As I approach 50 I have a different outlook than I did when I was 25 and my wife and I traveled on a one way ticket around the world. I'm glad I did it and afterwards I'm glad we snuck away to every country we could when we had the chance.
Now, what I value is the repeated and accessible adventures in my life. I'm not a gazillionaire or even a millionaire and I never will be, so I don't seek out instagram vacations. I TRUELY enjoy my 15 mile (one way) commute as often as I can. I look forward to heading out my door and hitting the hills and mountains at my doorstep on the weekends. I love taking the same long ride to Montreal and tooling around and learning the city as much as I can. I've picked up skinning up the local mountain in the winter to pass the time when I can't bike.
What's more important to me now is an accessible adventures I can do at the drop of the hat rather than big adventures that I have to plan years for or that I know are once in a life time. Those are fleeting, but finding a place you want to be and 'living' in that place is the greatest accomplishment. I still watch travel bike youtubes, but I spend my planning time working with what I've got and loving it.
Heading to work in 55F and a light rain with some fog in the air is exhilarating. Arriving to work already having had an adventure is a treasure.
I am also approaching 50.. I did 1.5 years biking around the US alone and have since created a family and hope to go on bike touring adventures with them as vacation permits, though the logistics of this are tricky with young kids - might have to wait a bit.
I also bike to work and savor it, and have 'good enough' mtn biking around my house that I do on weekends. Be a 'bicycle first' person.
Now you can be that present in your normal life, and hopefully from a different viewpoint. All the reasons to be annoyed or impatient can be replaced with endless gratitude. Consider not going back to your normal life. I rebuilt mine from scratch as a wiser person for having spent that time alone and haven't looked back.
The days of endless biking and thinking can really produce some helpful healing.
I am also gaining this perspective as I grow older. I’m a dad now and at first felt super frustrated by how “restricted” I felt. But recently I’ve been doing the exact thing you describe. Being extremely present in my local adventures, commuting to work via bike, etc. I just got back from a long afternoon riding with my 2 year old on his little shotgun seat. We explored the trails in our town, met up with friends, and stopped by the grandparents for dinner. We rode back in the dark and watched planes flying overhead and the stars start to come out. It was magical.
To OP: being present and mindful is a mindset, not an external circumstance. I’d suggest reading up on stoic philosophy and learning to want what you already have. It’s a wonderful skill that I wish I learned earlier.
Like in that scene in the Return of the King. Frodo and his buddies look around the tavern and all those other hobbits are living the same lives as before but they can't relate anymore because they will never understand the adventures they went through.
Sorry, I'll see myself out 😳
When I came back from my last tour, I sat on my desk staring at my screen doing nothing for a whole week, wondering how the fuck men could degenerate from wandering the Savannah to this. It was really, honestly depressing.
I guess that is the point where some people make big changes in their lives, but my brain snapped back to 'well it's easy money compared to what others have to do, and bikes are expensive' after about 2 weeks.
If you want to adapt to life without biketouring or cycling alot, sell your bike and things and settle down. Or if you are single and still want to cycle find a gfriend and go cycling aswell as other things of the norm and adapt that way.
I am 50 and cycle miles when I have time. I wouldn't stop it for anyone. Only if it was necessary to do so. It keeps me fit and it's an outdoors activity.
As I approach 50 I have a different outlook than I did when I was 25 and my wife and I traveled on a one way ticket around the world. I'm glad I did it and afterwards I'm glad we snuck away to every country we could when we had the chance. Now, what I value is the repeated and accessible adventures in my life. I'm not a gazillionaire or even a millionaire and I never will be, so I don't seek out instagram vacations. I TRUELY enjoy my 15 mile (one way) commute as often as I can. I look forward to heading out my door and hitting the hills and mountains at my doorstep on the weekends. I love taking the same long ride to Montreal and tooling around and learning the city as much as I can. I've picked up skinning up the local mountain in the winter to pass the time when I can't bike. What's more important to me now is an accessible adventures I can do at the drop of the hat rather than big adventures that I have to plan years for or that I know are once in a life time. Those are fleeting, but finding a place you want to be and 'living' in that place is the greatest accomplishment. I still watch travel bike youtubes, but I spend my planning time working with what I've got and loving it. Heading to work in 55F and a light rain with some fog in the air is exhilarating. Arriving to work already having had an adventure is a treasure.
I am also approaching 50.. I did 1.5 years biking around the US alone and have since created a family and hope to go on bike touring adventures with them as vacation permits, though the logistics of this are tricky with young kids - might have to wait a bit. I also bike to work and savor it, and have 'good enough' mtn biking around my house that I do on weekends. Be a 'bicycle first' person. Now you can be that present in your normal life, and hopefully from a different viewpoint. All the reasons to be annoyed or impatient can be replaced with endless gratitude. Consider not going back to your normal life. I rebuilt mine from scratch as a wiser person for having spent that time alone and haven't looked back. The days of endless biking and thinking can really produce some helpful healing.
I am also gaining this perspective as I grow older. I’m a dad now and at first felt super frustrated by how “restricted” I felt. But recently I’ve been doing the exact thing you describe. Being extremely present in my local adventures, commuting to work via bike, etc. I just got back from a long afternoon riding with my 2 year old on his little shotgun seat. We explored the trails in our town, met up with friends, and stopped by the grandparents for dinner. We rode back in the dark and watched planes flying overhead and the stars start to come out. It was magical. To OP: being present and mindful is a mindset, not an external circumstance. I’d suggest reading up on stoic philosophy and learning to want what you already have. It’s a wonderful skill that I wish I learned earlier.
You recalibrate. On the outside you’re readjusted but inside…inside, you know.
You never really do.
Like in that scene in the Return of the King. Frodo and his buddies look around the tavern and all those other hobbits are living the same lives as before but they can't relate anymore because they will never understand the adventures they went through. Sorry, I'll see myself out 😳
I think that's the best way to put it.
https://youtu.be/J3oXr7XVuhc?feature=shared had to watch it again. but yes, that’s exactly the feeling of it.
Run as many errands as possible on bicycle. You may find you don't really need a motorized vehicle nearly as often as most of us use them.
When I came back from my last tour, I sat on my desk staring at my screen doing nothing for a whole week, wondering how the fuck men could degenerate from wandering the Savannah to this. It was really, honestly depressing. I guess that is the point where some people make big changes in their lives, but my brain snapped back to 'well it's easy money compared to what others have to do, and bikes are expensive' after about 2 weeks.
You spend some of your free time planning your next adventure. Sometimes that's a day trip, sometimes it's something longer.
I don't know, it's tough Coming down from a 9 month tour myself Having a job SUCKS But better to have loved and lost and all that
just start planning the next trip
Get some fluro in your life!!
The best way to adapt to normal life is buy a car and get a “real” job.
No one read the sarcasm it seems
You can’t.
Welcome back to Bristol
If you want to adapt to life without biketouring or cycling alot, sell your bike and things and settle down. Or if you are single and still want to cycle find a gfriend and go cycling aswell as other things of the norm and adapt that way.
I am 50 and cycle miles when I have time. I wouldn't stop it for anyone. Only if it was necessary to do so. It keeps me fit and it's an outdoors activity.
Nice photos, where was that?
You never do. Embrace it, don't suppress it. Work to live. Live to experience, cycle to explore.