"Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living."
– Miriam Beard

Page 1 2    Lilli La Cycliste    Lilli The (Ex-)Runner 

My Love for Backpacking

Backpacking the world is my passion number one. Hands down. As soon I have my backpack strapped and speak/listen to foreign languages (Spanish in particular) I am happy. I am easy to please, I know! ;)

The feeling and experience of diving into foreign worlds & cultures, removing as many filters as possible and living the closest possible inside the local customs is indescribable. The more foreign the culture, the better!

Staying in neat hotels? Eating at clean, upper-scale restaurants? Walking around in "safe" areas only? Refusing coackroaches as roommates? Take the first class train or bus? Following the tourist mainstream on beaten paths? No. That is NOT real travel... Authenticity is the key to the best and most fulfilling learning curve. Live where the average local lives, eat where & what the average local eats, walk & buy where the average local walks & buys! Only this way you really get to know the worlds different from your native one. Enjoy the dive into the cold deep end! Swim along and you will come out clean and fresh. :)

Backpacker Vita

I have gone on several backpacking trips in my life and intend to go on many more in the future. My first one lead me to Spain in 2002, where I explore Andalusia (Sevilla, Grenada, Cadiz, Cordoba, Gibraltar Strait crossing by boat) and Madrid with surroundings (Toledo, Salamanca). Shortly after I played backpacking guide for two American friends in Paris.

2003 I strapped solo, this time packing my tent and sleeping back. My travels with Ryanair tickets and Interrail Pass brought me to Italy, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Norway, the Arctic Circle, Midnight Sun, Sweden, and Denmark (4.5 weeks total). I pitched my tent on beaches, among sheep, at Loch Ness, slept on train station/ train/ferry station benches, and accepted housing offers by people I met while cruising all across the continent with my backpack.

A third trip during my U.S. university years I took presenting my home continent to friends from Alaska and Maine. We got stuck in the middle of French Pyrenées Nowhere during the attempt of hitch-hiking across the mountain chain in winter. :p

My latest backpacking adventure had a somewhat spontaneous origin: After I had to end my 2007 season prematurely due to an injury, I decided to take a well-deserved holiday and booked a trip to Mexico. I had 7 more days to research, brainstorm, and organize my itinerary. So there I was with my strapped backpack walking through many of Mexico's beautiful cities, hiking into and out of the Copper Canyon with a Tarahumara Indian as my personal trekking guide, and riding a horse for 8 hours up & down canyons and through valleys with a "Vaquero" (Mexican cowboy), or climbing up ancient Aztec Pyramids. I found myself in backpacker's haven in Mexico...and I fell deeply in love with this beautiful Latin American country! I want to go back soooo badly...

Next on my agenda will be a 3-month adventure exploring South America after my cycling career is over and before I start my career as a normal person in the ordinary business world.

"I soon realized that no journey carries one far unless, as it extends into the world around us, it goes an equal distance into the world within."
- Lillian Smith