Day 1: Departure
Don’t you think these people are boring, going to the same place, taking the same pictures like everyone else. They never get lost because they just need to locate themselves on Google Maps and their trips are really short. Aren’t you tired of this kind of check-in travel, what you need is a long adventure. “Why wait, before this youth closes the door, try doing something crazy”.
9am on 29/04/2024, the temperature is 5°C, the sun is up and the weather is starting to warm up. It is late spring and early summer, when dandelions are in season and the first flowers have begun to bloom. My journey to freedom has officially begun, 21 days of bikepacking on a bicycle to Norway.
The sky is clear today, a perfect day for a start. The distance from my house to Langå station is about 12 km, it is a dedicated cycling and walking path. I often come here for walks and jogs. The morning dew is still on the grass, sparkling with the first rays of the new day. Along both sides of the road are blooming yellow dandelions, and outside is covered with the fresh green of new leaves. Silver snails are actively making their way home before the sun gets any brighter.
On the train from Langå to Hirtshals (10:41 - 13:51), I met Sophie, a young girl with braided blonde hair. Blue eyes and a gentle face. What must she think of me? A complete stranger coming to talk to me, and the awkwardness and banality in the approach. But all of this is just my own imagination, it is not reality. Sophie is studying pharmacy and she once traveled to Malaysia, she talked about the tropical heat and humidity. I complimented Sophie on her beautiful name, which reminded me of the philosophy of “Sophie’s Choice”, she smiled and nodded, saying that she knew it too. Actually, we are all strangers.
I am very shy in talking to strangers, because I am not confident in my own communication ability. I have to overcome this fear, it is not death, either I am proactive and have an interesting conversation, or nothing. I realize that when I talk in English, I am more bold, more open and more eager to learn. It is as if the language has a more positive influence on my personality. Another interesting thing that I realized. Suppose there are 10 people from different countries and they all have the ability to speak English as their main language or a foreign language, the question is which language will the 11th person choose to learn?
The Hirtshals sea breeze brought with it the sound of the ocean waves as predicted, the seagulls' shrill cries that seemed to tear the air apart and the white wings that stood alone in the wind, under the clear blue sky. I raised my hands to the sky with the thought "The bird of freedom".
The image of the scouts standing on the Maria Wall, holding their fists tightly to their chests, shouting the slogan “I will devote my whole heart” appeared in my mind. I especially love the movie Attack on Titan. Fighting for freedom is the theme throughout the movie. So what is freedom? Can humans really achieve freedom?
Not to escape reality, not to heal, this trip is like a real adventure for me. Today I officially become homeless.
Tomorrow morning, I will take a ferry across the North Sea from Denmark to Norway.
I found a forest edge not far from the harbor, about 2 km. Tall pine trees surrounded the empty land where I planned to pitch my tent for the night. I could hear the waves crashing on the shore from this spot, the chirping of birds, and the wind stirring the falling leaves. In the distance was the white-faced giant of the sea. I felt my own smallness in the midst of nature. In this picture, there was a small appearance of a traveler.
The soot from the woods gathered like a cloud of smoke around the light bulb. The cuckoo's call echoed in the air. The temperature had now dropped to 4°C, so I retreated into the tent, snuggled into my sleeping bag, and continued reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig.
“You see things vacationing on a motorcycle in a way that is completely different from any other. In a car you’re always in a compartment, and because you’re used to it you don’t realize that through that car window everything you see is just more TV. You’re a passive observer and it is all moving by you boringly in a frame. On a cycle the frame is gone. You’re completely in contact with it all. You’re in the scene, not just watching it anymore, and the sense of presence is overwhelming.”
See you all tomorrow morning, hope I don't see any ghosts tonight :v.
