pre adventure Training Pic near Taupo

Thoughts on the eve of our BIG adventure

Here we are finally on the move , our much anticipated northern hemisphere adventure kicks off very soon. Writing this from our hotel in Sth Korea , onwards bound for Oldenburg in Germany . For most of July we will be kayaking on the river Elbe with a large group of German kayakers. In August we are back on dry land but still following famous German rivers , as we begin a cycle tour of the Danube river. By September , all going swimmingly well , we will be back here in South Korea , cycling the “ Four Rivers Cycle Trail “ that stretches all the way from Seoul down to Busan, with our friends Carl and Rose. Finally Barb and I will ditch the bikes and put on our Walking shoes for some of the “ Jeju Olle “ ( google it ) and hopefully a quick ferry over to Japan where I hope to meet some Japanese friends.

Some mixed thoughts on leaving from NZ this time , thinking of what may be , what I am really looking forward to and  how life may pan out . Some of our friends have recently been embarked on mindfulness courses, when they remember to go 😉 , and for me I am attracted to this adventure as it casts me into long periods of total mindfulness , ie just living in the moment , absorbing each experience without all the clutter and worry of the past or the future.
As Mark Twain once said, “I have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.”
In many respects this trip will be total enforced mindfulness – each day will be enough in itself , the trip is too long to worry about the finish , just immerse oneself in the DAY , in the moment , in the present .
I think this encapsulates why adventure has always been so important to me .

My buddy in adventure Barb looking pretty good after the first 11 hour flight .
  Flying with Korean Air — we checked in 108 kg of adventure equipment which includes the bikes , camping gear and kayaking stuff. Overnighting in Seoul before another 11 hours flight to Frankfurt , then a final long bus trip to Oldenburg — 

Bring it on 😊😉

Arrived in Frankfurt and reunited with our gear — overnight nearby before a long bus ride to our kayaking friends residence in Oldenburg