Being a nomadic biker: what we've learned so far

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The bike touring lifestyle has been a blast so far...

You are always living in the moment: Where to get the next meal (or three), where to sleep, where to relieve yourself. Its very refreshing. We spent so long looking forward to this trip and living in the future but now we are in the moment.

You always have a perspective of the entire country when you visit a little town: When you roll into another rediculously cute town, many of the tourists there (if there are any this time of year) have arrived by car or train. But we have had the priveledge of seeing the spaces in between towns, the endless, green fields, the thousands of sheep, and the anticipation of an approaching town as a city hall tower grows larger and larger in the distance. Each town is a welcomed pause in our adventure.

You have to eat...constantly: Our daily routine revolves around caloric intake and where to get it, cheaply. In the morning, after packing up camp, we usually drink a pint of yogurt beverage, eat a banana, and some sort of leftover bread thing. Then we ride our bikes to the nearest town and pillage their bakery. We have to order enough baked goods for second breakfast and lunch. I swear the baker has to say 'Anything else?' at least 4 times, usually 5. We eat half of our loot and somehow stow the rest away in our bulging panniers. (Let me just say, the baked goods here are delicious, beautiful, well crafted items. These people are spoiled.) For second lunch we eat whatever edible item is floating in our panniers. For dinner, we swing by a grocery store near camp that evening and buy more carbs, usually pasta and all the fixins. We cook that up on our stove at camp and snarf away. We found that it's important to eat regularly, every 15 miles or so, otherwise crankiness settles in...

This trip has been a learning experience and well worth it!

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Photos

Sheep
The typical view through the farmlands.

Breakfast!
Resting after our daily Holland bakery pillage.

Fruit Tart
We found the baked goods to be as beautiful as they are delicious.

Bundle up!
It gets chilly when you stop riding.

Eating in Kalenburg
The ducks here have developed a taste for delicious Holland pastries. They wait eagerly for us to share.

In the bag
Our beloved bikes carry everthing we need on our travels.

Ice cream in Den Bosch
A tasty treat near the end of a long ride.

Comments

[dorothy]

Aw... you and your preoccupation with caloric intake, Sara. So cute. Do you guys eat a lot of peanut butter? Lori told me that when she went on her pilgrimage, peanut butter was the perfect trekking food- compact and rich in calories.

[Paul and Sara]

Peanut Butter
Yeah I stole some neat little packets of Peanut butter from a youth hostel. Quite convenient but didnt last long. i miss you guys! i saw some cool jewelry galleries in amsterdam and Luxembourg. I want to make things now! What is your new address? Much Love! Sara