Bicycle, Backpack, Tent: Part One: Through Europe

About the Book

Having been a student in Scotland for five years with summer spent in Ireland, and previous experience when it comes to recreational ‘activities’, there was a desire to take the newly acquired bicycle from Scotland to Netherlands via bus, of course visiting Ireland beforehand to say goodbye as there was no end in sight, there was no plan, a matter of bicycle, backpack, tent and the open road. There wasn’t even a smartphone on person which was destroyed weeks previously when exercising in a local gym and the weights were dropped on top of the phone by accident and with money limited, could only purchase a candy bar style phone which received no signal outside of Ireland/Scotland. When it came to funding, this session of travel was funded via the student overdraft which was maxed out, they paid off by working two jobs in Scotland as a student. And what do most students do when being students? They experiment. And in Europe and afar, experimentation was certainly part of this experience. Many substances entered this body but there was strength in this experience to reach the edge of Eastern Turkey where this book ends… Then comes Part Two. Eyes opened.

About the Author

I am Finn Ian, I am a writer from Ireland who produces pieces of writing mostly based on movement via bicycle. This was the first time that travel had taken across a continent and many cultures were sampled when travelling through these twelve European countries. Hailing from one of the six occupied territories in Ireland where there is a divide in the community, which has improved since the 90’s, but there are still differences between communities that live side by side which can cause animosity and angst throughout different times of the year, therefore, coming from a divided island became tedious hence the want to travel around Europe instead of returning to Ireland to experience depravity when it comes to national identity. Oh to be free.