Woah...we´re halfway there!

A year of travel is kind of like a really long loop bike ride. On the ride, when you head out, you´re either feeling great or crappy. If you´re feeling great, then awesome, it´s an adventure. If you´re feeling crappy, then it´s a struggle. every pedal stroke is taking you farther from home. But then when you hit the halfway point, everything changes. Now every pedal stroke takes you closer to home; closer to your goal.

Kinda the same with traveling. But at six months, let´s take stock....

The project:
It took a really long time for me to figure out what exactly it was that I was doing. If you´ve ever read what I actually proposed to do, and compared that to...you know...real life; what was actually possible and what I´ve actually done, then it´s a good laugh. The good news is that my project is cycling. The places that I´ve gone to, I can step out my door in the morning, throw a rock, and hit a person, a bike, or a person on a bike. So my place choices were good. That´s good news. They were good for weather, they were good for geography, but mostly they were awesome for their diversity in people. Different races, sexes, ethnicities, nationalities, income levels, social statuses. All riding; riding for pleasure, riding to get somewhere, riding to get somewhere before everyone else. People ride bikes everywhere. And they may not understand what you´re doing, they may not believe what you´re doing, or they may believe what you´re doing and scoff that of course, only Americans would give out large sums of money for something like that. But they ride. And they talk. And if you get them going they talk a lot.

A worldwide culture of the bike? For a while there I thought no possible way, it´s too different. But now I have a small inkling. Maybe. A common outlook, a common way of seeing life, it´s hardships, and it´s circumstances, and how you deal with those hardships and circumstances at hand. So, we´ll just have to see. Haha, means you can´t tune out till the end.

Financially.
Pluggin. First off, I must say right off that this is only because of great help I´ve recieved and will recieve from awesome people. It has and will continue to enhance my trip and my project so much, and someday there may be a way I can repay all who have helped me along. You know who you are, and I am forever greatful.

But also, this is because for the first time in my life I´ve had to live on a budget. Where I´ve had to make choices about what I want to do, and know that if I want to spend a decent amount of money, I better have good reason. This was especially hard in New Zealand, where I wanted to do, well, everything, but I did not have the means to do so if I wanted to come close to traveling for an actual year. But you make choices. And then when you get something you learn to really appreciate it. Like today. I bought a new T-shirt. It´s a new shirt! Different from the other two! Immediately it gets put on varsity status, and will become my formal t-shirt.

Or my power bar. I´ve learned a lot about cycling when I´m no longer under the sponsorship of team mom and dad. I don´t eat power bars anymore. I´d love to...or at least I´d love to as much as anyone would love to eat a power bar. But it´s hard to justify buying one when I can get three boxes of muesli bars for the same price, and they work almost as well. It´s lessons like these that have really made me learn what I really really need in life. And a lot of things I thought I did, I don´t.

Ah, but I do have one power bar. My mom gave it to me before she and my dad jumped on a plane out of Auckland. I haven´t been able to bring myself to eat it. I keep saying I will when I have something really important I´m riding for, like a couple triathlons I´m looking at in Groningen, or a bike race or something. And I have a lifesize picture of it making me really sick because I haven´t eaten them in so long. But mostly, I haven´t eaten it because my mom gave it to me. It´s from my mom. So I kind of want to hang on to it.

I know. I think it´s weird too. But you do learn to appreciate your parents too. And sometimes you even miss them.

:)

Physically:
Eeek! For a year in which you have endless hours of self-reflection, you sure don´t spend a lot of time looking in a mirror. Lots of times that´s because you don´t have one. But when I catch a glimpse...man. I am as good looking as ever. Of course. But things have changed. While I still have no question on my ability to kick ass and take names, damn. Six months of cycling have left me somewhat gaunt. I feel strong on the hills, and I´m riding as good as ever, but I´m thinking I need to add a baguette a day to the fueling process or something before we have a big problem.

I definitely need to lift some weights.

Not to mention I´m pretty tired. Everything is an effort.

T-Shirts:
Red Bull: Not the can. A red T-shirt with a bull. Ole! The newest addition to the T-Shirts, Red Bull will immediately assume Formal T-shirt status, and will only be worn for going on and the best occasions.
SEA189: Kinda stretched out, downgraded to work T-shirt
The Oar: Holding steady, but has had to fill two positions since HamTrek gave out, both evening and formal T. Will take on status of evening t-shirt now that Red Bull has been added to the rotation. Also used in travel purposes.
Blue HamTrek: This was the saddest loss of all. It had been fighting a hole in the sleeve since October, and was pulling through great, but Spain became too much. The hole went through, and now HamTrek cleans my chain.

Man, that was such a good shirt.

Emotionally:
Because I´m almost out of time...people ask how I am. I´m happy, sad, lonely, really focused, working hard, and having a blast. All at the same time. Never in my life have I had to go through so many intense emotions every single day. Something that´s not easy, but you don´t regret it either.