BACK IN BLIGHTY

How typical that I travel all over Europe and it takes my return home to bring the summer sun out in full force. Not that I’m complaining of course, what a delightful welcome for a weary cyclist. But, apart from a couple of day’s feet up in Bristol with my sis, I’ve hardly kept off the Steed since I’ve been back. Having taken four months to get fit, it would be a shame to stop now. Instead I’ve been continuing my couchcycling attitude with trips all over the UK, and have just surpassed my previous record by cycling 202km from Bristol to London last Friday (ok, so my panniers were significantly lighter and the wind was mostly behind me…). With a diary full of engagement parties, hen weekends and weddings across the UK for the next few weeks I have plenty of excuses to keep cycling…

Fortunately I’ve also managed to make a little time to get round to thinking about what’s next. Searching for sustainable building volunteering opportunities is high on the list, but more importantly my commitment to raise £1,000 for St Wilfrid’s Hospice Chichester. Okay it’s been a while since I pushed this so please don’t look away now! You see I’ve already been published – take a look at the Hospice’s May newsletter which features your very own intrepid cyclist and Steed on the second page. There are many stories of the fundraising activities of the Hospice and support they are able to given to local people as a result. So, final unabashed punt – sponsoring my trip in aid of this great cause is easy. Just visit my Just Giving page and make a donation now.

Now I just want to give a huge thank you to all the fabulous, generous, openhearted people that have accommodated me over the past four months and made my trip not only possible but also ten times more incredible than I ever imagined it would be.

This includes:

• Francesco in Casserta, Italy
• Massimo in Benevento, Italy
• Francesca and friends in Savignano, Italy
• Michele in Bari, Italy
• Jean Francoise in Alberobello, Italy
• Maurizio at his Carpe Diem Hostel in Brindisi, Italy
• Spillios in Megara, Greece
• Geoffroy and Lambros in Halkida, Greece
• The villagers in Vagia, Greece
• Hendrik near Lamia (who I also met up with in Germany)
• Vaya in Larissa, Greece
• Roula, Nico and Demitria in Platamona, Greece
• Panos and his brother in Thessaloniki, Greece
• Stoyan and Julia in Bladoevgrad (which I eventually learnt to pronounce), Bulgaria
• Andrey in Cladnitsa, Bulgaria
• Boyana and her band Ajabez (a mix of rock, Bulgarian tradition and style) in Sofia, Bulgaria
• Maxime in Botevgrad, Bulgaria
• Cathy and Nick at their Phoenix Hostel in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria
• Radi and family in Varna, Bulgaria
• Gheo and Cosmi, and Rudiq in Bucharest, Romania
• Alex and Raz in Craiova, Romania
• Ingrid, another intrepid cyclist who I met at Three Black Catz Hostel in Belgrade, Serbia
• Dinko in Osijek, Croatia
• Neda in Slatina, Croatia
• Kiara in Tata, Hungary
• Veronika and her family in Brno, Czech Republic
• Lucie and Michal in Prague, Czech Republic
• Wiebke and friends in Dresden, Germany
• Peter and Nikki in Brussels, Belgium

Throughout my trip I’ve tried to be as upfront and open about my perspective of what I’ve experienced as possible – from my Western European point of view. In places I’ve probably come across as somewhat prejudiced, ignorant and probably highly cantankerous. Most important for me was to be honest in how I saw things, after all one of the reasons I embarked on the trip was to challenge my expectations and to experience the places I visited in a raw, first hand way. Although I wrote this for very personal reasons, to have some kind of record of my trip and changing perspectives as I travelled, it is really rewarding to think that some other people might enjoy reading it too. If you are planning your own trip then the best bit of advice I was given was to talk to everyone who shows an interest in me and to make the most of every opportunity that was offered to me. People are generally very interested in what you are doing and will go out of their way to help. So, enjoy!