So I have been travelling around 3 months now, and I´m loving it but I´ll have to work at some point soon just to recharge funds and also keep the wheels turning, I think I mentioned that previously but it´s becoming a firmer idea. Certainly I wouldn´t mind stopping to develop some friends and have a feeling of permanence somewhere. I have such a greater profound respect for the great cycle tourists out there now, those who´ve been travelling for years before returning home (or are still going) how they cope with the endless movement is beyond me.

This doesn´t mean I´m about to stop. Even living abroad for a few months is part of the journey not the destination. Certainly though I am wondering how the future will be, how long will I be on the road. One thing is clear, money seems the least important thing in my life now. When I was earning good money I never felt as satisfied as I am at present. In fact it seems the less I have material wise the less stressed and happier I feel. What is the phrase again “the things you own, own you”? Possibly this is just simplicity at work. When you only have to worry about your next meal and the road ahead things are certainly simpler. Obviously when you get a job that changes, you have responsibilities a schedule of work, time is taken away to generate funds, but if I´m working just to move on again then I can cope for a time. In the future I can see my home / flat / apartment will be pretty spartan in nature.

So my plan is Portugal for now, then Andorra I know where I´m headed, I know what the plan is, I have a direction. But part of me is constantly wondering a few things;

1. Where I am going to stop?
2. When is that going to be?
3. What am I going to do when I finally reach the destination?
4. Who am I now and who do I want to be?
5. Why am I doing this? (usually on a mountainside in blistering heat to be fair)
6. How will I answer any of the above?

I don´t have an answer to any of these questions I think their similar questions to the ones I had when I was at work. Does everyone have them, aside from minor variations? Does anybody know how find the answers? Well anyhow I´m off to explore locally see if I can get any inspiration and maybe meditate again later. My blog entries seem quite repetetive recently so I´ll end on a travel note.

I biked to Malaga and I´m on my route back to Gibraltar due to the routes that are available I´ll have to backtrack as far as Sevilla before heading to Portugal thankfully this is only 3 or so days away but it´s worth learning that you should look at the big picture before deciding a route. I´ve met some fantastic people during my little detour and so I´m glad I took the time to do it, plus the places I visited are as beautiful as they are interesting. I would suggest taking the time to see Spain to anyone there are many spains though, depending where you go you´ll see something entirely different, I would suggest the less beaten path is the more interesting but don´t underestimate how nice it can be where the locals can understand English

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 .

Things are going from coasting to rocketing and I’m being pulled along with them, can’t quite believe that in just under two months I’ll be setting off on a bike into a crisp January morning (here’s hoping for no rain on my first day). While I’m pretty tame compared to the people out there who have crossed the world I’m seeing this foray into Europe as just the begining, a test of my willpower.

I have consistently applauded people who have pushed the limits of what others consider possible. We can all push our limits but few actually bother too. I have let my life slide into a rut of computers and office work, put on weight and cobwebs in my head until I was so sedated I didn’t even realise life was passing me by.

Now suddenly I feel alive again, I feel like there’s a purpose to everything I do. Work is just a passing curiouso which I’ll be leaving on the 19th. I keep bouncing between excitement and terror, because I’m finally approaching something that will test me unlike anything else in my life.

Kit and time is becoming a major headache, buying the last few bits and trying to work out what I ‘really’ need and what I can just buy when I happen to need it. Still it’s all baby steps, first off I’m cancelling all my direct-debits and sorting out moving home for this last month. Once that’s done I feel I can focus on what’s important, living life rather than working through it.

On a site related note, I have been experimenting with Flickr for my Gallery and Umapper for my routes, with varying levels of success, it ’seems’ that I’m getting there.