Build Something Different

"Something different" sounds uncertain, imprecise. Ambiguity is often uncomfortable and can even be scary if we are used to the predictable and concrete. What each person imagines as "something different" depends on what they assume to be normal, but it also varies according to what they imagine possible.

“We cannot create what we cannot imagine” - Lucille Clifton

The stories that we surround ourselves with and that we pay attention to are what directly feed our imagination and consciousness. It's been a few years since I met Jamie **, the main inspiration behind this trip. Before meeting him, I did not know what cycling was, much less that it was a lifestyle undertaken by so many daring and rebellious around the world. Naturally, it caught my attention - but almost just as naturally the doubts and insecurities that govern my own conception of what I am capable of arose. “But I am not an athlete. I couldn't travel alone. And I don't even have a bike! " It was the first thing I thought. But the universe has its way of aligning times and circumstances so perfectly until it all makes sense.

So here we go: about a month after embarking on this new adventure. All this is not to say that the hesitations have disappeared. I am still not an athlete, and after several months of quarantine, perhaps even less athletic than before. A u also have bike n. But I found the most suitable travel companion who motivates me unconditionally, and their motivation helps me to overshadow all those debilitating thoughts that could restrict my desire to build something different.

So what am I ready to build?

With every attempt to answer that question, new ideas emerge that are constantly changing and shaping. They escape any fixation to stay alive and keep me creative. Each time, the question invites me to see things differently. To deny that my imagination is standardized or colonized . And with every attempt to respond , I change too.

Riding a bike in Latin America is not necessarily an alternative to normality, however it is the way we have decided to expand our imagination and confront what lies beyond the familiar. It is the method, but not the final conclusion. If these months of quarantine have shown anything, it is that we always are, have been, and will continue to be projects under construction. Therefore, we have the possibility to do things differently. To live differently.

And you, are you ready for that "something different"?

** Visit my inspiring bikeramble.com , who was almost 6 years pedaling the world !!