Nov

Survival Essentials for Adventure Cycling

by Eva Boynton on November 2, 2015

Biker riding with hands in the air, demonstrating the appreciation of living only with the survival essentials during adventure cycling along Mexican toll roads. (Image © Eva Boynton)

Living off the bare necessities and feeling on top of the world.
© Eva Boynton

How Mexican Toll Roads Change Perspective

There are two main roads weaving through Mexico: the calle libre (free road) and the autopista (toll road). When four friends and I, all engaged in adventure cycling, biked through Mexico, our choice in road shaped the future.

We chose the toll road. Not only did it develop our appreciation of the survival essentials, but it also irrevocably changed our perspective.

A toll road for cars with rain clouds above, illustrating the survival essentials for bikers engaged in adventure cycling along Mexican toll roads. (Image © iStock / aidaricci)

.A toll road has different meaning to a car driver than to an adventure cyclist.
© iStock / aidaricci

Toll roads are government-owned roads that require payment (free for bicycles!) for maintenance efforts. They are:

a direct path from one big city to another
time-savers—15 to 30 miles shorter than free roads
built to offer beautiful views from bridges, smoother pavement, and a spacious shoulder for cycling

But beware! With these welcoming attributes comes a set of challenges for the adventure cyclist. The fast track means a lack of off ramps and, therefore, a lack of resources.

Signs for upcoming cities and a place to find resources, illustrating the survival essentials for bikers engaged in adventure cycling on toll roads (Image © Eva Boynton).

Few and far between are signs of places to find water and food on the toll road.
© Eva Boynton

Toll roads, by design, bypass the smaller towns along free roads where food, water, and shelter are plentiful. They teach, through trial and error, the three survival essentials of choosing to travel on the toll road.

Survival Essential #1: Water

The first question for survival on a bicycle is: “How much water can you carry?”

Water bottles strapped onto a bicycle, showing a survival essential for adventure cycling along the toll roads of Mexico. (Image © Eva Boynton).

We may crawl like snails, but carrying an extra liter or two is worth the weight.
© Eva Boynton

Our team of cyclists learned the answer the hard way.

After a 4-hour-climb in the mountains of Guerrero, Mexico, our crew stopped to fix a flat tube. When we reached for water to hydrate, we realized our bottles were empty. The midday heat was kicking in, and there was no water resource in sight.

While most of us morosely shook the last drops of water onto our tongues, my friend grabbed his empty bottles and started waving them like a madman at cars zooming by.

An 18-wheeler truck driving on the highway, illustrating how adventure cycling on Mexican toll roads changes perspectives (Image © iStock/vitpho).

Although big trucks are normally intimidating with their size and roar,
this 18-wheeler became our best friend.
© iStock / vitpho

In an act of both desperation and creativity, we followed his lead. After many cars zoomed by, our 18-wheeler salvation arrived. A cargo truck rumbled toward us and slowed with a crunch-screech of breaks.

Catching up with our empty bottles in hand, we jogged underneath the passenger’s window. A pair of hands tossed out a gallon of water. We shrieked, “Muchas gracias!”, and the anonymous driver and truck rolled into the distance.

Woman hugging a gallon of water, showing the appreciation of a survival essential during adventure cycling on Mexican toll roads. (Image © Eva Boynton)

Pure joy and appreciation for a garrafón de agua
© Eva Boynton

Although water may be an obvious survival essential, our toll road environment changed our perspective. Water became a precious commodity due to rare access and the physical need from cycling for 6 or 7 hours a day.

When we were gifted water from a truck driver or passerby, we became giddy children opening presents on Christmas day. The value of things we carried changed. Excess items (like clothes, even electronics) were left behind and replaced with the weight of water.

Survival Essential #2: Shade

We found ourselves in a desert of sun, and shade became an essential during the hottest hours of the day.

At the mercy of the weather and climate, we began to form a daily routine, where the break in the middle of the day was the perfect time to find our shade “oasis”:

8:00 am: Hit the road
2:00 pm: Find shade
4:00 pm: Continue cycling
6:00 or 7:00 pm: Look for a place to camp

What was our cue to look for shade? When we heard the sizzle of our backs frying like eggs or felt the salty sweat roll down our faces.

Three cyclists resting in the shade during an adventure cycling tour along Mexican toll roads, showing that shade is a survival essential. (Image © Eva Boynton)

The first of many naps in the shade on our toll road adventures
© Eva Boynton

Sometimes, we began to see mirages. The shadow of a small tree became an umbrella planted in the white sand with a beach chair awaiting beneath. We stopped there.

A group of bicycles parked in the shade of a tree, showing a survival essential during adventure cycling on Mexican toll roads (Image © Eva Boynton)

We were not particular, learning to love shade in all its shapes and sizes.
© Eva Boynton

While resting near an overpass, I looked over to see our teammate Gaby fast asleep on a comfortable bed of cement. A memory foam mattress would not have given her better sleep or a softer surface.

A girl sleeping on the side of the road during adventure cycling along Mexican toll roads, showing how shade is a survival essential. (Image © Eva Boynton).

Shade can make even the hardest surface seem soft.
© Eva Boynton

Our second survival essential was surely shade. We took it wherever we could find it. At midday, drivers looking out their car windows spotted five cyclists curled up in the toll road’s shady places and knew not to disturb.

Survival Essential #3: A Place to Camp

As the sun began to sink behind the mountains, exhaustion crept into our legs. We kept our eyes peeled for a place to stop, cook, and sleep.

People setting up camp under a tree during adventure cycling along Mexican toll roads, showing how a place to camp is a survival essential. (Image © Eva Boynton).

Luxurious toll road camping: finding shelter underneath a tree and out of sight from the highway.
© Eva Boynton

We began to have an eye for finding the “perfect” place to camp. A space with flat ground, enough room for three tents and perhaps a tree for rain cover. For an extra 10 points, the perfect spot was hidden from the view of traffic (avoiding car lights and any interested passersby).

Simple, but perfect for us.

Three tents set up on a space on the side of a highway, illustrating how a good place to camp is a survival essential during adventure cycling along Mexican toll roads. (Image © Gabriela Díaz Cortez).

Our horizons of mobility were widened as camping on the side of the autopista became routine.
© Gabriela Díaz Cortez

Our perspective on the perfect place to sleep changed when towns and hostels were nowhere in sight. Along the Mexican toll roads, a dirt turnout was often the only option for setting up camp. But because we carried our homes with us, the perfect place to sleep became less about the amenities and more about the freedom to stop and sleep anywhere we chose.

Appreciating the Small Things

Our time on the toll road was full of challenges that developed an appreciation for the smallest things. “Mi amor!” (My love!), I would shout in excitement for a patch of shade, a forgotten bottle of water, the beginning of a downhill, or a surprise snack at the bottom of my front basket.

A travel bicycle parked on the side of a Mexican toll road during an adventure cycling experience, showing the how the simple things are the survival essentials. (Image © Eva Boynton)

The small things became essential items of value.
© Eva Boynton

Oh, I see how traveling by bicycle on Mexican toll roads changed my view of what is essential—a cell phone or computer could not provide us the shade, a place to camp, or water to drink, the things that really mattered.

Things we took for granted, seemingly small, were now at the forefront of our attention. They were not only survival essentials, but the simple essentials.

A Mexican toll road at sunset, illustrating how the survival essentials during adventure cycling can change perspective (Image © Gabriela Díaz Cortez)

The toll road may offer challenges, but the change in perspective is worth the ride.
© Gabriela Díaz Cortez

In the end, when pedaling up to a fork in the road, a decision arises: autopista or calle libre? For adventure cycling, I recommend trying the autopista (toll road) at least once for the experience of learning your own survival essentials and perhaps a change in perspective.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Eva Boynton 3 Comments

Adventure Travel/Mexico

Apr

What’s Underfoot on the Camino de Santiago?

by Eva Boynton on April 28, 2015

Feet in sandals standing over a sign of the Camino de Santiago, showing the different routes that cause travel inspiration. (image

Carried by their feet, pilgrims from around the world follow the signs of the Way of St. James.
© StockPhotoAstur / iStock

Every Kind of Travel Inspiration

Not because I’m religious,

Not because I believe in spirits,

Not because I love Spanish cuisine,

And not because I needed to be punished.

I just wanted a long walk.

—B.C. Tørrissen

This is one pilgrim’s reason to walk the Camino de Santiago. More than 100,000 people every year walk the International Heritage Trails. They come from all over the world, taking different routes to reach the same destination: the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain.

Why do so many people take a 500-mile trek across highways, mountains, valleys, cities, towns, and fields? Each pilgrim has a personal reason: to get away, to be a part of an ancient tradition, to make a change, weight loss, to renew faith, to connect to people.

Here, three pilgrims share their travel inspiration, their reasons for walking the Camino de Santiago.

Father Kenneth Allen: Inspired by Simplicity

Celebrating his 10-year anniversary of priesthood and the recovery of an injured knee, Father Kenneth Allen decided to embark on his Camino journey.

Since childhood, Father Allen, hoped to walk the Camino de Santiago to visit the shrine of the apostle St. James in the Cathedral.

Three pilgrims walking down a road along the Camino de Santiago, each showing a personal travel inspiration for making the journey. (Image © Eva Boynton)

A normal Camino day is 15–20 miles of walking from one town to another.
After losing his way Father Allen walked 30 on his first day.
© Eva Boynton

Among the pristine landscapes are challenges that tax the body and strain the mind. Father Allen’s first day consisted of getting lost, losing his walking partner, backtracking, and finally reaching his lodging in the dark.

It was cause enough for him to question the reason of his pilgrimage:

My feet were killing me. I had responsibilities at home, obligations to meet, people to support. . . . A good prayer room. A comfortable chair behind my desk. . . . A laptop and internet access. Why was I walking through Spain? And not only walking, but walking. And walking and walking.

Out of focus landscape seen through a fence post with clear spider web along the Camino de Santiago, a route undertaken by many with different kinds of travel inspiration. (Image © Eva Boynton)

When walking the Camino, life’s complications become blurry,
while simple details of the trail come into focus.
© Eva Boynton

As he neared his destination, charging past his initial struggles, Father Allen discovered his true inspiration for the journey. The absence of a convenient lifestyle caused him to find value in the simplicity of the path. He explains:

The Camino demands a sense of simplicity from you. You have to lighten your burden as you walk (literally by tossing things out, or mailing them ahead if you’re carrying too much) . . . There’s only one goal, which is to walk to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. Whatever distracts from that just falls by the wayside.

Yellow arrow made out of scallop shells mortared into the rock wall of a house along the Camino de Santiago, a route walked by many pilgrims with different travel inspiration. (Image © Jenna Tummonds)

There is one simple instruction for walking the Camino: follow the yellow arrows.
© Jenna Tummonds

The travel inspiration that Father Allen discovered while walking followed him home. The value of simplicity continues to affect how he approaches relationships and day-to-day life; slowing down to find the extraordinary within the ordinary.

Jenna Tummonds’ Inspiration? Time to Think

Although pilgrims often cross paths, Jenna Tummonds dedicated her time on the Camino to walking alone.

Pilgrim walking down a road through a town, showing travel inspiration of walking the Camino de Santiago. (image © Jenna Tummonds

A pilgrim can choose to meet people or take advantage of the quiet space of the long road.
© Jenna Tummonds

Prompted by the idea of ley lines in Shirley MacLaine’s El Camino, Jenna prepared for the long walk. Ley lines are lines of energy that allegedly connect geographic locations and structures across the earth, something like the straight lines drawn between constellations.

Some believe that several ley lines intersect along the Camino de Santiago and that their energy brings about clarity of thought. With that in mind, Jenna asked her question:

Why, as she was growing older, did she trust people less and less?

She feared that the inevitable consequence was a life of old age and bitterness. The Camino de Santiago gave her time to remove herself from a familiar world and and concentrate on personal growth.

A pilgrim following her travel inspiration on the Camino de Santiago stands alone in a field of sunflowers. (Image © Jenna Tummonds)

A pilgrimage is a long journey centered on a purpose.
The purpose can come in infinite forms.
© Jenna Tummonds

By making the effort to walk alone for parts of the journey, Jenna gained self-trust and self-reliance, resulting in her revelation:

I don’t need to trust anybody. I just have to trust myself.

Her reason for traveling the Camino was to spend time alone, and that travel inspiration led to a rejuvenated sense of self that prepared Jenna for her journey beyond the Camino.

My Inspiration: The Love of Spontaneity

I first learned of the pilgrimage while working in Switzerland. I loved the idea that what would happen on my days along the Camino were left up to chance. Two days later, I was on a train heading to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to start walking the Camino Francés.

Three female pilgrims with backpacks and walking sticks following their person al travel i inspiration to walk the Camino de Santiago. (Image © Jenna Tummonds)

Friendly faces along the way
© Jenna Tummonds

Every day was filled with chance encounters. When fellow pilgrims and I passed each other, we sometimes stopped to chat, and sometimes we walked together.

Pilgrims, staying in the same refugios (refuges designated for pilgrims), often met up for dinner and spontaneous conversation around a communal table that might connect ten pilgrims from six or more countries.

No phones. No exchange of contact information. But often bittersweet goodbyes—when we parted, everyone said, ¡Buen camino!, and we meant it.

Sometimes we saw each other again along the way, and sometimes not. The fun of it was the idea of leaving it all up to chance.

My love of the unexpected, my appreciation for spontaneity had been reason enough to walk the Camino, and my travel inspiration was fulfilled along the Camino from beginning to end.

A group of pilgrims, whose travel inspiration took them down the Camino de Santiago for very different reasons, in front of the Cathedral at the end of the route. (Image © Jenna Tummonds)

Pilgrims reuniting at the finish line in front of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela
© Jenna Tummonds

Oh, I See

Despite the many kinds of travel inspiration, our destination—the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela—was the same. It was a celebration of our pilgrimage, whatever the route taken.

As Father Allen explains:

For all of us as pilgrims, we were formed by the journey as we sought the destination.

You can always tell Camino pilgrims by the scallop shell hanging from their backpacks. Like the shell, the Camino de Santiago is shaped by a system of trails, taken by pilgrims with different kinds of travel inspiration along different routes, but all converging at the same point.

A scallop shell, like the symbol for the Camino de Santiago, a route taken by pilgrims following their unique kinds of travel inspiration. (Image © )

Buen Camino!
© Eva Boynton

Thank you, Father Allen and Jenna, for sharing your stories. For planning your own route on the Camino de Santiago, visit Camino Ways.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Eva Boynton Comments

Adventure Travel/On Foot/Quotes of Note/Spain

Apr

A Virtual Vacation in Southeast Asia

by Meredith Mullins on April 6, 2015

Snorkeler in water, part of the virtual vacation in Southeast of Zilla van den Born, inspired by wanderlust. (Image © Zilla van den Born)

When Wanderlust and Imagination Meet

Zilla van den Born had always wanted to see Southeast Asia—the crystal blue waters of the Indian Ocean, the vine-encrusted temples, and the bustling streets bursting with color and the energy of daily life. Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos called. Her wanderlust answered.

She set off on a 42-day adventure—a vacation of a lifetime—the envy of her friends and family.

The Dutch graphic designer was soaking up the sun on pristine beaches, snorkeling eye to eye with exotic fish, sampling spicy Asian food, visiting ancient monuments, and traveling in rickety rickshaws.

Zilla van den Born eating with chopsticks on her virtual vacation in Southeast Asia, inspired by wanderlust. (Image © Zilla van den Born)

Like any good friend and family member, she was letting the folks back home experience her adventures—providing photos and updates so that they could travel with her via social media and texts.

The only catch—none of it was real. She never left her home city of Amsterdam. The trip was an invention . . . of the most imaginative kind.

Illusions of Reality

Her goal was to prove “how common and easy it is to distort reality.” She wanted to show that we all most likely stretch the truth for our social media persona and that, with the right media manipulation tools, we can make anything seem real.

Zilla van den Born on a pristine beach during her virtual vacation in Southeast Asia, inspired by wanderlust. (Image © Zilla van den Born)

Don’t We All Want An Awesome Life?

The project seeds were sown as she scrolled through her own Facebook timeline.

“I was feeling jealous of the apparently awesome lives others live in comparison with mine,” she admitted.

“I realized that we tend to forget that people filter what they show on social media. We’re creating some sort of ideal world that reality can no longer meet.”

Zilla van den Born leaves on her virtual vacation in Southeast Asia, inspired by wanderlust. (Image © Zilla van den Born)

Let the Adventures Begin

Zilla set out to create a virtual vacation—the ideal adventure—keeping the secret from everyone but her boyfriend.

She researched meticulously. “I read blogs of other travelers so I knew what problems others run into and how to fix them,” she explained. “I even looked up train and flight schedules so that I wouldn’t make any mistake in my fake story.”

A Master of the Virtual

Zilla photoshopped herself into travel photos she found on the Internet, texted the day’s highlights based on her research (cleverly timed to reflect her fake time zone), and posted Facebook updates according to her phony itinerary.

She created some of her “alternate” realities by photographing herself at the Buddhist temple in Amsterdam, jumping into her apartment swimming pool with her snorkeling gear, buying Asian souvenirs to place in the background of her Skype calls, and cooking (and photographing) Thai meals in her own kitchen.

Zilla van den Born at a Buddhist Temple on her virtual vacation in Southeast Asia, inspired by wanderlust. (Image © Zilla van den Born)

She completed the deception by getting her “beach tan” at the neighborhood tanning booth.

When asked which “distortion” was the most fun, Zilla answered thoughtfully. “Honestly, I didn’t have a lot of fun. It was much more difficult than I had thought to have to lie to all the people I care about. It was a very stressful experience. I enjoyed the ‘coming home’ part most. That was such a relief.”

Zilla van den Born with child at an ancient ruin on her virtual vacation in Southeast Asia, inspired by wanderlust. (Image © Zilla van den Born

The Deception Revealed

How did people respond when they learned the truth?

“They were shocked at first, confused and angry that they were worried for nothing,” Zilla admits. “My mother stopped speaking to me for a week. In the end, everyone understood why I did it, and I have won their trust back.”

Zilla van den Born at her computer on her virtual vacation in Southeast Asia, inspired by wanderlust (Image © Zilla van den Born)

Oh, I See: The Real Thing

What’s better than a virtual vacation? The real thing of course. Zilla did finally make the trip to Southeast Asia.

“Even though I got to ‘see’ the highlights and landmarks by searching online, nothing beat the experience of really going there,” Zilla said upon returning from her real journey. “It was amazing.”

A palm tree beach with and without Zilla van den Born on her virtual vacation to Southeast Asia, inspired by wanderlust. (Image © Zilla van den Born)

Zilla proved several points in her wanderlust experiment, but the lasting lessons for her were:

It’s a good idea to be cautious about believing what you see online (or in photographs) and
A real adventure trumps a virtual vacation 100% of the time.

“Oh, I see” moments of the best kind.

To see more of Zilla van den Born’s work and her book “Sjezus zeg, Zilla” (“Oh God, Zilla”), visit her website. To see her new project “Ctrl Alt Repeat,” where she manipulates her own self-portrait in post processing in as many different ways as her imagination will take her, visit her Facebook page or view ctrl_alt_repeat on Instagram.

Comment on this post, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Meredith Mullins 1 Comment

Adventure Travel/Art of Travel/Southeast Asia

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