Reflections pt 2

A phone-call to bring this story full circle: Although cycling in America was, and remains, a long-term goal, it was made possible partly due to the motivation provided by Chuck & Gemma’s wedding. So it is neat that I post this just after Gemma called for what turned into a lengthy catch-up. We chatted as all good friends can, free of judgement and about all sorts. Rarely do I enjoy phone conversations as much. Actually I am rather odd on the phone. I prefer calling over texting, but am less good at the long phone conversations. I have a conversation window of about 10mins on the phone. I’ll spare you the details of this call but she asked how the new job was, and we joked at how Nicci is growing up and that Gemma is already married and we were scavenging hedgerows to make homemade jams etc...

To cut a long story short, Gemma winds up saying

“Oh speaking of growing up, I’ve got some news...!” Congratulations readied on my lips as the last time she had uttered such a sentence it had been to tell me of her engagement. You can imagine the list of ‘news’ that ran through my head here...

My point in bringing up the phone call was one of plans. The future doesn’t wait to happen, it occurs every moment in the present and the journey we have taken stays with us. Have I changed?

I think that it must be almost impossible not to change. Maybe if I had been travelling and cycling for 20 years...maybe then I would not change so noticeably. But change always happens and I like this. Too often the mistake is made that change is bad. Comfort is good and I seek it as much as the next person, but change doesn’t have to irradicate comfort, and it can help avoid the pitfalls of complacency.

So yes I have changed. Crucially I think that had I written these reflections earlier this year I would not have felt the change so profoundly. It helps that I have moved jobs and moved house since arriving back in the UK. Chuck has even turned 30 now!

Given the experience, and how clearly I needed to formulate plans and solutions to issues along the tour, I feel the ability to analyse situations better. Not necessarily in the field of my new work- teaching kids from incredibly tough social and emotional backgrounds- but in making decisions plans for achieving results.

Reminiscing over time spent in Charleston I have come to an interesting conclusion.

Either I was the luckiest guy in town that day and happened upon some seriously cool people at exactly the right time, or I live in the wrong place. If this kind of acceptance is more apparent in that part of the world it is a lifestyle I have been hunting and now the question I ask is where do I find it again. The easy acceptance of a stranger is hard to come by in England, in my experience, and I have many small ideas as to why this might be the case but it isn’t important. What is important is the simple observation- my point of view on the matter. I have tried and to an extent succeeded in finding the same sort of hospitality in my own house last year so I know it can be done. Now I wish to find this again.

The next thing for me is to formulate my next challenge. Work is certainly providing one at the moment but the experience of adventure, and the cycling were incredible. I will tell you of a dream of mine...I wish to canoe the lakes in the west of Ireland, and as I have mentioned previously, to cycle the west coast of America. The idea of cycling in America started from just such a vague thought and it stayed with me for almost seven years before it came to fruition. I hope it won’t be that long for the next adventure...

So that’s almost it from me here. I come at last to the close. At the moment I feel fitter, stronger mentally and a lot poorer! It is the financial issue that prevents further journeying for the moment, but while I cannot take on another journey just yet, I can keep writing. 

It would be my pleasure if you found just one thing in what I write that inspires or challenges. I strongly urge everyone to undertake a challenge like mine; do as I did and make it your own challenge. Go at a pace that suits you and seize all the opportunities that present themselves.

With love, Phil

P.S The news from Gemma on the phone...that story belongs to her! But for those of you who I met and haven’t met Gemma and Chuck, they are aiming to buy a house together. Not babies yet- which was my first thought! Congrats to them!

Lasting Memories

So the great comparison then...USA vs Home, pronounced Britain. Seems a little unfair at first but really I’m judging the corner of America I have visited, and America should realise that Britain is vastly different to London, or most preconceptions about our little Island!

The most important being that it is vast in many ways in comparison to the States. I use the words specifically. America is a band of STATES, each with its own governing body, and each different, in much the same way as England is different to France, or Ireland. Similar, but different. So ‘vast’ then... sure in one sense.

The difference geologically, up and down our land, is on a scale I didn’t encounter throughout any individual State, and we have a lot of people crammed in over here. That in itself is more of a difference than I can ever explain here in words. It should be experienced. Often whilst cycling, I heard people say to be careful over in North Carolina, or Tennessee (even though I didn’t make it there), and that’s fine, as opinions go. But here in Britain you could hear the same thing said by a Mancunian about a Liverpudlian. And the two cities (Manchester and Liverpool for you guys across the pond) are barely thirty miles apart! The differences found between the North and South of America are replicated over here, but on a tighter scale. So no you haven’t seen England at all if you have been to London.

What of other things?

Litter- much the same really, only in the States they use prisoners to clear roadsides. Probably wouldn’t work over here as not many places are as isolated.

Food- Britain scores highly here. We have such a diverse culture that we have a wealth of really excellent restaurants everywhere. Population centres make the difference, in Chicago you could say much the same, but in the South ‘Grits’, and anything corn, really doesn’t entice me. Perhaps it’s just me.

Travel- I’ll remember the long white line stretching out in front of me along the edge of the highways. Truly America has a wealth of things to see, I barely scraped the surface. Both countries cater for what they have. America has spectacular State and National parks, we have historic buildings. Until I cycle extensively over here (I didn’t tour much at all before I came to the States remember!) I’ll reserve any judgement on the comparative ease of cycle touring. That said, the smell of the Chicken wagons as they passed me on the roads will remain etched into my nostrils!

Weather- Too often we moan, but there is no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing. That said, I’ll take 85 degrees any time. Florida wins!

Drivers- Same, we are all human. Mostly.

Cars vs Trucks- ours are cleverer, yours are cooler. An automatic 4x4 truck is surely a motoring oxymoron. A 4x4 should be driven by a person who knows what gear they need, not by a computer. That said, I would always choose a truck if money were no object!

President/PM- a national representative. Trouble is we blame them for a lot of things. For example, Clinton was a great guy, and committed no crime, yet got impeached. I’m not condoning his actions, but legally, he was okay. Obama inherited the political equivalent of dryrot. I hope he maintains an intergrity. Our PM is almost honest, tackles issues and isn’t shy. As for his bad side, he represents only a minority in the unbalanced system we operate over here. I guess the real target of any ill-will in either case should be the media who seek to canvas our anger only to manipulate our wallets in their favour.

Overall I have three lasting impressions:

• During my weeks I encountered a nation of communities and people who struck me as friendly. It sounds simple doesn’t it? But this is said by someone who would consider himself a friendly person. It became a clear difference to me. The natural reserved-ness of the English should be no excuse for inhospitablity. Of course this is by no means everyone, but we really struggle to open conversations with strangers that don’t begin with a moan. Americans never struck me as having this flaw. I will remember this assessment and in this will try to copy an American attitude.
• I also encountered a broken America. In every town I passed through, decay was evident, an America that was beyond a glossy image. Patriotism has its disadvantages, perhaps, when change is avoided for fear it may change identity. Identity will change naturally, and is preserved by the passing of generations. Political, social or religious attitudes are often mistaken for identity and are a called tradition. Tradition becomes an immutable, fixed entity. It isn’t, or rather, shouldn’t be viewed as such.
• Cycling is great fun!

Reflections pt 1

Flying out over England took such a short time it almost surprised me. Previously I have flown to Russia, and more recently to Spain a couple of times and there we head south, a short flight out over the English Channel. What surprised me is how fast the flight out shot over the Irish Sea and onwards. When you are over 30,000ft up, everything looks so small and the internal flights in America were the same. One minute we were taking off from Miami, all square and flat, the next minute we were in Jacksonville, almost as if you could see both places at once, running from window to window in the plane.

How does such a vast country seem so small as I fly towards Chicago?

In my mind America is a vast tract of land, with a grand variety of geographical and social difference and all the richer for it. On this point, people often ask why I would want to go travelling in America- surely it’s not real travelling. I think the language belies tremendous differences, and a continent of incredible natural beauty that is diluted by the fact that this beauty is perhaps now too accessible. I can’t begin to tell of them all here. Go see for yourself. But I digress; flying over this land mass it all looks green. Of course, I am flying South-North rather than East-West. But I had naively expected more. It is the takeoff from Chicago that changes this. As we lift off into the night the city glows on the edge of Lake Michigan. Magical ribbons of light flow towards and away from the centre, the freeways transformed from beige monstrosities of the day. 

England

Much to my absolute delight the first words I took any notice of back in England were uttered by the security guard at the UK border control. Firstly, this isn’t border control a-la USA. No visible guns, or even people really! Strange for 11am. To picture this fella all you need to do is picture the chief constable from the film ‘Hot Fuzz’. For those who haven’t seen it, he is in his 60’s, white-grey hair over kindly eyes peering over the top of his half-moon specticles.

So he is telling of how the staff there had found a passport and returned it to the owner, who hadn’t so much as said thank-you before scurrying off. The border patrol gentleman was “a bit bloody miffed” with this, and I knew I was back on home soil!! Miffed, as far as I am aware, doesn’t translate across the pond. It means ‘to be (or have been) put into an irritable mood, and is quintessentially English. It is also sadly going out of fashion. My friend Jack (rightly so) holds that the script to V for Vendetta is let down by trying too hard to be English. I hear what he is saying but on this evidence cracks appear!

This is set to be a busy weekend but in a strange twist of fate i seem to have avoided jetlag. I had survive American cuisine for the whole trip, had finished everything put in front of me, with the exception of Sushi, which I had never had before, and won’t bother with again. It was interesting but I like the taste of cooked food. So as the dinners were handed I was concentrating on the in-flight showing of ‘Tron- Legacy’ and not on what I was eating. In hindsight the butter had a crumbly rather than creamy texture. So I spent the next two hours fainting into my own seat and trying not to throw up on the flight, and after this I was exhausted, finally fell asleep and slept until we were over Wales. Rested and recovered just in time for landing I was ready for the day, and the Easter weekend with my family.

First I dropped by on Matt, Suzie and my godson William. On Saturday we were off to visit my Uncle on his narrowboat. He has two blogs and has provided support with setting mine up. John has cycled round the world and is now travelling round England on his canal boat. Sounds a great plan for Easter, and I get to catch up with Mum, my brother and sister.

Chicago

Taking off from Jacksonville was a strange feeling. The place had come to feel almost like home. Even as I write, two weeks since leaving America, I still haven’t been away as long as I stayed in Jax, and at the beaches.

The plane headed through deteriorating weather and emerged out of the clouds near Lake Michigan. Chicago’s skyline is...impressive. The most dominating man made construction I have ever seen. Sure there are skyscrapers plural, but I use the singular to refer to the vast urban area that has built up on the shore of the lake. Usually everything looks small from a plane, but Downtown stood tall and intimidating, even more so against the flat water backdrop as the plane banked and approached O’Hare from the Northwest.

I hopped off the plane and headed Downtown. Great plan this- if you have to fly back to the UK or Europe for that matter, stop off for a few hours in your connecting city. Hopefully it tires you out a bit, you sleep on the overnight flight and arrive the next morning feeling...okay. The jet lag was certainly not as present as I was lead to believe it would be. I was tired, but travelling will do that for you!

I had travelled round parts of America and until the final plane journey no-one in this reportedly obese country had put anything in front of me that I had been unable to finish. Apart from Sushi. I tried that for the first time, (why not?) and I don’t want any more thank you. I prefer my food properly cooked to bring out the flavour. I tried to taste the differences but it was cold. Like hangover leftovers. Maybe it’s a culture difference because Brandon couldn’t get over my eating cold sausages (cooked...I’m not French hahaha! Oh... I might have started a rumour here). The pizza I ate in Chicago came close though. And it was only a small.

I wandered on my own about Downtown Chicago and made it to ‘The Oldest Bar’, of German origin, and sat with a ridiculously expensive bottle of average pale ale. Chicago was alright I suppose, but i needed company. I’m no good at doing the tourist thing on my own. This was a lonely end to my time here as I had no inclination to meet anyone. I was acutely aware that time was ticking for my flight home. Somewhere a plane was being ready that would carry me back to the land I had so fondly thought of during the first 3 days on the road. I don’t like wandering around London on my own with little purpose. I can wander hills and cliffs with nothing to do, but cities- no way, and Chicago, although mighty and foreign was really no different.

At ground level it is simply buildings, and they are nothing without people. Somewhere sit a bunch of folk, unconnected and unaware of each other, whose various lives and roles combine to promote this concrete leviathan. You need only to think of any song immortalising a city to understand what I see here. Recent popular artist have paid too much homage to New York in particular. I haven’t been. Maybe it has a special energy but I doubt it. In truth, it means something for those who love it, but it is just urbanisation promoted. The work is all human and the sight-seen buildings are nothing but shiny baubles on a planetary Jewel in the cosmos. Value- it comes from SELF.