Tom
It’s spring again (in Armenia, at least - still snowing in England,
I’ve heard)! The last of the ice melted away a couple of weeks ago, and
all over the country grass and leaves are emerging from flower-beds and
trees. Winter is finally behind me. Sitting in my standard-issue
former-Soviet-Union flat, complete with regular water failures, no
heating or gas, and dodgy wiring, I can relax.
Everything I need is right here - a small 2-burner stove, a bed with
a couple of duvets to keep the cold away at night, a shower that
half-works during selected hours of the day, and occasionally-running
water to wash and cook with. My travels so far have taught me that I
can be happy - happier than I’ve ever been - without all the material
possessions and commodities that make life ‘easier’, thus
characterising the ideas of ’success’ and ‘happiness’ in my previous
life. I’m hoping to host as many travellers passing through Yerevan as
I can accommodate over the next few weeks, having been inspired to do
this by the countless people who have helped me on my travels so far.
You can do this too, wherever you live, through the Couchsurfing website. It’s an adventure in itself.
I’ve rented this place for 2 months, because the path I’ve chosen to
follow dictates that it makes sense to do so. Can I still be travelling
without moving? I think I can! My targets for the time between now and
the end of May are simple: earn some money to refill the coffers, find
a bicycle for Tenny jan, get involved in life and
environmental activities here in Yerevan, and prepare for the next
chapter of my journey and my life. When I leave this city and this
country, I will not be alone. I’ll be cycling onwards from Yerevan with
a new companion, one whom I hope to share my future with; someone who
shares my dreams and is open-minded and optimistic enough to make them
happen.
In some ways, this will be a fresh start. It won’t resemble the idea
that Ride Earth started out as, but that’s because things change, and
something as fundamental to my life as travelling the world - the
world! - should not be put in a box with a label on it. I remember back
to Istanbul, where, as the autumn drew on and we waited in vain for
bank cards to arrive (they arrived last week after 5 months in the
post), Andy and I discussed the direction we’d head in after leaving
the city. Would we go with the original plan to cycle directly to Iran,
or remain true to form, throw preconcieved ideas out the window, and do
something completely different?
We knew that taking the route through the Caucasus was going to test
us. We knew that we weren’t prepared for a long, deep-winter journey
through high mountains. And we knew that the Black Sea coast was going
to be a tough ride. Despite all this, we did it, we ignored the people
who told us every day that it was too cold or wet or hilly to cycle,
and look at what it brought to us both, in terms of our individual
lives and the expedition as a whole! If you travel with your eyes, ears
and mind open and keep yourself receptive to opportunities, able to
feel what is a good or bad road to take rather than striving blindly
onwards come-what-may, anything can happen, and it probably will.
As a result of these lessons, I’m not afraid to say that I’ve met
the love of my life. It’s the most significant thing that’s happened to
me since I got on my bike and pedalled away from 10 Main Street,
Middleton, without any idea what the world would throw at me, least of
all falling in love with a girl who lived in a small, overlooked
Near-Eastern country called Armenia! Back at the start of the trip, I
was somehow terrified and impossibly excited at the same time. Now, I
feel the same mixture of feelings once again. My life has opened out
before me in yet another new direction, one in which for the first time
I can see lifelong companionship and family and not be afraid. It’s
impossible to describe how this feels. I feel as though I’ve taken a
giant leap forward in life and accepted a brand new set of
responsibilities that I’d always previously dismissed as ‘for the
future’.
My cycling activities might now be confined to Armenia for a few
weeks, but it won’t be long before we hit the road again in search of
new lands and adventures. Maybe Andy and I will be heading in entirely
opposite directions, or maybe we’ll follow the same route. All is not
yet clear, but either way, our readers will have not one but two
individual stories to follow and enjoy over the next few years.
