Post for 23 June 19

On June 19, I cycled to and into Rome.

Since I still feel like a small-town kid sometimes, just the thought of cycling in Rome felt unbelievable. But as I got closer to the city-centre, it felt fun, a lot of fun. I guess I’ve become less of a small-town kid.

Several miles from Rome, it didn’t look like a big city was near, as the pictures show. The calm appearance is probably due to using roads and routes best suited for bikes.

After the city started showing up, Rome looked like many cities, with traffic, parks, and people enjoying a park.

But when I got into the centre of Rome, the city appeared in all its wonder, and as always, seeing it on a bike made it even more wonderful. Wandering topics, I probably won’t write any more blog posts from this trip. The reasons are in some “closing thoughts” after the pictures, at the end of this post.

A paragraph or two ago, I mentioned this would be the last post from my Italy trip. This’ll be the last post since I stopped cycling in Rome. After that, I explored Rome and took trains to Florence and Siena. I highly recommend all three cities—especially Siena. Another reason this is the last post is that I don’t have time to write in this blog since I’m preparing for another trip, which starts at the end of July. On that trip, I’ll be cycling with a friend on mountain roads and paths in Washington state, for about a month.

When I’m cycling with a friend, I enjoy their company instead of writing in a blog. I still take pictures though, and I’ll post them in Instagram after the Washington ride, this autumn and winter. I post in Instagram fairly often. If you’d like to see my posts, my Instagram name is cycle_writer.

I’m taking more cycling trips than ever. They lead to a lot of time off work and a fair amount of lost income. That’s a serious problem, but after the tough stuff I’ve faced in the last few years, I feel like any dreams of travelling are too important to put off. In 2024, I’m going to find ways to live smaller and spend less around home, so I can travel at least as much.

I hope you try a bit more travel as well. If you’d like ideas for that, Rick Steves has given great ideas for travelling more with less money, for decades. If you’ve already enjoyed simple travel, Rolf Potts has more ideas.  

Thanks for reading my posts and adding comments. I’m looking forward to sharing pictures and stories in this blog again, maybe more in 2023 but probably in 2024. I’m not sure which bike ride I’ll be describing, but I’m looking forward to it. Until then, I’ll be posting pictures in Instagram, hope to see you there. I’d also enjoy seeing any pictures or stories you want to share from your get-aways, big or small.