Whenever I have chosen to ride my bike to any given location for the first time, I have already made the trip many times ahead. I have climbed the hills, smelled the earth and felt the mud beneath my feet. I have measured the distances (in spectacularly inaccurate ways) and set camp at lakes I have never set my eyes on before. I have stood in the rain, and I have been tired.
I do all of this from the comfort of my own home. These journeys take place either from around the kitchen table or from the living room floor. All that is needed for me is to have a big map in front of my eyes. And as I am in no hurry, I can spend hours this way. There is something about maps that really excites my imagination. (I find it odd when I witness people observe maps with detachment and indifference!) For me the feeling is visceral. I do not employ a scientific method in planing these journeys, and unlike Kaisa, who finds comfort in knowing what *actually* is ahead, I relish the exact opposite of that – not knowing is what moves me. Scares me as well, mind you. I make no claims of being braver than I am.
Kaisa is the realist, I am the hopeless romantic. She relies on satellite imaging and state of the art cartography. She loves guidebooks, up to the point of being able to stand next to a sight, and rather than looking at the sight in front of her reads how others have experienced it.
Myself, I prefer maps dating from around the 1930's. Nothing too accurate, and certainly not contaminated by anything the modern world has to offer. I guess it's a form of nostalgia for a world I never experienced, if such a world ever even existed.
I dream, Kaisa accomplishes. Inexplicably this alliance works out for the best.
*
In the beginning of June we will take the train to Kajaani, and from there we will start pedaling toward Viena Karelia. Our aim is to explore the small villages and dirt roads for around a week. Reports to follow.
No comments:
Post a Comment