Why Travel?

I am currently sitting on beach chair by myself under a well-worn rock formation watching the waves of the Mediterranean Sea crash in front of me as I look back down the shoreline towards Beirut in Lebanon. How the hell did I wind up here? Life is a very strange mistress.

Eight years ago I was just finishing high school and I’d never been east of Edmonton except for one trip to Yellowstone National Park and a trip to Disney World in Florida. I had also been to Mexico. It’s true that I’d always dreamed of traveling the world, but what starry eyed overly ambitious teenager hasn’t?

Perhaps I did have one slightly different feature of my travel dreams than most, I actually didn’t want to go to Europe. Or at least not in the traditional drunken euro-trash eight-clubs-in-five days sense. I did want to see all of Europe, in fact I still do, but I figured that Europe wasn’t going to change anytime soon and I could go visit it when I was old in my 40s (hey I was 18 at the time) and get just as much if not more out of it then.

For me, travel – not holidays or vacations - is about opening your mind, body, and stomach to new ideas, people and culture. You need to get lost, be misunderstood, order something you thought you’d never eat and love every minute of it.

There is an inherent fear of the unknown in our society just as there is a natural fear of the dark. This isn’t a bad thing, it is one of the major reasons we have survived as a species for as long as we have, but it is also why many of us don’t even know our neighbours anymore.

If traveling and this trip in particular, has taught me anything, it is that humans individually are universally kind. It has also shown me that North Americans have a lot of catching up to do on this kindness.

I have been asked by a couple people recently why I chose to go to Lebanon and Syria in the Middle East instead of say Greece or even staying in Turkey to finish off my trip. They are also quick to point out that Lebanon is on a watch list that recommends no non-essential travel to the country.

My best answer is that like Croatia and Serbia, which I have already been through on this trip, the only thing I really knew about Lebanon and Syria were the 30-second clips that were shown sensationalized on the evening news. In my mind that is a sorry state of affairs to be in for someone who likes to regard himself as a global citizen and wants to change the world. I wanted to give these countries and people a chance to speak for themselves, and hopefully to help them find a small voice through me out into the larger world.

This may be a bold, brazen, or even arrogant approach, but I simply refused to believe what I’d seen on TV. It just didn’t make sense, especially after having been through Serbia, which is regarded as the black sheep of Europe, and was my favorite country on the bike trip.

Everything I’ve seen in Lebanon so far, and every person I’ve met have completely dismantled any sort of preconceived notions I may have had. Everyone has been beyond kind and caring and as helpful as possible. It’s true that the political situation still exists on a razor's edge; walking down the street it is not uncommon to see a full armored tank quietly sitting on the street corner. If you pull out a map to get your bearings however, the soldiers will be the first people to try and help you along your way.

Beirut is a wonderful melting pot of a city that has mosques sitting right next to churches, across the street from ancient ruins, and kiddy corner to a building full of bullet holes and tank shells. Because Lebanon is so small every culture that has come here has been forced to live beside another and it has created an amazing blend of food and ideas.

Today I took a bus 40km up the coast to a town called Byblos, a town I’d never heard of before. It turns out that Byblos is one of the oldest continually used towns on earth dating back to around 6000 BCE. It also is considered the birthplace of the modern alphabet. They actually have an unbelievable problem with their archeological excavations: they have too many ruins. Because it has been a town for so many years every civilization built on top of the last, so in order to get down to the truly ancient ruins they’ve had to remove the “more recent” ones, excavate, and then replace them for people to see. How have I never heard of this town before?!

You’ll notice that when I travel I refer to it as travel and not as tourism or vacation. For me there is an important difference. Sometimes you need vacations from the everyday, you need to relax, and you need to unwind. That’s totally fine. The result of this is often tourism, you go somewhere new and you see some sights and take pictures. Being a traveler, to me, means something more; it’s trying to engage with people and cultures to gain a better understanding of the unknowns of the world. It’s a belief that knowledge leads to understanding, leads to friendship, leads to peace and a better tomorrow. I hope that I’ve been able to impart some of that to the people who have read my blog, and will continue to try to do so as I travel around an area of the world that we all need to know more about.

Insanity even by my standards

As most people know, I have very high standards for what I consider crazy or absurd especially after having just ridden 4000km across Europe on a bicycle. The previous 36 hours however might just be the most random set of events and spur of the moment decisions I’ve ever made. Oddly enough, even amidst all of the craziness I was never overly concerned or stressed, everything was just, well, chaotic.

It started with what seemed like a simple enough decision, I was trying to figure out what to do after the trip ended. I opened up google maps and took at look at where I currently was in the world and noticed that Lebanon and Syria were right below Turkey and thought to myself, I bet those are amazing places to visit, I’ve always wanted to see Beirut and Damascus. The next step was also fairly simple, find a cheap plane ticket and a place to stay for the first night in Beirut and then hit the ground running. Shawn and Eileen also thought this seemed like an excellent idea so they also got tickets on the same flight.

There were a couple minor hitches to the plan however, we still didn’t know where we were going to store our bikes for the next 2.5 weeks, and needed to get rid of our panniers and buy backpacks to make it all work out. Luckily, a small bazaar had randomly set up shop right outside our campsite and had backpacks for sale; I also bought a watch so I would stop having to rely on the sun to tell time. Shawn and Eileen arranged with a woman who owned a bakery for us to store our bikes in her basement and it seemed like the universe fully approved of our plan. That was until the next morning.

Waking up at 6am after about 5 hours of sleep we started to take down camp and change from panniers into backpacks. We were supposed to meet the woman who owned the bakery at 8am to store our bikes, and then head off to the airport where Mark would take mine and Shawn’s panniers back to Vancouver with him as he was leaving that day.

We arrived at the bakery at 8:30am and the woman was not there. After a very charade-filled conversation with two people who did happen to be there, we ascertained that the woman we were seeking was still sleeping, would not be in until 10am, and the

y had no idea what to do with our bikes as she had the key. We had of course forgotten the piece of paper with the phone number for Benjamin (the owner of the shop next door who spoke English and arranged our storage with the bakery woman) and had to bike back to camp to get it from Keely.

Once we finally got through to Benjamin with our rapidly declining phone card, he called a couple friends and found a new place for us to store our bikes. Unfortunately, it was now 9:45am and we had no idea if Mark had already checked his bags at the airport so we had to leave our panniers locked to our bikes and quickly find ourselves a cab to take us to the airport for our 11:20am international flight.

Check-in at the airport actually went very smoothly and after clearing two different securities and passport control we were boarding our plane at 10:50am. We even ran into Mark at the bookstore in the airport and found out that he had also had an adventure of a morning so it was a good thing we’d not brought our panniers. Boarding the plane with Shawn and Eileen provided me with my favorite moment from the morning as Shawn turned to me as we were walking and asked, “so what’s the deal with Canadian visas in Lebanon”? The answer for those interested is that you can get them at the airport upon arrival and they are free.

The plane ride itself was a short one hour forty minutes and I wound up sitting next to a pair of guys who had spent about 7 years in Montreal. We each asked the flight attendant for an extra meal and shared our feast with each other. It was quite the sight to behold and drew some interesting stares from people sitting in nearby seats.

When Shawn, Eileen, and I arrived in Beirut it is safe to say we were a little drained. We had had a pretty crazy morning and all we really wanted to do was get to the bed and breakfast and nap. Well, I wanted to get to my reserved bed and breakfast and nap, Shawn and Eileen hadn’t actually booked a room anywhere yet and were hoping that something would either work out at my place or somewhere near by. The only tricky thing was figuring out how to get there, but this situation soon solved itself. We struck up a conversation with an airport employee working at a bank based there about the cost of the Lebanese visa and exchange rate and he offered to give us a ride to our accommodation as it was near his house and he was getting off work in 30 minutes. I’m sure this would set off warning bells in some people’s heads, but we have had so many gracious hosts over the last two months that we have come to believe in people’s best intentions, plus he seemed very nice so we agreed. I also found out later that Lebanese and Syrian hospitality is supposed to be phenomenal.

True to his word, and actually ten minutes early Jad met us and took us out to his BMW SUV. He then offered to take us back to his parents' place for a quick bite to eat and drink and we of course agreed. With that settled we then set off rolling down the streets of Beirut in an air-conditioned SUV listing to the Smiths and Radiohead.

When we arrived at his parent’s house we were warmly greeted and quickly brought a delicious salad and a rice and chicken dish. We stayed only for about 45 minutes before it was time to leave as our new friend was getting his wisdom teeth removed later and wanted to leave plenty of time to find our accommodation.

Here is an interesting note about Beirut streets: they are super tight, no one obeys the traffic lights, and there are no real street signs. There are signs occasionally on the buildings that have names, but they tend to be the district or route number and don’t actually help you find where you are going. Apparently the thing to do is just to stop and ask someone in the area where the place you are looking for is. This works out great if it is a well-known building or landmark, but far less so if it is a small unsigned bed and breakfast that isn’t answering their telephone.

After an hour of looking it was getting close to the dentist appointment time so Jad dropped us off at a popular local café with wireless internet and said he’d come back in a couple hours to make sure we found it. This actually provided a nice break from our car tour of the city and allowed for Eileen to do some shoe shopping.

True once again to his word Jad came back to resume the search. By this point Shawn and Eileen had decided they wanted somewhere else to stay so after dropping them off at a different hotel we set off once again for where I was staying. Finally, after borrowing a cell phone from a passerby on the street (the cell we had ran out of batteries) we got ahold of someone, arranged a meeting point, and I got to where I was going to sleep. It was now 7pm, my new best friend had been with me since 2pm, and he convinced me (it wasn’t very hard) to come to a bar his brother was spinning at for a drink after I had showered and relaxed a bit.

An hour and a half later he picked me up and we went out to this cool new underground bar for beer. He of course did not let me pay for a single drink, his or mine, despite my insistence, and then dropped me back off around midnight to finally get some sleep. What a crazy day.

Parting is such sweet sorrow

It’s official: Global Agents for Change’s Europe tour 2009 is now over. WE ALL MADE IT TO ISTANBUL! Looking back at the last two months is really just a blur of memories that haven’t even begun to make sense yet. I am willing to bet that most of us will still be figuring out exactly what we have gained from the tour for a long time to come yet. The fact that every rider made is really testament our teamwork and ability to overcome any challenges. Not every rider got to ride everyday, or every kilometer – in fact only two of us did, Robbie and I –

but as a team we all accomplished our crazy goal: to bike ride 4000km across a continent in order to raise money and awareness for micro finance projects.

In the end of course it became much more than just the $70 000 we collectively raised. We all get to come away with the knowledge that we have accomplished a goal that many people thought was outlandish. In reality however, it was actually quite easy. Yes, we biked 4000km, but it wasn’t all in one day. Every day we had a manageable task of biking around 70km. That isn’t to say there weren’t daily challenges around directions, language, hills, weather and a whole host of other problems, but together none of them were all that daunting.

I know personally one of the biggest things I will come away with is a sense of unified global caring. Every day we put ourselves out into the world and everyday we were helped by total strangers. Many times they did not know who we were, what country we were from, or what we were doing, they just knew that we needed help and opened up their hearts to do what they could. How I view guests and helping strangers has been totally changed.

There are so many great stories to tell, and I’ve tried to do my best to share as many as I can, but in the end all of our words can never do justice to just how special this trip was to everyone. I had bad moments, and bad hours, but not once did I ever have an entirely bad day where I wished I was somewhere else. I would just like to take one last chance to say thank you to everyone that helped play a role in making this happen for everyone: All of our friends and family back home that supported us, all of our wonderful

hosts along the way, and especially all of the strangers who helped guide us here. We are all better people because of your support.

That’s about all I have for now, riding into Istanbul down a four lane highway going 60km/hr with 15 bikes behind me was one of the craziest things I’ve done, but I feel like that story is best saved for another post or over conversations when I get home. I will say however that we are also extremely lucky as it is Ramadan right now so Istanbul is even more spectacular than it would otherwise be. The sheer number of people around the blue mosque at sundown is mind-boggling.

As for what’s next, many of riders are sticking it

out in Istanbul for another week or so and a few are continuing their travels for several months. Personally I’m headed off to Beirut, Lebanon and then hopefully into Syria before I have to make it back here to fly out on the 14^th of September. It is sad to see this amazing experience end, but I am excited for all of the new adventures on the horizon.

Nothing but headwind until Istanbul

Our last day in Bulgaria was a wonderful experience. Upon arriving in Svilengrad we were met by the mayor of the city and about 20 other cyclists and they rode us out to where we were staying. Along the way we were given some very tasty bread to eat and each given pins as a lasting reminder of our visit. It was a lovely send-off from a country we have very much enjoyed being in and has far surpassed our expectations. I would certainly recommend coming and checking it out if you get the chance.

Yesterday morning we woke up and did something a little different in the morning: we totally changed the route. Instead of going right from Bulgaria into Turkey we thought, hey, why not ride through Greece? Wouldn’t it be cool to say that we rode through three different countries in one day on our bikes? It seemed like a logical enough choice - aside from crossing an extra set borders - it was about the same distance and this way we got to tack another country visited onto our itinerary and passports.

It also graced us with a wonderful stretch of highway and a huge shoulder that made the first 20km of our day a breeze. We then got to visit a very famous and beautiful mosque in Edime, Turkey, and everything was shaping up to be one of the more memorable days on the trip. We then realized however that it was 4pm and we still had 60km to go and unbeknownst to us, all of it was on not very bike friendly chip-sealed road into a very strong headwind. To make matters worse we did not have any accommodation planned.

Luckily, our group is very good at turning obstacles into challenges and overcoming them. Because we did not have accommodation planned in the town that we were supposed to stop in, we were able to simply cut the ride day 20km shorter and add it to the next day. While this meant that pods would still be getting in long after dark it meant it was far safer and everyone would be in a good mood not having to ride as far as they thought.

As it turned out the town we chose to camp in, Ürünlü, was an incredible choice. When we arrived the people from across the street volunteered to cook our pasta for us and even gave us a watermelon to eat. The hospitality continued when I went up to the store to buy some juice and an ice cream bar, and the owner of the store charged me less than he should have and even shoved a couple more bars into my bag as I left. Even as we walked around the town later everyone was inviting us in for tea and refusing to let us pay for anything.

I can honestly barely even begin to describe what a humbling experience it has been, and how grateful we all are for the generosity of everyone we have met. We have truly and genuinely appreciated everything we have been offered so much, and at this point in our trip it really does mean the world to us. What makes it even more special is the people who have been helping us don’t speak English, they haven’t heard why we are riding through their country, they just see that we have been biking in the sun all day and need a little water and a smile and open up their houses and homes to us. It really is just from the goodness of their hearts that they are helping us and it is extremely moving. It will be very interesting to see how we all treat strangers when we return home.

One more sleep till turkey!

Our stay in Kostenets a couple nights ago was probably one of the most memorable days for me. On a personal level I was quite sick for most of it so there is that memory, but there is also so much more. The ride itself finished with 15km downhill right into the town we were staying in which is absolutely the best way to end any riding day. You cannot help but to be in good spirits after that. Then we were greeted by some extremely amazing hosts who not only graciously let us stay in their kindergarten, but also brought us a local food dish to sample and a bunch of raspberries for dinner. I should also mention that our dinner was likely one of the best we have made for ourselves on the trip: grilled Panini! There was then a great 2 hour internal discussion about development that followed and I think everyone slept very well after such a great day.

The next day into Plovdiv I joined together with three others to form a 'medium to slow' pod. I still wasn’t feeling 100% and everyone else just wasn’t really ready to ride fast, we all just wanted to take it easy and it was an 80km day so it seemed to make sense. Now back home whenever I say I’m going to ‘take it easy’ almost the exact opposite happens, and apparently even when in Europe the same thing occurs. Instead of ‘taking it easy’ our pod rode the entire 80km in about 2 hours and 45 minutes without taking our feet off the pedals once. We didn’t have to stop for a traffic light, there were no nature or snack breaks, we just rode directly from Kostenets to Plovdiv. It wasn’t even close to intentional, but the day just started off with a big downhill and we never stopped rolling after that. Really I think the lesson here is that I need to come up with a better expression for not wanting to do something as hard and fast as possible.

Yesterday in Kirklareli was our day off and I think I am in a similar boat to many people on the trip in that I didn’t want to do much of anything. Most nights we arrive in a town between 4pm-9pm and have either that night or an hour or two the next morning to see its sights and then move on and it gets exhausting. Every now and again you just need some time to do nothing and yesterday was one of those days, for the most part. We did have a very productive meeting about what we want to get out of the last week of the trip and had a lovely traditional Bulgarian dinner with our host (complete with dancing) but even that ended quite early for the most part. I know I’m really looking forward to being in Istanbul for a couple days and not actually moving before I set off on the rest of my travels post trip.

As sad as it is for the trip to be winding down it is also very exciting to be reaching the end of this great adventure. Tonight is our last night in Bulgaria and then it’s on to Turkey. What should be especially interesting is that we will be hitting it right as Ramadan starts. A pretty cool time to be visiting.

The hills are very much alive here in Bulgaria

Just in case anyone thought we were just riding through the flat European countries, let me assure you, Bulgaria is not flat. Many of our last few days have included stretches where we have done at least 30km of linked hills and we have even traversed a couple mountains. By now most of us are in very good cycling shape, but no one likes to finish their day with a mountain 6km straight up.

Bulgaria has also been interesting in that no one really had any idea what to expect. For some reason it was just a cultural black spot in most of our minds. I can happily report however that it has been beautiful here – when you get to the top of the mountains – and the people have been extremely welcoming and nice. Even the capital Sofia, which we were told to avoid because it is ugly and horrible to cycle through, had its own charm and the roads weren’t any worse there than we have experienced elsewhere.

We also had one of our first and only real tests of group unity the other night. After climbing the previously mentioned mountain we had to wait at the top for directions about where to go next. What we didn’t know was that the lead group that was supposed to return with directions had been put to work hauling wood and various other camp tasks: this was part of our deal for getting to stay at the accommodation for the night. The group at the top of the hill was starting to get worried however as it was getting dark and then some strangers appeared to give us directions to the camp. Unfortunately, the directions were about as clear as mud and the group got lost on the side of the hill with the sun quickly setting. Feeling exhausted from the climb and with tummies grumbling we phoned the car for help. The only problem was that the car hadn’t found camp either and was in fact stuck in the mud on the far side of the valley. Naturally tempers then began to flare as people began to worry about where we were going to sleep for the night and about our stuck friends. We began to think of a few plans, and a search party managed to find the camp down one of the other paths and the crises was averted. The car also managed to get unstuck and in the end we were treated to a lovely meteor shower in the middle of a field on the side of a mountain in Bulgaria. On a whole I think most people in the trip will chalk this up to one of their fondest memories. We had all expected this sort of craziness, it just took us until now to find it.

On a whole it seems crazy to think that the ride is almost over. To only have a week of actual ride days left seems absurd as it really feels like we just started. Even today we saw our first sign counting down the kilometers to Istanbul (492). There was a huge cheer that went through the group as we saw it followed by small pang of regret that this journey will soon be over. All we can hope for at the moment is to continue to try and get the most out of every kilometer we ride and savor the last few daze. It will all be over far too fast.

Video Highlights from Week 5-6

Cruising through the countries: We’re already in Bulgaria!

It’s hard to believe but we flew through Romania and are now into our second to last country, Bulgaria. Romania flew by so fast it seems like a blur, but it was far from forgettable. Romania may have been the most beautiful country we have visited so far. Our rides alongside the Danube were stunning and everyone moved a little slower as we all kept stopping to take pictures. I didn’t get quite as many as I wanted as I had an issue with some exploding cheese and my camera but I think everything is operational again.

Romania was also probably the most culture shock we have experienced on the trip thus far. The instant we crossed from Serbia to Romania it felt like we had stepped back in time. Romania was much poorer than most of us had expected and everything just seemed more run down. We also had many encounters with horse drawn buggies and cows on the road. One morning we even woke up to a herd of wandering horses standing outside of our tents!

It’s also been interesting to notice the group slide into a much more relaxed state about our travel. The first time we didn’t have accommodation in a town we all rushed ahead and had very specific meeting spots. The last time we didn’t have accommodation – we didn’t have it for four days in a row – we forget to even set a meeting place and didn’t leave our previous town until well into the afternoon. We have also become much more relaxed about things like showers. I think several group members – myself included – haven’t had a proper shower in over a week. I think it is fairly safe to say that whoever picks us all up from our respective airports may need to drive home with the windows open.

There have been many surreal experiences on this trip, but our entrance into Bulgaria may take the cake. After waiting an extra two hours for a 1pm ferry that didn’t leave until after 3pm we were greeted on the other side of the river by a police escort that took us right to our camping area which just happened to be a fortress from the 5 BCE. We then had 24 hour security by the local police who proceeded to tape off our camping area with caution tape. Once again I have nothing but wonderful things to say about all of our hosts who continue to blow away any expectations that we have about hospitality.

We now thankfully have a day off, and for once it isn’t in a capital city. As much fun as it is to get to explore a bustling city it never really feels like downtime. There are so many sights to see that we actually wind up sleeping less. Today we all can actually just take it easy and read.

Time marches on as the wheels keep spinning

Preconceptions are an interesting thing. While I know that most people in our group were very eager to visit Serbia many were also very wary of the "horror stories" that seem to be around. Even neighboring countries and past residents had given us tips and warnings about it, but almost none of them have been true. It seems like the further east we go the nicer, friendlier, and more welcoming people become; and Serbia thus far has been the nicest.

In North America if someone honks at you on the road it is probably to tell you to get off it, here almost all of the honks were followed by friendly smiles and waves. If we stopped at the side of the road for a break multiple cars would stop to make sure we were alright or to confirm our directions. On one occasion we stopped to change a tire and the owner of the house came out and offered us water and food, all without speaking a word of English. Really pretty much every country we've been through has made North Americans seem like uncaring arrogant asses. Many of us of course are not, and I'm sure smaller towns maybe can also claim to be just as welcoming but there is just a different feeling here when you interact with people and it can't just be because of the language barrier.

Croatia and Serbia certainly have a recent past and signs of it are everywhere. Gunshot holes in buildings, some craters in the ground, and even a pair buildings in downtown Belgrade that have been bombed by NATO. It certainly gives the expression "your tax dollars at work" a whole new meaning. It is a very humbling moment to visually see in person the kind of destruction you are linked to by the nature of your citizenship.

Another extreme reminder of where we are came in Croatia. In our bike map book one day it said, "Do not stray too far from the trail as there are undetonated landmines around". This is not to worry people back home, in fact there was a minor discussion as to whether to mention it or not, but I think it is an extremely important reminder to people about what went on. I also think it is important not to shy away from traveling to places with a past such as this. It helps everyone understand the world better and is nowhere near an indicator of what the people are actually like. Which, again, was extremely caring, open, and warm.

It seems hard to believe that it is already August and that even that is beginning to slip away from us. In many ways it feels that we are just hitting our riding stride and our group is really starting to figure out what it is. Last night for instance, we had a discussion about what it means to be an "Agent for Change" which quickly spun off into a 3 hour conversation. This group is so diverse in many ways and yet we are all united by the feeling that there is something wrong with the world that we are all determined to figure out and fix. That is a conversation that I never want to stop.

Serbia is now finished, up next is Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey. I'm sure it will all be too much too fast but in the mean time we will continue to ride, explore, and have our hearts touched and lives changed by everyone we meet.