So, did I learn anything on this trip? Some simple things. Make sure your water bottles are full. Drink. Eat. These things became obvious pretty damn quick. There were some other things that took a little longer to sink in. Nothing really new. I've heard it a million times before from other people who have done this type of travel. People, for the most part, are nice. People are good. What we see on the news every night isn't the real world. The real world is the campground owner who stepped out of her office into the rain to let me know she was hoping the weather would clear for me. The real world is a man in a diner remarking "A bit damp, ain't you?", and chuckling. Not laughing at me, but enjoying a bit of my adventure with me.
I also learned, simply, that I can do it. There's freedom in knowing that. It broadens my personal horizons.
Finally, an observation. A couple of weeks after returning home from Vermont, I was in New York's Adirondacks for a weekend backpacking trip. On the way home, I decided to cut over to Vermont, and traced some parts of my cycling route backwards towards home. Good God! I can't believe how far I actually rode my bike. And those hills! What kind of nut would want to do that on a bike? This is no exaggeration. That's actually what I was thinking. The world really does look different when you're behind the wheel.
Now, I'm really impressed with what I did!
