Finding your Rhythm
I woke covered in sweat clutching my pen knife with the smell of sardines still lingering in the tent
Night 1 camping abroad- check.
We were in at the beautiful forest on the outskirts of Ypres, Belgium, after getting the ferry to Dunkirk the day before.
We had cycled through three countries in a day and nestled ourselves in amongst the pines
I’m a bit of a hypochondriac anyway but the combination of sleeping on the continent for the first time, every sound of a broken twig in the forest definitely being an axe-wielding serial killer and mainly the fact it was 38°, meant we were off to a bad start in terms of sleep quality.
I have been assured by people who have camped in much sketchier places than I have, that you will inevitably ‘find your rhythm’.
If this was a beat of my drum, I’m not sure I wanted to hear it every day.
We at least had somewhere to aim for on our first full day in Europe.
I am convinced everything happens for a reason, and when we stayed at our friends Mandi and Martin’s last week, their wonderful sister Agnes just happened to be staying with them for a few days where she informed us that our proposed route went 3 km past her house in Belgium.
It was meant to be!
Just like the fact that Lucy bumped into someone from university in Ypres, and we crossed paths with a Mancunian friend Rory in a rainy village in Ciney. However we do dramatically increase the odds by doing what we do best and stopping for two hours for coffee and baguettes.
After a 120 km push to her house we received the warmest welcome just like we did only a couple days ago in her sister’s house.
Home grown vegetables from the garden, chocolate cake and fresh cream and even a concoction of home-made essential oils that I was instructed to give Lucy a massage with….
After the emotional exhaustion of leaving the UK, plus a bad night in the tent, we shot each other look that meant only one thing- rest day.
Although our days are super long, the actual cycling feels very much manageable.
The 2 hours in the evening of finding somewhere to stay, setting up camp, cooking dinner, washing clothes and planning for the following day, all whilst trying to write blogs and edit YouTube videos is the emotionally draining parts. If you’re not careful can grind you down.
We had some really powerful conversations with Agnes’ about spiritual guidance in the universe and how to trust your intuition and each other as a couple
One of those ‘pinch me’ moments where you’re sat in a Belgian kitchen on a Zoom prayer circle with people in New York and Vietnam.
And it was a beautiful 10 minutes I will never forget.
We then tackled the brilliant cycle networks of Belgium over the next couple of days and I still struggled to get my mind to settle .
There is lots of cows and lots of corn in rural Belgium, and if you’re not careful, you could stay that boring
I once read a quote once by Alistair Humphries (who wrote the book that made me want to cycle on the world) that basically said that 50% of the time you’re seeing the most Awe-inspiring landscapes and interactions you’ve ever seen… and the other 50% you are bored out of your mind. Not because your days are typically boring but 12 hours on a bicycle and naturally your mind starts to wander.
As we got closer to the forests of Luxembourg, I started to realise that was okay.
Maybe finding your rhythm doesn't mean every day suddenly becomes exciting.
Perhaps it means learning to be content when it isn't. To find something beautiful in the cows, the corn and the mundane faff at the end of the day. To get up, pack the tent, climb on the bike and pedal for a while.
Our very own special rhythm.