Brain matters

Dear future me,

Note from my past me: “Ride Ocean Drive in Miami South Beach on my bike with the GoPro on recording mode. Will be a lot more impressive than dragging this giant flesh of sunburned wrinkled skin in one-for-all-occasions travelers’ outfit through the most stylish strip of Florida.” Well indeed, it made a hell of an impression to all the bystanders when I left Miami. Not so much because of my appearance, but it had more to do with the attitude of my horn. I think it felt insecure and needed to boost itself a little bit. Out of nowhere my horn decided to malfunction in the middle of Ocean Drive and kept raising his voice until I was far gone. Yep, another Dutchie who wanted to show off her bike.

I was glad to depart Miami, although I did have to leave some charming roommates behind. I’ll miss the Adieus and Ciaos. It’s just that I don’t like to be in crowded places anymore and Miami is definitely a very crowded (hot) place. On my way to open space, I stopped one more time to visit a museum: The Viscaya. To put it in a few words, you can find the old elegant Europe in every detail of this grandiose house and its garden. In the beginning of the 20th Century a rich American asked an architect to build a house around his collector items, and voila! I must say that this luxurious open spaced sea facing villa is a jewel and, because its interior is complete, maybe even more picturesque then most of the European little castles. But hey, that is easy if you just build it a hundred years ago. Flabbergasted, I drove to Homestead for my next stay. Only to get even more flabbergasted. The hostel is situated in a very old house and the garden is a world on its own. Full of tents, tree houses, hammocks, comfy chairs, a waterfall, a swing, a tightrope and loads of kayaks. I entered Walhalla, a very dangerous place for people on the road. Places like this will make you stay forever and my original three night stay turned into five. Here is where the true travelers dwell, here is where you find your inner peace, and here is where you meet new people and part as old friends. Here is where I realized that I’m not ready yet to return home. Exploring the Keys, all the islands in the south of Florida, to kiss the most southerly point of the USA. For everybody who loves plans: in retro perspective I can say that the non-existing plan of touching the two opposite side of the States has worked out well. Exploring the Everglades in a group tour: Slandering through a mangrove swamp on feet, dodging the alligators and pulling little Chinese girls out of the mud holes. And kayaking through the River of Grass, dodging the alligators and pulling little Chinese girls out of the bushes. Exploring the Reefs, robbing a just-married couple of their reserved places on a snorkeling tour and chasing Nemo’s with my camera. And most of all, hanging out in the garden with all these wonderful people, talking about life, travels and future.

That future made me realize that I did had to move on, will I ever sell the bike and leave the States to find out what my future might be. So I packed my stuff, took one last ‘Robert is Here’ super awesome fruit milkshake and hit the road. Not too fast though, as I made a game out of counting Alligators in the pools next to the Tamiami Trail. After 9,857,483 my brain started to melt, so I stopped. Chasing the big turtle away who was sunbathing on the side of the road. And no, my GoPro was NOT on. I was happy though to find my motel at night as the new season brings hot weather to Florida. I’m slowly dying on the bike. The next day it got even worse and I couldn’t really enjoy the ride anymore, feeling lousy. I think my ‘it-is-almost-the-end-of-my-journey-depression’ is starting to kick in. Even the Manatees didn’t want to face me anymore and stayed at the bottom of their rivers. While I was struggling through the heavy traffic and getting dehydrated, I found myself knocking on heaven’s door. Petrus didn’t answer yet, but Nancy opened her doors for me.

Knowing what it is to have a daughter on the road, Nancy welcomed me in Sarasota and made sure I was not leaving any soon. Even when my brains were trying to make some sort of a plan for the next week, she demolished it within a few seconds. I must say, the inner Houdini, struggled for a while, but then gave in. So here I am, drinking wine, laying on the couch and relaxing all the way. Of course, the boat trip was a treat and visiting the Dali and the Ringling Museum was awesome. Watching ball during Spring Practice, super! But just to spend the evenings with this lovely woman, talking about life and hear her stories, is all I need right now. No worries about what awaits me when I go home (only thoughts of the many hugs I’m gonna give my family) and certainly no worries about the bike. The sale is not working out yet, however. People don’t want to spend the money and I know that Florida is not the best market for this type of bike. But I’m still not sure if I really want to part with my bike and therefore I’m not putting too much energy in selling it. Mmmm, most of my life I just trust my feeling, but this time my intuition is not giving me any clear cues. Thankfully, I already found a place where I can store the bike for the time being. So I can spend many more nights going to sleep with the thought: To sell or not to sell, that is a brain wrecking question!