feel like there should be.. Something. Possibly the old me searching for a reason where there isn’t one. I have decided after it’s done to teach English abroad. I don’t know where but I think it must be done.

I’ve also been doing some soul searching, I’ve met so many people all with their own directions in life, from people travelling just months to people travelling for years. So many experiences and I want to decide what direction I want to move in.

Well that’s enough for now. I may write more later today. I’m not feeling down just floating slightly, life is crazy on the road and I guess I’m just adjusting. I want to have a goal in life, while one is finishing this ride around Europe, I think now is the perfect time to decide what I want to achieve with my time here. For some it’s a career and money, fame and fortune or a career that they’ve always known that they wanted to do. For me I’ve never known and floated right though life I think that focus, that ‘plan’ would change everything for me. Now if only I knew what it was .

So it’s been awhile since I wrote, I travelled through Paris, Nibelle, Orleans and arrived on Saturday in Tours  met a whole load of people, I don’t think I can write enough to explain the breadth and length of everything that’s happened and the fantastic experience I’m having. So I’ll give a few highlights.

I met a friend from home called Cress in Orleans for 3-4 days we had a good time, but she pointed out to me how much I’d changed from who I was back home, It’s like discovering your hair has grown or that over time subtle changes have taken root. I was completely unaware that anything had changed until it was pointed out to me. Certainly I feel more confident in myself and my ability to get around, I occasionally forget my phrasebook as I go out these days, which is an obvious improvement of confidence. But there is something deeper, maybe as a traveller there’s no expectations of character when you meet people, so you don’t feel the need to act in a certain way. I think this is a good thing, people rarely get a chance to reinvent themselves. I don’t know quite where it’s all going, but hopefully James version 2.0 will be all that I can make him .

Outside of personal changes I’m amazed constantly by the scenery, biking at a pretty leisurely pace allows you to really appreciate what you’re passing, even when the rain is pouring down, I have however had my fill of Cathedrals for awhile Sacré-Cœur,  Notre-dam,  Amiens, Orléans all have fantastic edifices to Christianity that quite literally blow my mind, especially when one considers the era they were built in without modern aids such as computers, cranes and construction equipment. But like the shrines of Japan I’m feeling a little tired when I see another one. I now look for the differences that make each one interesting.

I am in fact realising I can’t see everything on my route. For instance in Tours I have hardly scratched the surface of this medieval city. I must push on, I hope to be in Spain by the end of April ( should be easy ) I can bike 100-140km in a day quite happily, despite the rain and wind constantly blowing from in front. Tomorrow is a bike ride down to Poitiers where I’m staying a few days. Before heading to Angouléme, Bordeaux, Mont de Marsan maybe? The route is flexible though, and hopefully more regular biking will build up some fitness for the mountains that will very soon be visible on the horizon.

As a final note, I have yet to be lonely for long as I travel, I hunt out a bar or place to go and people just chat with me and wish me all the best, I think I’ve met a handful of people who I didn’t like. So while this might be just luck I also think it shows that people everywhere have good hearts. I am keeping a written journal most days and I’ve started to be more serious about my gear, some stuff is being returned soon and I’m trying to shift gear from the front panniers to the back, then load the front up with food. Eating out just isn’t an option in the long-term and Rice, Pasta with tuna and fresh fruit is not all I want to eat.

So in brief, things are good, equipment is being rethought, youth hostels are great but I can’t keep using them, I am learning to speak French, I miss my friends and I am making new ones, I had a cough that had me bedridden for a day but I’m fine now. Till next time then .