5 1/2 months have passed since I returned from my big trip. A lot of things happened in those 5 1/2 months.
Back home I noticed that not many things have changed. Ok .. there were quite a few things. Friends became pregnant, children were born, couples separated, new partners were found. But the „big“ picture remained the same.
Right after coming back I visited my colleagues in the company, where I worked before. It was like I have been away just a week. A few employees were gone, new ones have come. But the cultural structure has not changed. I was assimilated immediately.
I am back at work since August, same company, same position, same desk, same work .. more money ;-)
Back in the old environment, I noticed all the other things that did not change. There is that quirky woman with her black ruffled Terrier – with whom she speaks – running through the roads. The two old retired men, who walk almost every day to a close supermarket in the morning to get a coffee. The old supermarket, where they went before, does not exist anymore. The built it new somewhere else some time ago. Now they have to walk a little bit further .. and there are all the other little things.
It’s so different to see this constancy, compared to me, who was always on the move.
So I am back to “normal” life, or, what is understood as „normal“ by the majority of people. I’d rather describe it as „insane“ sometime.
Well, it took about 8 weeks until my injuries healed. Some damage will remain. My left shoulder is shorter now about 3-4 cm, because the broken part of the collarbone is overlapping. I don’t think I will win a beauty contest anymore. My right thumb will not gain its full strength anymore. But all I have to do at work, is to hit the keyboard and as long as I can pull the throttle on the bike it is not a problem.
When my shoulder had healed, I bought a scooter to be mobile again. When my friends heard, that I bought a two wheeled vehicle again, they meant, that my learning curve is pretty flat.
I was in Berlin. Twice. The first time, for a few days to visit my friends Esra and Paul and to meet Jamie, their friend who lived in Berlin for a year.
The second time, I went to Holland with my scooter to visit Renate and Bart. I was on the road for 12 days. Having stops in Regensburg, Hannover, Frankfurt, I first visited Kerstin in Berlin and then went on to Renate and Bart.
In Berlin I locked all my keys in the top case of my scooter. A locksmith had to open it. I payed 100 EUR for a, in my view, minor traffic violation, because I did not know a special case of traffic rule. In one of the hostels I met Chuck Norris. Of course it was not Chuck Norris, it was a young Canadian guy, who was really looking like Chuck Norris.
One of hostels was close to the train station, the area was not very trustable. From the room on the second floor you could observe the prostitutes taking drugs.
It was an experience to be on the road for about 3,500 km with a scooter. I can take that from my bucket list.
For the next years, long distance journeys are probable cancelled. I bought a property, with a very old house, in which I will never live and which I want to demolish soon, to build a new house.
Back from my trip, I thought about how to continue my life. I was thinking of moving back to Vienna for a while. But I quickly realized that I did not want to do that. And then there was this offer .. a property in the village Großhöflein, next to Eisenstadt, on the soft hillside of the beautiful “Leitha Mountains” .. I bought it. But .. there is much to do .. very much.
Every now and then I write a mail or a message to one or the other I’ve met on the trip. I have to admit, too little. I was communicating more, when I was on the road. To some of the people I have not written for a long time, and I lost contact to a few people. But I already know from the past, that it is nearly impossible to keep in contact with everyone.
Life here in Austria absorbed me again .. work, my property, … . At the moment on many days I am busy from the hour I get up till I go to bed. But there will be time again for other things.
I follow the messages, posts and blogs of my fellow travelers (Faizal, Eli, Mike, …) some are at home, some are still on the road and some started a new journey.
My bike finally arrived back home. When I think about, how much it costed and how much effort it took, it would have been better to have it left in Peru (Question to my english speaking friends: Is this sentence correct ? except all the other mistakes).
The re-import of my motorcycle was far more troublesome, than some of the experiences I had at border crossings in Central America. I just wanted my own bike back!
Transport documents, passport, vehicle documents, driving license and the link to my blog – where you can find a lot of photos – were not enough to prove, that it is my bike. That would have been too easy. It was a back and forth with endless e-mails. At the end customs in Germany requested that I send all available documents about the trip. What.The.Fuck?
I scanned about 40 pages of border crossing documents, bills, etc. Perhaps people at customs in Germany were just too lazy to get up from their desk and to take a look into the crate.
When I opened the box, it was just a bunch of iron .. dead and drained of blood (before transport they had to remove all fluids). There was dust from the gravel roads of Patagonia in each and every corner, sometimes as hard as concrete and hardly to remove. I started to clean the bike, I took apart everything I could, I cleaned it sometimes with a toothbrush. Emotions came back. The piece of iron has changed again. It again is My bike .. it will drive again .. and it will be ready for new adventures.
Jürgen.
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