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.