10Adventures podcast
Mum and I talk about how a bike trip helped her to overcome depression
A few months ago I posted an article titled, Back to life, back to reality. It was my third guest writer post on 10,000km Arriba, and it was written by my mother.
She explained how our 7-day cycle down the west coast of France changed her life. She had struggled with severe depression for four years, but on that journey, something changed for the better.
We crossed on the ferry to St. Malo then flitted between Rennes and Nantes via the forest at Le Gavre. Saint-Hermine, La Rochelle and Rochefort followed as the northern countryside evolved into white brick towns bustling with tourists. We took a second ferry across the bay at Royan and entered the tree lined paths of the Parc naturel régional de Médoc, the branches a welcome shield from dappled sun light.
Having not slept well in years, on that trip she started to doze for long hours. On the penultimate night she was happily unconscious for 9 hours in a teepee in the forests of Naujac-sur-mer. We planned a shorter ride the following morning and stopped for lunch at Le Nautique, a restaurant nestled in a corner of Piquerot with a view of the calming waters of Lac de Hourtin. We had delicious food, enjoyed fine wine and even treated ourselves to a gin and tonic; the simple but luxury reward for cycling 600km in a week. She fell asleep on the beach shortly after. Something had clicked.
Richard from 10 Adventures picked up a link I shared on Reddit and invited us on to his podcast to delve deeper into our journey.
You can listen to the podcast episode below. If you enjoy it, please subscribe to 10 Adventures for more stories of, well, adventure.
And leave us a comment down below too.
Saludos desde Ecuador,
Jack
The story so far
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7
Odometer: 58 Tours. 291 hours. 4,875km. 49,160 climbing