Flint Journal, MI
March 30 2005

Runaway Couple
Despite brief stint for tax season, Cooks still having time of their
lives

BURTON

By Rose Mary Reiz

Michele Cook, half of the adventurous Burton couple who sold their
house and belongings to travel the world by bicycle, is back. But not
for long.

“I’m working at my old job for a couple of months,” said Michele, an
accountant. “After tax season, I’ll meet Doug in Spain, and we’ll
continue our journey through even more countries.”

Seven months ago, Michele and Doug left behind home, jobs, family and
friends to camp and bicycle full time. They described their plan as
“reverse retirement,” a way to enjoy the world while they’re young
and healthy.

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They since have toured England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Belgium and
France. Traveling on the cheap, they carry their tent and camping
supplies with them. They spend their days sightseeing and their
nights in campgrounds, hostels or at the homes of generous strangers
who offer hot showers and home-cooked meals. They communicate with
friends and families by e-mailing from libraries and Internet cafes
along the way.

It’s not all breathtaking views. There are also bugs, bad weather,
bathroom shortages, bicycle breakdowns and endless meals of “tuna
surprise” heated over a camp stove.

But Doug and Michele say they are having the time of their lives.

“There is discovery, challenge, delight and disappointment,” Doug
wrote in an e-mail. “There is confusion, frustration, joy, sadness,
inspiration, exhilaration and revelation. There is the sense of
accomplishment when we open our map and review the route we’ve
followed. And, of course, there is the relief of stepping off the
bike at the end of the day, throwing our tent up on some piece of
earth, crawling inside it and collapsing, thoroughly exhausted.”

After a brief bicycling break (While Michele does taxes, Doug is
working on an organic farm in Spain), they plan to cycle through
Portugal, France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and Germany.

“We’re thinking that by November, we’ll be in Greece for the winter
months,” Michele said.

Rough life, huh?

Here, Michele reflects on the past seven months of life on the road.

Q: What have you missed most about life at home?

A: We both miss music. The only music we get is at some hostels we
stay at, where there is a living area with a CD player.

I also miss watching movies. One night in Spain, we found a hostel
that had a TV room with videos – and they were in English. After
dinner, Doug and I watched “Dances With Wolves,” sitting on a couch
with our legs up. It was heaven!

Q: Have you acquired any new tastes?

A: Every country has a new favorite. We don’t eat out much, so we
don’t get to sample all the wonderful foods that are out there. We
try to keep things simple for cooking on our camp stove.

In Scotland, we discovered a dessert called “sticky toffee pudding”
in a can. You put the unopened can in a pan of water, bring it to a
boil for 15 minutes, open it up and pour cream over it. It’s
wonderful!

In France, we of course enjoy wonderful baguettes and wonderful brie
and camembert cheese. You don’t find the processed cheese like we
have here, and the bread is baked fresh twice a day and made with
whole ingredients – no preservatives.

In Spain, we enjoyed Clementines, olives – and wine in a box! Yes,
they sold wine in a box the size of a brick for about 50 cents.

Q: How has your health been?

A: We’ve had a few sniffles here or there, but nothing that has
stopped us from cycling – except for the bad water we had in Spain
about three weeks before I returned home. We were in bed for almost
48 hours and then it took us another couple of days to get our
strength back.

We have increased our endurance training, which means we can ride a
long time at a slow pace. Many of our cycling friends at home think
we must be so fast by now. Well, we’re not. At least I’m not. We can
basically cycle all day long at an average speed of 10 miles per
hour, less if we are in the mountains or are up against strong winds.

Q: What’s it been like being together all day, every day? Any
arguments?

A: When you’re with someone 24/7, you are bound to have conflicts.
But you do what you have to do, and you talk it out and come to a
resolution. When we need a little time away from each other, we may
take a walk once we get to a campsite.

Q: Has this experience drawn you closer to each other?

A: I think so. Especially now that we’re apart. You tend to take each
other for granted, and when that person is no longer there, you
realize how much you need each other.

It feels very weird now, being apart for three months. I think it’s a
little easier for me, because I’m back with friends and family, plus
I have work to occupy my day. Doug, on the other hand, is by himself
in a foreign country. I don’t think I could do that.

(Doug wrote by e-mail: “Cycling alone, after having had the pleasure
of my wife’s companionship for the last seven months, really made me
lonesome for her. It brought into sharp focus the things I was
missing: Michele’s mental and physical strength, her incredible
energy and her passion for the adventure. Without her, I was at
half-strength, literally.”)

Q: What’s it like not knowing where you’ll end up sleeping from one
night to the next?

A: That was the biggest thing for me to adjust to. It brought me a
lot of stress around 3 p.m. every day. Doug would always tell me not
to worry about it, and after a few months of this, I began to tell
myself that we haven’t had one night where we were stranded with no
place to sleep. So I began repeating to myself, “It always works
out.”

Q: What’s gotten you down while on the road?

A: What gets us down is just trying to do some simple things. For
example, trying to make a simple phone call can be a challenge. In
Spain, we bought a phone card, and it would work at one phone booth
but not the next. Very frustrating.

Q: Can you imagine surviving this adventure without the luxury of
e-mail?

A: No! It’s so wonderful to talk to people at home via e-mail. If we
didn’t have it, we would only be able to call just a few people. With
e-mail, we have a huge distribution list and can stay in contact with
more than 100 people with a simple click of the “send” button.

Q: What’s been the biggest surprise?

A: The generosity of the people we’ve met. I have said many times to
Doug that if I was ever at home and I saw another touring cyclist, I
would slam on my brakes and ask them if they needed anything –
directions, a place to sleep, food, clean clothes, whatever. I would
do it for them because that is what has been done for us.

Q: What advice would you give others thinking of doing this?

A: Buy good quality gear that is waterproof. You will not regret
spending the extra money. Also, buy components for your bike that can
be purchased all around the world.

Try to learn as much of the language as you can before going to a
foreign country. They do not all speak English like many Americans
think – especially when you get into small villages.

Q: How has this experience changed you? Do you look at the world
differently?

A: Yes, especially after returning home. I can’t believe how
fast-paced our lives are here. We scurry around taking care of
everything, from work to families to our friends, housework, laundry,
cooking. Our lives are turning into one big blur. I even feel that I
have fallen back into the trap since I’ve been home.

On the other hand, our freedom in America is a treasure. Doug and I
were in a hostel southern France, eating lunch with another family.
They were speaking a language I didn’t recognize. When the husband
got up and took the children away, I asked the wife, who spoke
English, what it was. She said Armenian. I told her I was Armenian,
and asked her if she was on holiday. She said no, that she and her
family had left their home country and were looking for a better
life. She kept saying that it was “very bad over there” and she
didn’t want to raise her children in such turmoil. Her family didn’t
know what the future held. They were trying to get working visas and
a place to live in France. That really makes you appreciate your
freedom.

Q: Has the trip made you realize how little “stuff” people really
need?

A: Yes. I can only hope that other people will step back and
appreciate what they have and realize it isn’t about how much money
you have or how big your house is, or how nice your car is. There is
so much more to life than that. I think so many of us take our lives
for granted and you really don’t know what the future will bring to
you. Our lives can change drastically in one second, and generally it
is only then that we realize how good we had it.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress