Interview with pablo calvo @bikecanine

In 2015 you decided to leave everything and travel the world with your bike, the tent and your dog Hippie, but before making this decision you already had a strong connection with cycling and did great challenges for charitable purposes. Do you remember how your hobby started? Did you practice other sports besides cycling?lismo?

I have always liked sports from handball to skateboarding, snow, running with my dog. Since I was little I learned to ride a bike and I loved walking around my town on my bike.  

My connection with the bike was in 2010 when I made my first bicycle trip from Gijón to Santander but without any intention of doing anything, just to try something different. The second was from Seville to Gijón, better equipped and more planned, not so improvised. And well, the snowball grew until today.

Although you have two incredible travel companions: Hippie and Pizza, we know that when you are riding and especially if you do it alone for a long time, you come across your thoughts and sometimes your greatest fears. Would you like to share with us some of those moments and how you manage them? You feel that traveling alone you are more demanding with your own objectives than if you traveled accompaniedado?

From traveling alone to traveling accompanied, the truth is that it completely changes the travel experience. I like both things and obviously traveling with someone has fun moments, especially if they are good friends you are traveling with. I like to travel accompanied, but not for long because in the end I am a person who really likes freedom and traveling accompanied means giving in. I like the balance between the two things. I find it more difficult to go from traveling accompanied and alone and vice versa. That transition. But the more you travel alone, the more prepared you are. Like everything in life, the more you practice it the better you get at it and traveling alone is one of those things. And it is very worth breaking that barrier and traveling alone because incredible things happen that don't happen when you are accompanied.

 

It all started with a silly bike trip from Gijón to Santander and since then, this way of life has taken you to incredible places: North Cape (where your book North Cape Expedition was born), Georgia, Greece, Turkey Maybe this will always be the most difficult question that can be asked to someone who loves to travel, but is there a destination that has especially marked you?ente?

Before, my way of traveling was different because I could cross countries in two days but I can't tell you anything about my experience there. I had traveled for kilometers and I have passed through many countries but I cannot say that they have marked me. I have spent a year and a half in Georgia and I have incredible affection for it. It's my second home. I have spent two Christmases and I know the country well, its politics, its people. Now I am in Turkey and it is also a country that I love: it is perfect for traveling by bicycle and has a very interesting history, the people are super open and it has a beautiful landscape. I am also fond of Albania after living there for 3 months. Normally it is the places where I have lived the longest that have marked me the most.

And on the other hand, some place on your wishlist that you would like to visit but you haven't been able to yet.o?

A lot of. I would love to visit all the countries in the world with time to get to know them. Alaska, the entire Patagonia region, Mongolia, Nepal really catch my attention. In truth, all countries have something to offer. I hope I have time to continue traveling and discover our entire planet, which is incredible..

 

We know that one of your dreams to fulfill is to have a boat and continue traveling without limits. When you accomplish it, what role do you think the bicycle will have for you at that moment?nto?

I come from a coastal city, I have been a lifeguard and I have always dreamed of having a sailboat before I turn 40. Now I see it as a bit complicated but I hope and wish that it will come true soon because I would love to continue discovering the planet from the water. I could take the bike on a sailboat and stop at different places, move around with the bike and return to the sailboat to visit another destination. That would be my dream. I'm going to fulfill it for sure! Because dreams are there for that, to fulfill them..

And finally, what advice would you give to a person who has just bought one of our bicycles and wants to go with it to travel the world?o?

Don't think about it too much. From home it always seems more difficult and when you are there you discover that it wasn't that big of a deal. Nothing is so dangerous or so complicated. Don't be afraid or ashamed to do something because that stops our freedom and there is nothing more beautiful than freedom.