The End Of A Journey

You might remember my buddy Matt and his friend Ryan from a previous post about the two of them biking across the United States (and then some). I'm happy to report that Matt and Ryan safely reached home on June 17, 2006, some 3 1/2 months after they began in San Francisco. 5,200 miles later, I'm pretty sure that life for them will never be the same again. What a journey! If you're interested in seeing all their pics and/or sampling a few of their audio blogs from along the way, visit BikeAndSee.

Here is part of an email from Matt following their return:

This trip was truly amazing..the people you met...the things you saw....just living life everyday somewhere new. Pretty neat!!

Truthfully though, I already miss it. There was a couple we met in the first week who was traveling by bike from the tip of South America to Alaska. I was checking out their site and it was making me jealous. I don't know what it is with the bicycle, but it makes traveling seem so much more magical.

Okay...so maybe biking isn't your "magical" thing, but what is it about a bike that makes the difference here?

I'm thinking it has something to do with the simplicity of a bike. It's self-powered, you can only carry the bare necessities, and unlike most modern forms of transportation, it allows you to soak in life along the way. I guess it's like a friend said, it simply allows you to be somewhere, instead of just getting somewhere.

So...where are you at in your journey?