Bags packed. Bike boxed. Alarm set for an ungodly hour.
Tomorrow morning at 05:30 CEST, Carolin will drive me ot Frankfurt Airport and the next chapter begins.
By noon I’ll be landing in Istanbul — one of the great cities of the world, straddling two continents and a thousand years of history. But first things first: there’s a bike to assemble.
Rosinante IV is my new travel companion. Fresh, eager, and currently inside a travel case. Once she’s together, I’ll saddle up and ride straight into the heart of Istanbul to meet Tony. For the past year, Tony has been the faithful guardian of Rosinante III — my previous companion on roads I already miss.
The two of us will spend some time cannibalizing the old for the sake of the new. Parts migrating from III to IV, a ritual passing of the torch between two bikes that have carried me halfway around the world.
Then Rosinante III goes into storage, quietly retiring with dignity. Rosinante IV gets tucked away for the night too — one last rest before the road.
I’ll spend the night in a hotel, city sounds drifting through the window, maps half-studied, legs still fresh.
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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