A story about not cycling – WorkAway in Italy

When I was planning my journey, I didn’t know a lot. I didn’t know what countries I was going to visit, where I was going to sleep, how long I would be gone, or how much money I would spend. I knew one thing though: I would cycle. A lot, many hours, on new roads. I would finally have time to cycle, hundreds of kilometres, thousands of elevation meters. Well, during my 12-day stay in Cogolo, located in the Stelvio National Park, famous for its cycling routes, I cycled about 100 km. I didn’t use the potential of this place at all. A failure, isn’t it?

I wasn’t hiking a lot either. Actually, if somebody asked me which trail I recommend for hiking in this area, I would suggest the trail I did almost every day and which should be mentioned in guide books as “Gelato Hike” – to the local ice cream shop and back.

And you know what? I liked that!

I can’t say that I didn’t have time for cycling and hiking. Or that the weather was bad (ok, once a thunderstorm ruined my plans to conquer Gavia Pass). Or that I was tired. I was working just five hours a day, five days a week, picking berries, which wasn’t especially exhausting. After work I didn’t have to do anything, all the afternoons were free. I could cycle and cycle.

But I also had co-volunteers and it was just so good to sit in the garden in their company, talking sometimes about silly and sometimes about important stuff. There was wine, nice views, guitar, ukulele, all day outside… Like on a summer camp. And it would have been a pity to leave it and do more kilometres – many lonely hours in the saddle still awaited me.

Because even I care about something else than cycling sometimes.