A few last words on this trip


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September 29th 2009
Published: September 29th 2009
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PrinsengrachtPrinsengrachtPrinsengracht

early morning in Amsterdam
Amsterdam, 30-09-2009.

It is windy and a sleek rain is making life difficult for the animal life outside in the interior garden of my house here in Amsterdam.

Makes me wonder if somewhere out there is a long-distance cyclist daring the elements despite his empty wallet and sh*tty equipment, a rusty mate offering a uncomfortable and not so stable leather saddle to its tested to the max owner'*ss, a leaky tent and a muffty moth-eaten sleeping bag his only company during long and dark nights wild camping in the forest, his mind uncable to deal with the hectic, the hustle and bustle of a big human populated city after long and solitary weeks and months on his bike.

When I look back on my bicycle messenger years here in Amsterdam and the lond-distance cycle trips I made during these years, it seems odd to me I had all that energy despite my bad life style at the time, rushing through the city on my iron all-day work companion, living basically on snack food and cheap take-aways, coming together with the Alley-Cat Gang after work on main public squares spoiling ourselves on cans of Heineken and coffee shop green
Souvenir shopSouvenir shopSouvenir shop

in Amsterdam
leaves...

My cycle trips that complimented years of backpacking, a different way of travelling I started after taking on a job as an Amsterdam alley-cat, a bicycle messenger on a mad rush speeded up by Mary-Jane, cold cans of Heineken stolen from clients's fridges during deliveries, and the cackling voice from my portophone always reminding me off my haste but the 8.50 Dutch guilder an hour making long backpack trips in a farawayistan country somewhere in Southeast Asia pretty much an eutopia...

I cycled down the Baja and around California, down to Spain and Portugal, a crazy mad hunt up to the North Cape but always the same...high levels of mental chemicals released by long and sometimes grueling hours on the bike, released in the brain, causing a nice and pleasant all-day high making you forget the enormous distance still ahaed of you, mere centimetres on the map mean whole days on the bike...your mind is set, your body will do the rest...

These days I don't cycle anymore, easy living during months wintering in far-away Thailand with weeks lond excursions to neighboring places like Cambodya and Laos, maybe Vietnam and five days of gambling in Macau...well,
KeizersgrachtKeizersgrachtKeizersgracht

in Amsterdam
let me not try to get you jealous....instead thanks for reading these stories with whatever Higher Entity might be out there hopefully positively inclined towards you!!!

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29th September 2009

I am looking forward to your next trip. I enjoy reading your perspective, so interesting and makes me feel I'm right there.
29th September 2009

Superman Hans
Thanks Hans for bringing your travel stories to life with your well written describtions of your journeys, the photographs and especially your great drawings. You have certainly packed a lot into your travels. Well done!

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