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| The World on Wheels She left home on a cycle to explore the unknown. Almost a year later, Line Tvete has come a long way, and believes she still has further to go By Mridu Khullar It's a warm summer day. Line Tvete is gearing up for an afternoon ride in Mcleod Ganj (Himachal Pradesh). On her bed lie books she's reading (The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness, Health Through Balance and Like the Flowing River), little mementos she has collected, and maps and guidebooks for her travels. You notice the rose tattoo on her left wrist. But it has no special significance-- "Sometimes, things just feel right," Line muses. It's the same instinct of "feeling right" that drove Line, 48, to get up one September morning last year, dress in her black jeans and blue jumper, strap on her bags, and leave her home in Norway on a bicycle, to start a soul-searching journey through Europe and Asia. Over the past nine months, Line has cycled 8,600 kilometers through almost 15 countries, including Norway, Sweden, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India and Nepal. "This journey's a way of trying and learning different things," she says. It all began unassumingly last year. Along with her husband and family, Line had spent almost her entire life toiling in her family-owned hotel-- managing it and handling the business. But as the days became increasingly predictable, they also became increasingly difficult. After almost two decades of the same nothingness, work was beginning to get jaded. So was Line's 15-year marriage. Her heart wasn't in it any longer. She needed something more. Bit by bit, Line made changes. She started taking time off, bought a bicycle to explore her town near Lillehammer in Norway, and traveled to foreign countries. Yet, she often found herself torn in different directions, wanting desperately to travel, but being forced back home by the responsibilities of work. After she returned from a trip to Asia-- Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam-- in early 2006, Line made some tough decisions: she split up with her husband, sold her part of the business to her brother, and chalked out a budget for a trip around the world. When she initially proposed the idea, her family didn't take her too seriously. But in the end, they were not only supportive, but excited too. "Cycling is a very good way of traveling," Line says. "I get to meet a lot of new people, and experience the world in a totally new way." When she's on her cycle, Line is often met with amused and curious glances. In Mcleod Ganj, several people wave to her, and a man and his wife pose for a picture with her. "In Pakistan, I had a police escort the whole time, so I wasn't able to meet people like I did in other countries," she recalls. In places like Turkey, she was able to interact with the locals and get a feel of their lives and culture. In Iran, she was stuck in a small town where she didn't know how to find a hotel. "I stood in the middle of the road and, like I usually do, just waited. At some point someone who can speak good English would come along." That's exactly what happened. Line met a man who not only helped her find accommodation, but also recounted his life story to her. "He told me he had a dream a month ago that he should help a foreigner, but didn't know when, where and how. When he saw me, he immediately knew he had to help me." Line's objective is to observe different cultures at her own pace. She is in no rush to get anywhere. She wants to explore the world-- see it, feel it, experience it. Sometimes, she spends only a day in a place; at other times, weeks. "In Norway, I stayed with friends," she says. "In Sweden, a couple I barely knew offered me their home. In Poland, I met some travelers on a boat, and I lived with them." Her favorite countries though have been Turkey and Iran, where she spent eight and five weeks each because of the unexpected kindness she received from people there. "Yet, in Turkey, hardly any women would talk to me," she says. "They would just look. . . maybe because they don't speak English. In the East, women are always at home working, they don't go out. So when I came to Tehran, I was surprised. There the women talked to me." The men, though, were a completely different story. "They seemed very sex-focused," Line says. She later learned of the booming sex industry in Turkey, of older foreign women "desiring" younger men. "I had some experiences with young boys who behaved a bit awkwardly, and I kept wondering, 'Why are they so interested?' Now I know!" Loneliness, so far, hasn't crept up on Line. For the most part, she says, she's too consumed by the next phase of her journey. A journey that has been about challenging herself-- physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. In Mcleod Ganj, she learned advanced meditation, joined yoga classes, and during her spare time, tutored local Tibetans in English. A nun she met during her stay here encouraged her to find ways of using her journey as a means of spreading the message of harmony among different cultures. "Many of people have pre-determined notions about countries and places. But I find that they're not always true," Line says. Sometimes, she gets scared. "What will happen tomorrow? How will I find a hotel? Where am I going? Why am I doing this?" But then she takes a deep breath, knows that the present moment is all she needs to be in control of, and remembers that the future will take care of itself in its own way. The physical part of her travels, says Line, is the easiest. It's the willingness to keep going that is sometimes the biggest challenge. But she believes in staying positive. "When you open your mind to possibilities, things happen." |
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