A bicycle and his dog, a border collie named Koda, is all Aitor needs to travel in a different way.
The traveling adventures of Aitor Rodrigo, a young Catalan who travels by bike together with his dog Koda, They remind us of the importance of reconnecting with our roots, respecting nature and learning life lessons. The cycle tourism, not only as a travel format, but as a way of life, allows you to feel alive.
Many of us dream of stepping on other planets and feeling our bodies freed from gravity: floating and elegant. We seek to conquer space, find life beyond Earth and move away from the earthly condition itself so as not to feel the weight of our actions on the blue planet.
Aitor bought his second-hand bicycle and adapted it so that Koda could travel in a kind of carrier.
However, this 23-year-old from Sant Andreu de la Barca (Barcelona) He shows us, through his photograph and his videos on social networks, the importance of having our feet on the ground and the humble attitude that we should take in the face of such a wonder: nature. Our one true home. Travel to almost unexplored places (yes, there still are) within Spain on his bike and with whom he considers like a son: Koda, a Border Collie just two years old.
PHOTOGRAPHY AS A DISCOVERY TOWARDS WILD ROUTES
Aitor has never seen the movie Towards wild routes, but she is alive Spanish version of the protagonist that he leaves the civilized world to enter pristine Alaska in order to connect with nature and discover the meaning of life. He is a car painter in a car company, but photography has become his biggest hobby. “At 18 they gave me my first camera and it was then that I discovered my passion for traveling in an unconventional way,” says the young photographer.
Aitor and Koda have toured Spain and part of Europe together living all kinds of adventures.
His first adventure consisted of three days in the Pyrenees: by car, with tents and at the mercy of improvisation. Excited, Aitor remembers how he started screaming when he discovered a lake. "I can't explain what I felt when I was there," he says with a big smile. Without a doubt, that experience marked a before and after. Since then, the vanlife It has been his philosophy of both life and travel. That was how he began to look for new experiences, camera in hand and together with his inseparable Koda.
BIKEPACKING: A NEW WAY OF TRAVELING ON TWO WHEELS
Aitor bought his first bicycle with cleated wheels, second-hand, and adapted it so that Koda could travel comfortably. “I was very informed. The world of cycling was something totally new for me. Also, I had to train Koda to get familiar with this transport and travel safely sitting in a kind of carrier. Koda loves to ride a bike and observe the landscape, it is therapeutic for him”, says Aitor with another big smile.
On April 3 of this same year he launched into this new and exciting 7-day adventure from Vilanova i la Geltrú (Barcelona) to the Ebro delta (Tarragona). “It was a journey through the interior and towards the interior. I rode about 40 kilometers a day pedaling, with about 70 kg of weight between the bike, Koda and the panniers. You have to be very strong physically and mentally to do this type of trip”, explains Aitor.
The cycle tourism –in the age of immediacy and where transport is understood as a means and not as an end– it is a different conception of traveling. It is synonymous with freedom and independence, where 'pedaling' is 'tasting' each turn of the wheel. Immersing yourself like this, with no other engine than the push of your legs, in the middle of nature makes them rediscover lost sensations of our inner world , connect with the environment and bring life to the present.
In bikepacking you carry what you can carry on your back or, in this case, in your panniers. Traveling like this entails a minimalist, conscious, respectful and adventurous philosophy, where improvisation is often the best plan.
In their last outing they traveled for seven days from Vilanova i la Geltrú to the Ebro delta, 40 km a day.
However, in this type of trip there are also complicated moments . During his bicycle expedition through the interior, Aitor affirms that he “collapsed”. “One day I was running out of battery and had to push the bike up a mountain to get to a gas station. He was exhausted mentally and physically and it turned out he couldn't get to the gas station. There was a lot of traffic and a headwind. I had no choice but to hitchhike and after an hour without anyone helping me I collapsed.
"Sometimes you have to go back to go forward" comments the photographer. “I retraced my way down the mountain. I was so collapsed that I even forgot to drink water. You do not know the strange feeling I had when I went to drink from the bottle and not a drop fell. We also ran out of food and had to take shelter in an abandoned house to protect ourselves from the rain.”
Sometimes the best travel or adventure companion is closer than you think.
But this young born adventurer, with hundreds of kilometers traveled by bicycle, He did not give up on this bad experience, because "this is also part of the journey." It is a metaphor for life. “It is a challenge, a form of self-improvement. I have traveled a lot of the world with my parents, but in a more conventional way. Everything consisted of living under reserve, having everything planned and the time counted. I remember I was in Jamaica for three hours. There I felt that I wanted to travel in a different way because that is the only way I feel that I am free”.
YOUR NEXT ADVENTURE: SPAIN BY MOTORCYCLE
“I want to continue chasing my dreams and looking for new experiences. Traveling gives me life”, says Aitor, who will never stop pedaling, but he will change (for this new trip) the bicycle for a motorcycle. On August 28 ** he will leave Montserrat to tour Spain for five weeks, ** discover new places, enjoy the road and put more pins on the map with his best friend: Koda. “My idea was to go around Spain by bicycle, but I only have five weeks of vacation and I wasn't going to have time. It occurred to me buy a second-hand motorcycle, as cheap as possible and adapt it to travel with Koda”. In addition, a brand is designing a carrier for them, as if it were a delivery backpack, adapting it to the necessary requirements, such as ventilation and forms of fastening on the motorcycle.
Sunrise in the French Pyrenees with your best friend. That is freedom for Aitor and Koda.
Aitor will share his motorcycle adventure with Koda through his photographs and videos that he will publish on social networks. "I want to transport people to our journey as if they were with us, up close," explains the young man. His way of capturing landscapes, people and unique moments is very personal and original. An innate talent.
It is clear; Aitor has an adventurous spirit and he has In the middle of nowhere tattooed on his skin. He loves being without coverage, in the middle of nature, with his dog Koda and as the protagonist of Towards Wild Routes narrates: in search of the "joy that one experiences with new experiences, an endless changing horizon and enjoying a sunny day new and different”.