I slept like a baby. After a quick breakfast, I tried to fix my brakes which had been losing grip yesterday. A couple of kilometers into the route my saddlepost cracked and I almost fell off the bike.
Luckily, I found a bike shop not too far away. Thanks to a nice mechanic, Rosinante was up and running within an hour and for just 10€. He was also able to quickly fix my brakes. A good idea since I was heading towards hilly Thuringia.
My mood was bit low though. I felt exhausted and had lost trust in my gear. Tinas flat mate Flo who works in a café, had given me yummy sandwiches which were leftovers of the day. Delicious!
During the day the landscape turned from plains with big skies into rolling hills. I stopped for a pizza at the former German border and reached my camping site at a nice lake after 9pm. The entire place felt like a big party. Certainly, there was no social distancing going on – rather the opposite. I found a remote spot which was less noisy.
I went for a quick swim and then my new neighbors in a camper van invited me over for a beer. They were a little drunk which made the conversation more fun. That was a nice end of the day.
About 30 years ago, two zis scholarships helped me to broaden my horizon, expand my understanding of what is possible, and develop more self-confidence. zis is a non-profit organization that has been awarding scholarships for study trips to young people between the ages of 16 and 20 for more than 60 years. Today, the word we use for tenacity and grit is resilience - and I've made it my profession, to help managers around the world to develop more of this inner power.
In retrospect, the experiences I've had on these trips to Scotland and Iceland have been priceless for my development. After having had a childhood with some challenges, I learned that I could cycle 1,700km on my own and get wet every day without despairing. I have learned that I was able to get along with only 300 € for 4 weeks and still had a good time. I have learned what it's like to be threatened with deportation and how to get an interview with the President from such a crisis. I have understood that limitations are primarily constructs in our heads, and I want to make these insights available to as many adolescents as possible.
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