At 5:30 in the morning, my wife Carolin drove me to the airport. We shared our goodbye kiss — the kind that always lasts a little longer when you know you won’t see each other again for six weeks.
We had only just spent 48 hours together at home after my last return from Uganda, and now another adventure was beginning.
Everything at the airport went perfectly. The staff were friendly, checkin and boarding was easy, and before takeoff I checked one very important thing: Was Rosinante on board?
Yes. At least according to the AirTag, she was somewhere close to my location when the luggage was loaded. That gave me peace of mind.
Almost three hours later, I landed in Istanbul. But there was one problem: Rosinante had not arrived.
For whatever reason, she hadn’t made it onto the plane.
At first, I was a little upset. But then I thought: Relax. Let’s see if at least the bags made it. Thankfully, my panniers were there waiting for me.
At Lost & Found, Seynep, a super friendly employee explained the situation. Apparently, there are three flights from Frankfurt to Istanbul every day, so there was a good chance my bike would arrive on one of the next ones. She was even practicing her German with me while reassuring me that everything would be fine.
And honestly — with the AirTag attached to Rosinante, I felt strangely calm. Technology can be beautiful sometimes.
From the airport, I took a taxi to meet Tony and his friends. Tony had been kindly taking care of Rosinante III over the past year.
It was an emotional moment to see my travel companion again.
After the spare parts for Rosinante III had never arrived in Turkey, the revised plan was simple:
Bring Rosinante IV to Istanbul, take crucial parts from III and leave it behind while starting this year’s tour with Rosinante IV.
Well… it seemed that life had slightly different plans.
Tony, Cengiz and Mehmet are best friends since childhood. Tony is Christian but Cengiz and Mehmet Abos Moslems. A rare kind of friendship.
In a world that often focuses on division, they were living proof that people with different beliefs can deeply respect and care for each other.
Tony, who speaks English, Arabic, Italian, and Russian, and I spent hours talking — about business, life, the economy in Turkey and Germany, faith, politics, and friendship.
At some point I insisted on taking Tony out for dinner to show my gratitude for all of his support.
After accepting he smiled and said:
“In my hometown, there’s no chance you’re paying tonight. I will take you to the best restaurant to n town.”
And he did.
The evening became one of those moments you don’t plan for while traveling — the moments that end up meaning the most. We talked for hours about faith, Christianity, Islam, politics, culture, and life in general. Time completely disappeared.
And then, sometime later, the best possible news arrived:
Rosinante IV had made it to Istanbul after all.
She had arrived on the last flight of the day.
I could already see her AirTag moving through the Istanbul airport, waiting to be delivered to my hotel the next day.
At midnight, sitting in my hotel room, I felt deeply grateful.
The journey had officially begun.