Traveling around the world by bike is addictive: 'it's my methadone'

It was not an overnight decision when Ramon Sagues concluded: I want to go on a trip around the world by bike. “It was a feeling inside me, that whispered to my mind for a long time. The hardest part of the decision-making was to actually go for it. Now that I am on the road, everything goes smoothly”.

Not seeing his partner and family as often as he might like to is what he finds most challenging about being on the road fulltime. His partner, however, is ‘most used’ to not seeing Sagues every day in the house. “When Mercè and I met in 2008, she left to do her PhD in California. I followed her, but I went for a bike trip around South America. At that time, there was no WhatsApp or FaceTime. The only communication we had was through Skype in internet cafes. After six months she came to visit me in Colombia, so even though we had been dating for over nine months, we only had seen each other for three”.

“Right now, it is a similar situation,” Sagues continues. “She will come for a couple of months in July, wherever I might be by then. Given the fact, we have been in a similar situation before helps. In the end, both she and my family, so those who know me, accept that this is what makes me the happiest version of myself right now”.

Methadone

Sagues compares his life on the bike with the drug methadone. “The freedom I am feeling now is incomparable with anything I felt before,” the Catalan says. “I am travelling through countries by bike without any expectation, and I am amazed by every single place I pass. On the bike, I get to know countries differently, because I travel relatively slow. I savour every stretch of road, and the curiosity for the next stretch keeps me going”.

So where is Sagues considering going next? “I do not know what the rest of my 2022 looks like. I do not have a goal or a specific place to go. I am living in the moment and only time will tell where I end up next”.

This story is part of Nafent Magazine volume 3. Read the full story in our digital or paper magazine. Go to our webshop, or buy yours at one of our seventy partner places.