Her Wheel Life

My eyes couldn’t help but to tear up. I reflected on the intensity of all the days Carlos and I had together. I could write a whole book on just that week but for now, I’ll write an excerpt. Maybe in another blog post, I’ll shed some light on why I was his wife for one night.  

 

I found Carlos for the second time in the early afternoon on August 26. We had parted ways a couple days earlier because he wanted to move faster. I mean, he had been biking for 2.5 years, and was way more experienced than me. I knew I couldn’t keep up.

 

When I found him again, he was sleeping on the side of the highway in a small pocket of shade. “Carlos?! YOU OKAY?!” I shout from my bike, and quickly hop off. The heat was unbearable, and I could tell he was sick of it. I had bought 8L of ice cold water the previous night, and by morning, I had 3L left. I had hydrated well the night before, but I was worried he hadn’t. We decided to continue to ride to the nearest town together, 30 km left. We can do this.  

At around 1pm, we bike into town and search for what we call paradise “La Ley”. La Ley is a large air-conditioned grocery store. We lean our bikes by a bench, and step in.  I couldn’t stop laughing. It was euphoric. All the cool air, cold water, and delicious groceries surrounded us. "THIS IS PARADISE", I thought to myself. Carlos bought 1L of ice cream, 2L of milk, and a tub of yoghurt. His diary addiction was one of a kind.  I bought way too many baked goods, a large chunk of cheese, and some tamales. After eating an ungodly amount of food in the amazing shade outside the grocery store, we had to embark on the daily hurdle of finding ourselves a place to sleep that night.  

 

After a half hour of biking around town in the scorching heat, we finally walk into a small room escorted by a kind middle-aged gentleman. He had a huge smile on his face, proud and excited to host a Chilean-German and an Egyptian-Canadian in his home. As I step into this room, I am overwhelmed with gratitude. We are inside. We are out of the heat. I can rest. A couple seconds after however, I notice the room looked like it had not been inhabited for several years. Cockroaches, mice, dog feces - it was the whole nine yards of dirty rooms. Carlos and I, without hesitation, start cleaning up. We sweep and mop the floors, turn the fan on high, put a tarp down, set up our sleeping pads, shower, and lie down. We sit silently for a few moments, just breathing out all our exhaustions.

 

“What do your parents think of your bike touring adventures?” Carlos asked. I take another deep breath. I mean what do you think they think of it! I explained to Carlos that my parents moved to Canada from Egypt two decades ago so that I would never have to sleep with cockroaches. But here I am, sleeping with cockroaches - flying cockroaches might I add. I also tell Carlos that I am grateful that I get to do these trips, but I always question myself. Should I stop traveling? Every time I go back home, members of my community try to convince me to settle down. “You’ll never find a husband if you keep moving around”, I remember one older gentleman saying with concern at one of the many weddings I go to. "Maybe they are right", I finally say. 

 

“Hm interesting”. I had a feeling Carlos didn’t really understand where I was coming from. The conversation then moved on to route planning for tomorrow.

 

But a week later, as I read his letter over and over again on the plane, I realized he understood exactly where I was coming from. In the days that followed our cockroach/mice infested night, I learned more about Carlos, including his love for birds, his understanding of life, and reasons for travel. At surface level, it seemed Carlos and I didn’t have much in common.  But in fact, we both had our reasons for doubting ourselves, reasons that can sometimes hold us back.  But at the end of the day, we - wanderlusters - were born to fly. And we could not let anyone cut our wings. Carlos, that was the best advice you could ever give me.  Thank you, and I am sure we will see each other again somewhere on this beautiful planet.