Contemplations/Overpeinzingen

There are quite a few instances when I find that what is considered "common knowledge" is in fact misleading. 

1. "A small world"

As a young engineer the company I worked for sent me to Texas for the start-up of a chemical processing plant. It was my first long distance trip. I probably started off at 08 00h in the morning, flying from Maastricht to Amsterdam, then via Montreal to Houston, TX. Of course, while flying we gained 7 hours with the time zones, but at 20  00h in the evening I was attending a barbecue on a Texas ranch. I remember very distinctly how utterly disappointed I was about the world I was living in, it seemed to be so small, nothing like the immense place I had always imagined the world to be.

This feeling was confirmed when, half a year later, I did a job in Japan, really the opposite side of Europe and yet to be reached so rapidly.

Then my perception had to be adapted. I spent a full year in the bush in Angola, in the middle of nowhere. With lots of time, and limited means of transportation. To see the surroundings there were only a few roads for the Landrover and only small distances to cover when on foot. But with so much time on hand it was possible to see and experience things in detail. Not just the sights, like towns, mountains or rivers, but nature in general and above all the local people. Going places is far more than just passing through, you  need to spend time, the slower you travel the more you can see. Most important: the more you can learn and retain, remember.

So I returned to my teenage practice of discovering the world with my bicycle and by walking.The last 20 years we,  (+ my wife) , have spent all our vacations on our bikes and backpacking.

My job allowed me to keep travelling all the way up to my retirement. In many of the locations where I worked I did my share of walking and cycling. 

Now, more than 40 years after my first Trans-Atlantic flight I have concluded that the world is an enormously vast place, a place you can not hope to experience in detail even if you were allowed a thousand lives.

Anyone who claims the world to be small has in fact not had the opportunity to really travel around!

2. "Cycling in the rain"

In a country like Belgium there are quite a lot of rainy days and yet you still see cyclists plodding on through rain and wind. Motorists, in their nicely dry automobiles, are apt to look upon these cyclists with pity.

We just finished a cycling trip, -a 4 day event- , the last 2 days of which with pouring rain.

When riding our bicycles we always anticipate the possibility of rain, so we purchased  really effective raincoats, watertight but breathing!

So when it starts to rain we put on our raincoats and place the cap over our heads. The cap gives an illusion of being within a shelter, even the sounds from without are dampened. So at first everything is nice and cosey. Then the knees and legs get wet, which is not so agreable. But once really wet, you don't really notice it anymore. It is like going for a swim in somewhat cold water, getting in is the worst.

Then riding in the rain is not bad at all, the air is fresh, you seem to have more oxygen. And there is this feeling of surprise that the rain doesn't bother you. Like the joggers we passed, arms stretched high up, a feeling of joy. In total contradiction with the opinion of sheltered onlookers.

Not always!! This was summertime, when it is colder, there is no fun in cycling in the rain.
Also, you need to be able to have a shower after the cycle trip and you need fresh clothes. Not so evident when you are on a trekking tour with your own tents. It gets rather smelly!!