Cid the valley walker...not

I love the movie called "Love Actually" and whenever I find myself at an airport I always think of the introduction to the film by Hugh Grant and it showing people giving each other hugs and kisses and happy to see each other, but it doesn't mention the flip side to that coin...when you are leaving a place and one has to say goodbye to the people seeing you off, not actually knowing when, and if you will ever see them again. That was my experience when I left Cape Town international. Not only was I unsure of ever seeing people I love again but when and, indeed if, I would ever be back in the Cape, a place I have called home for the past 10 years. I know I have always spent time away but those have always had return tickets attached to them, this one is an indefinite, unsure departure time away, with no return yet booked. I am sure to some this may sound melodramatic and an exaggerated return of the truth, but I kid you not, I have no plan to return as it stands currently. Of course that can change and it may, but it also may not, that part is out of my control. Aside from airports being a place of happiness and extreme sadness it is also a place filled with a whole lot of really strange travelers. The whole spectrum of humanity is covered. I saw hippies, health conscious Asian folk with face masks on, couples together, groups of young girls back packing, hoity toity types in up market garb wearing odd hats and then also the bell curve of average joes and joeys. I find it a facinating melting pot, and everyone is travelling which makes it quite a cool observation for me. I wonder where they are going, what they have seen or where on this globe they may have been and the memories they have now stored. I also wonder if we all travel for the same reason? Probably not. Define to travel. It can mean one thing to someone and a whole other thing to someone else. Travelling and travel are also defined differently to me. One is to create memories and to experience big life changing moments and the other is definitely a shorter version and can be broken into many different spheres. Business, pleasure, romance, family, etc. I'm not one for travel, but travelling fills my soul and makes me yearn for more. It makes me expand my mind and probe unknown senses, smells, sights and cultures and can never be dull, it's all about how one attaches ones attitude to the task at hand. I now find myself 40 kilometres outside of Burgos, having set up my bicycle with the Thule panniers and bike racks, a cyclists version of the homemaker's Ikea puzzle furniture vibe. The system is actually an amazing one, once it's all figured out and attached to the bike and with typical Skandinavian simplicity and style, it works really well and looks fantastic. The bike packing bags I had made in the Ukraine by 7 Roads are also customized with my name and South African flag on a cyan blue waterproof fabric. Amazing artisanal workmanship and I highly recommend having a look at their work if ever keen on equipping yourself with the necessary kit to travel by bike. Check out Stanislav Kostak on Instagram. The bike looked amazing setting off from Burgos, when we had eventually fitted it and got rolling around 1 pm. The front steering took a bit of getting used to with stem bags and 2 panniers and a sleeping bag on the rack to weigh me down. The technical terrain we experienced was safely negotiated but the odd steep tar downhill we encountered had me far more on the brakes than normal as terminal velocity felt it was reached in the first few metres of the descent. Much pace being added by the small belly I have gathered this year and the extra 20 kgs of gear. As I traverse Spain from North to South East on the Camino Del Cid (pronounced Thid, for those who still pronounce Chorizo with a S in the middle), I am sure one of the two things causing the extra weight will diminish...this is my wish anyway. So here we are in a small town called Mecerreyes, off the beaten track, where an Albergue costs 5 Euro and a late lunch of steak, cold chorizo, gamon ( ham) and salami with queso (hard cheese), 2 beers, a glass of rose and a tomato salad cost 10 Euros. What? Ridiculously cheap. Howard has also insisted that El Cid would never take his soldiers up any hills, so this whole journey, following his undefeated battle trail, would be along valleys. Ja right. He was undefeated in battle, but didn't like hills. Bwahahaha. We found that to be incorrect very soon after we left Burgos.This guy loved taking his troops up short steep hills. Tomorrow we journey further down this interesting trail of plunder, battling and bloodshed, hopefully excluding the two of us from the aforementioned detail. Loving being back on my bike and living the dream, making memories and living life. I hope you can all do something in your daily lives to feel you too are achieving a similar feat. It's all relative and it all builds towards a greater change. Til then, remember this...everybody dies, not everybody lives.