The idea of camping in the wild is not something new. In our experience, this ‘wild camping’ literally means stopping off on the side of the road at the end of a day’s cycle, scouring the terrain in order to find a decent spot; just out of view from the road and potential rogue farmers, with all the promise of providing a relatively good nights sleep, then pitching a tent, cooking some supper, covering our belonging with a patchwork tarp and tucking up for the night.
Seem simple? Of course. But when we started this trip and had these romantic ideas of adapting to nature, to this peripatetic way of life with just the panniers on our bicycles and the assortment of things strapped to our racks to sustain us, we seriously underestimated the strain it places on the body to be so completely out of one’s comfort zone.
Living like this, as we have now done for almost two weeks (admittedly not that long in the bigger picture), makes you realise that what we take for granted such as a shower; space to clean and cook; space to put things where they will stay dry and not become infested with the local bug life, are the basic things that you suddenly forgo when you undertake any sort of trip with this sort of outdoor lifestyle. We are learning this slowly, but we are certainly loving every lesson that it is teaching us. You know it is unique lifestyle that you lead when the sound of running water and the flush of a loo become somewhat alien to you – a semi-feral state has been achieved.
Yet, there is something amazingly uncomplicated about waking up after resting on a thin mattress on hard ground, dragging yourself out of the tent, changing into over-used and under-washed cycle gear, getting on a bicycle and hauling what is currently all our worldly possessions up and down hills; all with the realisation that this is our world for the next 15 months or so. It is this realisation; when the very concept of temporal constraints seem to fade away, when an enjoyable programme of repetition sets in, that the coming months are only going to get harder and harsher, and that instead of engendering a feeling of helplessness and fatigue you rather revel in the sweat and dirt that encrusts your body when you wake up, giving you the energy and mental strength to overcome the soreness and the prospect of yet another day in a hard saddle.
We are by no means the first, nor hopefully the last, to write about this type of travel, we are also not the most hardcore off-road nomads out there. Most of you reading this have experienced what we are talking about and the joy of being on the road, of discovering new places and new people, of pushing the body to its limit. We have only started our long journey and our cycle adventure is slowly kicking into gear so the next post might be slightly more bitter and homesick and weary of our new way of life. Who knows? That seems to be the joy in taking each day as it comes. But for now; be it meadow, wasteland, field or forest, there is something quite unique and hugely satisfying about accepting the challenge of the unknown and becoming completely open towards embracing the varied and always rewarding accommodation that the road has to offer.
Click here for more stories on cycling from London to Cape Town.
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