My first tour was designed as a simple cycling holiday going from Reus (Barcelona) to Málaga. A travelled distance of 1100km from Reus airport, after taking a cheap RyanAir flight. At the time I really felt the urge to take some time off. I was doing research during the summer period and had fulfilled my teaching commitment for the academic year. I had then the luxury to go on holidays any time I wanted, so I improvised.

But why did I embark on an adventure of this sort in the first place? I had promised myself during the course of my PhD studies that I would go on a long holiday after submitting my thesis in September 2010. This never materialised due to work commitments. A month before submitting my thesis I started working at another university and my trip was put on hold and my promise never fulfilled.

In June 2012, my mind and body gave me worrying signs. So it was time to go on holidays and relax. Looked for the perfect spot to cycle, which turned out to be Spain, one of my favorite countries. In the meantime I went on to buy camping gear because I wanted my tour to be an all round touring experience. I decided I would eat fruit and, ocassionally, sit down at a restaurant along the coastal line of Spain. So, I planned the bicycle tour in no time, two days in total. Looking back I must say that I really went into the unknown. I didn't have the right gear or a navigator system to take me from A to B, and relied on an app with maps that I downloaded on my phone. I only knew I had to get from A to B to catch my flight back and roughly knew I had to pedal at least 100km a day. I now know that carried too much gear (as you can see in the picture) and, at times, I did find a real struggle to climb hills and mountains with around 30 extra kilograms (though I pushed the bike very little during the course of the holidays). Pushing with my legs 90kg of human weight whilst going uphill is one thing, but pushing 120kg another when you are a bicycle commuter with little experience in long-distance cycling.

A bit crazy to say the least. Although I had ridden bicycles for over 5 years at the time, I had never cycled more than 100km in one single day (the maximum I had cycled was 60km). But I said to myself I could do it and could do this continuously for 10 days. After cycling for 1100km (I had at the time a very simple odometer), on reaching my final destination I had lost a lot of weight. Ate a lot of fruit and vegetables along the way and followed a very healthy diet. I was burning too many calories and drinking a lot of water. I never thought I could burn up to 6000 calories per day! But the sensation of getting to destination was heavenly. I had not only enjoyed this holidays to the full but had also got there on time. A mini life (ups and downs, cold and heat, struggles and joys) fully lived went by during those unforgettable 11 days!

To my surprise, this trip ended up by being inspirational, spiritual and, although hard work, very relaxing and therapeutic. Above all it helped me out to free up some space in my mind, to focus on important things, being present and enjoy the moment and colours in life. It was really a liberating experience from the daily stress of work. I also discovered amazingly beautiful places like the desert of Cartagena and its roman ruins, the desert of Almería, the Parque Nacional Cabo-de-Gata in Níjar, Andalucía (in particular Nerja). I met so many nice people along the way and I didn't feel alone for a single second. During the trip however, due to my lack of mental fitness, I wondered many times if I could reach destination. Body pain, body aches and the feeling of having a heart attack did not stop me though. Later I discovered that this feeling was not related to a heart condition but to the body posture.

After this experience, I could not stop thinking about my follow-up tour. I said to myself that I would increase the distance and that I would try to help out my country of origin whilst doing it.