Cycling The Globe

It has now been 6 months and a few days since I arrived back in Copenhagen by bicycle after 2200 days on the road. Physically, life without the bike has obviously been more predictable and less nomadic. People have asked if it was an anti-climax to finish. I wouldn’t really say so. This physical adventure might be over, but there is still plenty of both physical and mental adventures to come in life.

Do I miss life on the bike? Of course I do, but not as much as I would have thought. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that winter was coming fast after I arrived back home. I was somehow happy enough to be staying indoor looking out into the cold winter mornings, rather than being out there looking into people’s houses from my bike. But there was something more to it, more than just winter, that kept me satisfied to be a little more stationary. I guess I just had my fair share of this thing called adventure over the last years, and now it felt right to slow down a little.

I’m usually taking photos in exotic places, but today’s tourist shot is from my own city… #nyhavn #copenhagen #denmark #visitdenmark #berejst

Et opslag delt af Thomas Andersen (@cyclingtheglobe) den 7. Nov 2016 kl. 10:09 PST

The first weeks I spent catching up with family and friends who I hadn’t seen for too long. Copenhagen still looked the same, but people had moved, got new jobs, found new partners, and quite a few babies had been born since I left – a sign that the world is slowly but surely moving along.

I then got a chance to show my hometown to my girlfriend who stopped by for a visit. Life was certainly not as solo as it once was, which was a very good thing. Denmark put on a nice show of clear although very cold days, and Manon got a chance to see where this strange bicycle guy she had chosen to be with came from. Northern Europe was nice, but this was not where we would stay… Instead we took an airplane across the Atlantic to semi-settle down in our adopted hometown of Cali, Colombia.

Et opslag delt af Thomas Andersen (@cyclingtheglobe) den 29. Dec 2016 kl. 9:18 PST

Thus, the winter hasn’t been that tough to get through this year. I now enjoy the fact that I can go for a walk and randomly bump into people I know. The six years on the bike still makes me appreciate the comfort that I now happily enjoy every day; a real bed, a warm shower, a washing machine, the ability to keep my phone charged, and reasonably stable internet.

Et opslag delt af Thomas Andersen (@cyclingtheglobe) den 19. Dec 2016 kl. 6:24 PST

For the past months I have been busy going through most of the Cycling The Globe material. The old hard disks that hold the tens of thousands of photos and hours of videos have been plugged in again, bringing back lots of memories from the corners of the world. I have also managed to finish the blog which now contains a diary entry from every single cycling day. Finally, I have started writing “The Book” about the trip! I’m now 40.000 words or about half way into it, and once again writing about my experiences has brought back fantastic memories from places and people that mean so much to me. The book will be in English and I expect to write the final pages later this year. Stand by on this channel for more information 🙂

Et opslag delt af Thomas Andersen (@cyclingtheglobe) den 2. Jan 2017 kl. 8:32 PST

And so, from Cali I send the very best spring wishes to everyone around the world. As always, thanks for being a part of this journey.

Thomas