One bike and one dream – Ana Maria

I am Ana Maria and I graduated from the Faculty of Letters in ClujNapoca, Romania. And then I got a job at a call centre, because iyou study foreign languages you don’t have many options. And, as you probably expect, I don’t recommend anyone to work in a call centre. Pretty soon I realised that it’s not for me and that I can’t  work locked up in an office, answering phones all day, but that I’d like to travel and see the world, now that I know I have enough time and not so many worries. So I applied for a 6-week volunteering (EVS) project in Cyprus. I quit the call centre and in April I volunteered in Lysos, a small village in the north-west of the island where, together with 8 other volunteers from France, Italy and Spain, I helped the locals with spring chores, celebrated Easter with them and organised a marathon. Although only for a few weeks it was a wonderful experience on a dream island, sleeping on the beach under the open sky or on the roof of the house where we lived with the other volunteers, eating Greek delicacies, seeing how to make halloumi, their traditional cheese, exploring the area and the two halves, the Greek and the Turkish, of the capital, Nicosia.

Back home, all I could think of was travelling further. And so I found out from Corina, the coordinator of the volunteers supported by the Provobis Association in Cluj, that I could also opt
for a longer volunteering project of 10 months. Soon I found a project at a private school in Denmark, where I got accepted. The project was going to start on September 1, so I had a whole
summer until then. And since, well, I had long wanted to go on a cycling trip, I came across two girls from Germany going to the Black Sea, so I joined them from Serbia to the sea. We cycled for a month together along the Danube, for a while on the Bulgarian side, for a while on the Romanian one, sleeping in tents and playing street music in towns on the way to save up money for ice cream. Wonderful moments that could only make me want to travel further. So I decided to go to Denmark for my volunteering…how else but on a bike? And so I got up on the saddle in mid-July, with far more luggage than I needed but determined to do this! Because it’s quite a long way away I decided to start a bit further than Cluj, so I went by blablacar to Budapest where I already had to fix my bike – the only one I had, a bike about the same age as I am, bought for 200 lei second-hand in Cluj about 4 years ago. From there I went by Flixbus to Vienna, where I started cycling on my own. The way took me through Bratislava in Slovakia, Brno, Boskovice and Prague in the Czech Republic, then north through Dresden, Leipzig, Berlin in Germany all the way to Rostock where I crossed by ferry to Gedser in Denmark, and cycled to Copenhagen. Six weeks in total, about 1500 km and countless new friends along the way. When you’re on a bike it doesn’t matter where you’re from, the bike already acts as a passport for you and people are much more open and curious to get to know you. I used couchsurfing and warmshowers to find hosts for the night, two online platforms where you can stay for free in people’s homes, on a couch or in an extra room or with a tent in the garden. In short, people excited to meet travellers, curious to hear where I was from and how come my mum let me go cycling around the world on my own. I kept folding origami stars for my hosts in order to repay their hospitality, the paper being light enough for my luggage. It wasn’t always easy, I had rainy days and days when I felt like I couldn’t go any further, the wind was pushing me back and I thought I’d never make it. But eventually it all passed and I got there! Although I was cycling alone during the day, in the evenings I was always meeting wonderful people and seeing how they lived, some with children, some without, some alone, students, grandparents, mothers, fathers, artists, teachers, engineers. Always interesting and unexpected. And always something new to learn. It was like living in a new family every night. There were places I’d never want to leave and there were families where the kids were so noisy you could barely hear your thoughts. A challenge all the time, adapting to their way of life and showing them how you live too.

And so I finally got to the school in Denmark, efterskole as they are called. It’s a system of schools where 15-16-year-old students can study for a year before their 3 years of high school. They are boarding schools where they can study whatever their hobbies are, from sports and music to drama, languages, ceramics, dance and more. The school I went to deals with intercultural studies, languages and travel. I was helping with English classes, Japanese, Global Citizenship, art, but also cooking and evening activities and whatever other projects they had. And I also had the opportunity to go with the students and two other teachers to Japan on a class trip. It was a year of experiencing what it’s like to work in a school, making friends with the students and teachers and other volunteers I shared the experience with, learning about Danish culture and language, spending New Year’s in Danish style and the Easter holiday on the beach.

We were provided accommodation and food at school along with the other students, and we also visited the schools where the other volunteers were. I learned Danish with one of the students, reading and translating The Little Prince together, and in return I helped her with Japanese. When you volunteer you invest your time differently, you are more open to experiment and learn, and at the same time more free to put all kinds of ideas into practice. And a school is the perfect place where you can try out new projects and things, both with students, adapting to their interests, and on your own, learning a new language, maybe a musical instrument, maybe a new hobby. It’s been a year full of adventures, facing challenges, a year of beautiful memories and obstacles overcome. And if I were able to, I’d go away again with more of these volunteering projects! But what I am definitely able to do is recommend everyone not to let a chance like this go by!

And the way back home…could it have been any other way than by bike? Same bike, a slightly more experienced Ana. Okay, but that didn’t mean I didn’t have too much luggage again, and that I didn’t get lost a few times. But that’s part of the adventure, and you learn to deal with it all. But I didn’t take the same route back, but through Germany, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary…all the way back home! I left again in the middle of July, but the journey took two months and a bit, about 3000 km in total. Again challenges, but also rewards. Unforgettable places, unforgettable people. I stayed in people’s homes, with students in a shared apartment, at families with children who didn’t speak English but were eager to show you all their toys, clothes and family photos, with grandparents, potters, a blacksmith, painters, sports teachers, maths teachers, doctors, architects, other cyclists, I spoke in English, in
French, with signs and drawings or even without words. Some of them inspired me with their way of seeing life, with others I may not have entirely agreed. I also visited old friends who were a pleasure to see again and spend time with. Again I made origami for the hosts and continued writing and painting in the travelling diary I started last year. Beautiful cities, the Atlantic coast, pine forests, fields full of geese or of flowers, sun, rain, wind… Hills to climb that left you breathless, but promised fairytale views and a well-deserved descent. Freedom to pedal as fast as I wanted, to plan my route as I wished or to spend a whole day looking for shells on the beach if I just felt like it. An adventure that confirms with each passing day that there are good people everywhere, happy to meet you and help you. And from which you learn to be more humble, more understanding and grateful for the kindness you encounter at every turn. And who make you want to help as you can too. And you also learn that you don’t need so many things, thoughts and worries, that the baggage you really need fits easily into two bags on your bike…and the emotional baggage gets smaller with each pedal. And just like that I got back to Budapest, where I had to take the bike to be repaired again, with more problems this time but also more memories together, as well as grateful that we made it safely to the end of the journey. At the end of this one, because the adventure won’t end here, I still have plenty of places to explore in this wide world!

Ș-am încălecat pe-o șa…