In early 2005 I decided that I wanted to return to Spain to live permanently. I had been stationed there during a stint in the military some years before. At the time I was working as an English teacher in Mexico.
I love to cycle so I decided to do a little cycle touring before I settled down in Spain. Once I made the decision, I started to plan. I polished up my old mountain bike, tuned it, spent a lot of time buying panniers and equipment, and began to train. I spent two months in Arkansas preparing and slowly building up my stamina.
In September 2005 I flew to London. My plan was to ride from Bedford, just north of London, down to the coast, through Holland, then take a train to Berlin. I would get from Berlin to Madrid by plane, then bike to Seville.

I began my journey in England. It is so natural and green that it doesn't seem like there are really sixty-something-million people packed onto that little island when you’re cycling through the countryside.

It occurred to me as I was cycling out of Bedford into the fairytale English countryside that not one soul in the world knew where I was at that moment, and that everything that I needed to live was either on my person, or stuffed somewhere in one of the four bags that were so nicely balanced and hanging from my bike racks.