What countries have you bicycled through?
Austria, our home country - Czech Republic - Poland - Lithuania - Latvia - Estonia - Sweden - Norway - Denmark - Iceland - USA - Mexico - Belize - Guatemala - Honduras - El Salvador - Nicaragua - Costa Rica - Panama - Colombia - Ecuador - Peru - Bolivia.
We will continue our trip to Argentina and Chile. Around February 2012 we want to reach Ushuaia, Patagonia – the southern-most city on the Americas. After that? We'll see if we still feel wanderlust. Maybe we'll continue to India and return to Europe overland.
What have you experienced with people in different countries?
Generally speaking you can say that as soon as you enter a new country, the "energy" changes: the environment, nature, the weather and history, praegt – the people, everything.
Eastern Europeans are more reserved. It is not so easy to get in touch with them. But once a conversation is running, it can rapidly turn into deep friendship.
In Iceland we experienced a deep connection with ancient traditions and nature. Young, trendy Reykjavikians wear exactly the same, woolen sweaters as their grandparents wear. Ancestral mythology is still very much a part of everyone's daily life.
The USA was a completely different world for us. Everybody was talking to us, wanting to know more about our trip. We were fascinated by the easy way of making contact with people there.
In Latin American countries it depends on where you travel. In coastal areas people were mostly very emotional and outgoing. In the Andes, especially in areas with a lot of indígenas, it got a bit more difficult to get in touch with people. But nevertheless, our way of traveling helps us to meet and learn from people who often live a simple life in harsh conditions where there is not much time and space for an easy-going lifestyle. But be warned – once a fiesta starts, the indígenas turn into hedonistic, happy party-people!
What thoughts do you hold in your minds and hearts as you encounter new languages, cultures, people?
In Eastern Europe we mainly talked with our hands and feet. In Northern Europe the majority speak decent English. For more than a year we have only needed Spanish, which [we now speak] on an intermediate level.
Article comments
1 - Fatima Belmonte
Linna as allways this is a great article
2 - Igor
Great article! I advise any young person considering such a trip to DO IT! Although I've ridden bicycles all my life, I never did, and I'm sorry I didn't.
3 - oluciato
HI MY DEAR FRIENDS, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS AMAZING INTERVIEW, THAT HAS INSPIRE ME, I JUST REMEMBER MY DAYS IN COLOMBIA WHEN I WENT EVERYWHERE IN MY BICYCLE, IF THIS SMALL EXPERIENCE STILL IN MY MIND I CAN IMAGINE THE WONDERFUL EXPERIENCES THEY HAD, AND HOW A BIG OF AN IMPACT IT LEFT. THANK YOU LINNA,ANITA AND ANDREW.
4 - Lynette Yetter, author of the novel "Lucy Plays Panpipes for Peace"
Thank you Fatima, Igor and oluciato for adding your positive energy and comments to this conversation.
5 - Margarita
Thanks for the wonderful article, Lynette! Truly inspiring! Makes me want to hop on my bike and go! And ride ... ride like the wind ... Tinkunanchiskama!
6 - Lynette Yetter, author of the novel "Lucy Plays Panpipes for Peace"
Sulpayki, Margarita. May we all joyously ride like the wind, following our heart's desire.