For Those Grouchy Days…

A couple of days ago Andra, one of our perennially positive and infinitely inspiring riders,  approached me as I puttered about in our sweaty camp kitchen just outside of Nata, Botswana. I'd been filling in for our chef, James, who has been on vacation this week. It was a hot day, and I was searching the truck's various bins and crates for spices and oils to flavour the night's feast of T-Bone steaks, braai'd to perfection by Ronel, our South African braai aficionado. Andra popped by the kitchen, blissed-out as ever, fresh-faced and glowing after a long ride through Elephant country, and asked if she could borrow my netbook to type up a blog she'd been thinking about. I hurriedly fetched my computer, the screen filmed in dust from the Sudanese desert, it's keys gummed with Egyptian falafel and Kenyan ugali (they are desperately in need of a flossing), and promptly forgot about it.

This morning, as I bounced around bleary-eyed in the back of the Landcruiser as we flagged the route to our rest day camp in Maun, my dirty maroon duffel bag suddenly landed on my foot.  It was then that I remembered the computer, and the blog, tucked inside. I unbuckled my seatbelt and dragged the bag over to my filthy, thorn-scabbed feet, reached open the zipper and unfolded the laptop. I was a bit grouchy, having not had enough coffee, and feeling pretty disgusting in my dirty clothes caked in miscellaneous cooking smears, saturated in the stench of 10kg of onion and curry from last night's dinner. I'd been wearing the same pair of pants for three days and was feeling tired and gross, having just pulled a giant thorn out of a festering foot wound. And then I read Andra's blog. Suddenly the wafting stench and festering wounds weren't such a big deal. And I felt better. I appreciated where I was in this moment. And I hope you will too.

-Allison Barnes

55 WAYS TO  LIVE JUICY ON THE TDA (By Andra Nadeau Jakobson)

1 – Say “hello” to cows as you pass them by
2 – Enjoy the company of a butterfly flying alongside you for a few meters
3 – Visit farms and learn learn learn how your favorite fruits grow
4 –  Visit orphanages too
5 – And trees
6 – Sing loudly down descents the soundtrack to your life
7 – Have wild daydreams
8 – Go for a walk after dinner to digest and see what comes your way… a moving gust of wind, curious children, beautiful singing in a church, a patch of corn field to walk through…
9 – Play with children at coke stops
10 – Lie in the desert sand under the globe of stars in Egypt
11 – At the top of a mountain, look back at where you have come from, the distant mountains of yesterday
12 – Sink deeply into the moment
13 – Embrace the nocturnal symphony of crickets and farts
14 – Go back for seconds to succulently taste the gourmet feast you devoured on the first round
15 – Take an entire day to ride to camp and delight in
every light the sun generously shines as it boldly rises, strongly
makes its way across the sky, and then softly goes to bed
16 – Make friends with wild abandon
17 – Play with a chameleon you meet on the road
18 – Learn to say “hello” and “thank you” in every language
encountered
19 -When you’re sick and exhausted, remember that you wont feel like this forever
20 – Do whatever feels most natural right now
21 – Forget about time, live with the sun
22 – Imagine yourself a hardcore professional cyclist and gun it for an entire long day, discovering a new limit into the impossible
23 – Revel in how delicious soap smells after you haven’t showered for a week
24 – Always go toward the beautiful singing
25 – Discuss witchcraft with a Zambian barman
26 -Throw your arms up in the air and imagine yourself flying as the air rushes through your fingertips on a big descent
27 – Discover how another rider’s day was completely different from yours
28 – Listen, listen, listen to your body
29 – Float away your worries in Lake Malawi
30 – Have a cozy nap before dinner
31 – Devour books
32 – Have a loud and righteous venting session
33 – Ask questions
34 – Ride as many matatus as possible
35 – When you’ve had 6 flats and a slow leak and it starts to rain
torrentially, laugh
36 – If something breaks or is lost, let it go with a smile
37- Every once in a while remind yourself of where you are
38 – Feel accomplished and at home every time you spot the finish flag
39 – Share life stories along a ride with a fellow rider
40 – Lie naked in your tent and air out
41 – Ditch the underpants
42 – Ride through a sunflower field on a dirt single track in
Tanzania
43 – Create a tasty concoction to spice up your porridge
44- Make up songs and poems and blog entries along your ride
45 – Dance your way to your bike after lunch
46 – Have a debate over the meaning of rock throwing in Ethiopia
47 – Giggle and shake hands again and again when sign language fails
48 – Have strong sugary tea with gentle Sudanese men in the middle of nowhere
49 – Watch the moon rise
50 – Just be with a giraffe
51 – Marvel at the strength and wisdom of a 2000 year old Baobab tree
52 – When you don’t think the view could become more stunning,  get ready to be astounded
53 – Spice up your tan lines with a different riding shirt
54 – Return the wave of a woman carrying a load with a broad smile
55-  Believe in right now, forever.