...and a lot of wheels
Remy and I are going to do something exciting: we are going to Spain for three weeks WITHOUT our bicycles. We already practiced a bit last year to go on vacation without a bicycle and that went pretty well. Spain, of course, lends itself perfectly to a bicycle vacation, but this time we choose to travel through Spain by train and on foot. We both take a large backpack with us and stay overnight in hotels and B&B's. Writing an On-Two-Wheels newsletter is out of the question, due to the lack of two wheels. And counting the wheels of the train is such a hassle. So no newsletters during the vacation this time. What has happened to us? Well...
Actually nothing. It's a practical reason. In the winter of 2020/2021, we wanted to spend six weeks cycling in Cuba or New Zealand. A choice between those two countries we never had to make, because COVID kept us at home. In the winter of 2021/2022, also because of COVID, we could only going on vacation in Europe, and since we wanted warm weather, we chose the Canary Islands. The time had now been shortened to four weeks. We abandoned our principle of "no flying within Europe" for once because otherwise we would have lost half our time traveling back and forth by train and ferry. This trip was also cancelled because of COVID. But because the cancellation was made by ourselves, we did not receive a refund, but we did get a flight credit from the airline. To be used up within a year.
And that is what we are doing now. Meanwhile, the available vacation time has been reduced to three weeks and that made us decide to go without bicycles. The bicycle on a plane is hassle. A lot of hassle. And we only want to do that if we're going very long and very far. Actually, if we don't take the bicycles anyway, I wanted to go to a wintery Norway. However, the airline in question does fly directly to Norway, but over Barcelona! We thought that was so stupid, flying to Norway via Spain, that we chose Barcelona as our destination.
By the way... my bicycle has nothing to complain about for the next few weeks. I took her this week to the Santos factory, where she once was born. She is getting a complete wellness treatment there! She's going to have a bath. A dye bath, that is. And the colour? That is still a surprise.
So far the last newsletter of this year. Next year I hope to publish a new guidebook, five presentations are planned, I still have some work to do in Sweden and Norway and afterwards we will cycle together there. Cycling in the Canary Islands, as well as cycling in Cuba and New Zealand, remains on our wish list. Unless, by then, our flight shame starts to weigh on us so much, that it prevents the plane from taking off.
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year with beautiful destinations.
Remy & Gea