Cycling Through South Korea and Japan & Embracing Solo Adventures | Rebecca Gross

This week Rebecca Gross is sharing an update from her journey which will take us to South Korea and Japan. She lets us know what the infamous Four Rivers Route in South Korea was like to cycle on, as well as what she loved about riding in Japan - hint it's all about the onsens!

Rebecca also shares a mini solo adventure she took while in South Korea, one which made her realise what she was capable of. 

Be sure to follow Rebecca's adventure via her instagram channel - @Rebecca_grb

Head over to Old Man Mountain and checkout the Manzanita Cradle 

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:24

Hello everyone, Bella Malloy here, host of Sleek Travel Ride. Welcome back to another midweek episode where I am fueling your stoke for bike adventure travel. This week I am super pumped because we have another update from our intrepid adventurer Rebecca Gross. Fans of the show know we are tracking Rebecca's amazing adventure since she left her home in Austria way back at the start of March this year. Destination East. And today her updates are going to let us know all about South Korea and Japan. And what's interesting for me is that both South Korea and Japan were never part of what Rebecca would deem the plan when they first left their home. And it's amazing to think where this adventure has taken her. So let's get into the adventure update.

SPEAKER_01 1:13

Hello from Tokyo. We arrived in the biggest city in the world here in Japan. And we never expected to come here. Like we never expected to come to Mongolia or Tibet either. So actually, after Central Asia, every country is unexpected and a surprise. Because our plan only was until the Palmer. So after the Palmer's, everything is unplanned and unexpected, and it makes the trip really special. And now here we are. We can't go further east. I mean, we could go a bit up in the north of Japan and a bit further east, but actually there is already a lot of snow. There is winter, and we really had some cold autumn temperatures here in Japan. So we are at this point where we can't go further, which is really cool. I have never been in a place where I can say I can't go further by bike. And so actually, I'm just sitting right now beside the bike boxes. I'm right now boxing the bikes, trying to manage all the luggage, and I'm trying to solve this problem where to put all the heavy things, where to put the tent, and boxing a bike for a flight is always so stressful. That's why we actually tried to avoid flying, and that's how we actually came here to Japan. Because after Tibet we took a train to the east of China to take a ferry to South Korea, which was just the most logical step for us to go further east to visit another country. And we heard some really good things about South Korea. So there is this famous bike track. It's the Four Rivers Trail. And everyone keeps talking about it. It's a perfectly established bike route. Actually, almost never on a street, so there's always a bike path. I mean it's zero adventure. And I always knew that South Korea and also Japan will be very low in adventure, but somehow I thought this might be relaxing and I might enjoy it because I don't always have to live on the edge of life. I do not always enjoy this type 2 fun. And I don't always have this urge for adventure like looking for water, looking for food, how do I survive? I mean it's not so dramatic, but sometimes it feels so dramatic. And so I thought South Korea might be a cool change. We don't have to organize everything. We know there is a cycling path. We know that every few kilometers there is a convenience store. So we do not have to plan days ahead and think about what we are cooking. We did not have to look up where we find water, and water is drinkable everywhere in South Korea, so we we aren't using our water filter for months now. I think it's already a bit dusty. I thought this is really enjoyable, but then in the end it was a bit boring. And also because with all these convenient things, with having food and water everywhere and toilets, there were toilets everywhere. This also comes with the thing of a lack of nature. If there is civilization everywhere, there can't be nature. And so it happens in South Korea that there are either houses or farms or buildings or bridges everywhere. There is no landscape which is untouched. And this is true for the Four Rivers Trail. But I do think there are other parts of South Korea which are different. But I haven't been there, and yeah, so the Four Rivers Trail was a bit boring for us. But it was just four or five days, so it's not that we have spent weeks there and didn't enjoy it. It was nice to have a coffee every day, and it was nice to not think about all the things we normally think about it. It was also easy to find camping spots. There are these wooden things everywhere where you can put your tent, and that was easy, and it's nice. But since it was already autumn, it also got a bit cold, especially in the mornings because we were always cycling beside rivers. And so in the morning it was foggy, and then it was this humid cold, which is worse than dry winter cold. So that was not so nice, but we had some really sunny and beautiful autumn days. Anyway, we somehow were looking forward to leave South Korea and explore Japan. And my expectations after South Korea for Japan were actually low because I knew that there are a lot of roads. And when you look on the map, it doesn't seem like there's a lot of untouched nature in Japan either. So we thought it might be a bit like South Korea. And adventure-wise, it was like we we forced ourselves to cook, which you do not have to do in Japan actually, because there are lawsons and family mods and 7-Eleven everywhere. So we did plan our route or our day a bit like where is the next lawson to have breakfast? Where can we have lunch? And then we bought some things to cook on our own to get a bit of this bikepacking feeling back. And then the most important thing for me was where to end the day. And we always tried to end the day at an onsen, which was the coolest thing ever. It's a thermal bath, there's hot water, it's like a spa. It's very, very cheap. Locals go there to have a shower, to be in the hot water. And after a grim and cold autumn day, coming to an onsen, getting a shower, and warm yourself up was just the best thing ever. Priorities in Japan changed a lot. So we were going from coffee to coffee to onsen. It was really cool. It was not an adventure, it was not a typical bikepacking route or like we would have done the last months. It was very, very different, but it was really enjoyable. And what was also really cool was the nature. I mean, the first days we were a bit sad and not super happy because the route was along some busy roads. There are no shoulders here in Japan, and people are not really used to cyclists. We did have a bit of a hard time the first days. So we thought, okay, we should check out areas where there might be less traffic, more nature. That's how we made all of our route very not very direct. We cycled a lot of extra kilometers. We had a lot of detours, although we didn't have a lot of time. So we cycled up some volcanoes. It was really, really cool. But also being high up in the mountains meant that the temperatures were already really low. We are a bit late in season here, so I mean autumn is a really beautiful season in Japan because the trees are turning into all possible colors, like really rich red and orange and yellow, and it's so so beautiful. But in the mountains, if you're higher up, the weather already was very cold and humid, and we had some grim days there, so it was not always very enjoyable. But on the bottom of every descent, somehow there was an onsen. I became very good in planning where the onsen are and where our route would end. So this made our days actually perfect. We cycled up the two volcanoes, we made a detour on another island on the coast. We actually went south instead of east. And it was really cool because when you when we have been on the coast, the temperatures were actually high. We could cycle in t-shirts and sandals. Just before we went up in the mountains again and we had to wear our winter clothes. But it was very beautiful and enjoyable. We also got to see a very special thing which we never planned because we thought we don't have time, but we somehow managed to cycle to Mount Fuji. And we did not expect it to be so big. I mean, you see photos, and then I always thought, ah yeah, it's Photoshop. But no, Mount Fuji is massive, it's beautiful. We were cycling all around Mount Fuji, we saw it three days, and it was just so amazing to see such a big volcano. It would have been the coolest thing ever to climb it, and we could see the route going up the mountain, but actually, I think it's just open until September, so we missed it by far. But it was a really, really cool experience. Or although we had to sleep in a hotel because temperatures were below zero, like I think it was minus five or even lower. And I remember Tibet when we had minus five degrees in the night, and there I really wished for a hotel. So here I didn't hesitate and just booked a hotel because I thought in Tibet this would have been the moment where I needed a hotel. Here in Japan, we had the opportunity to not suffer, and that's actually what we did, and so it was even better. But what story I would like to tell you now is how my little solo adventure went. This meant that I have some days alone, and instead of just sitting in a hotel or in a city, I thought I could take the chance now and go on a solo adventure. Which is not very adventurous in South Korea, but I thought this is the perfect country to try. To try solo camping, to try planning everything on my own because it's very safe, it's super easy to plan. It was just a perfect start to do something alone. And I always wanted to know if I, even though it was my idea, this whole bikepacking thing, I never actually know if it would be something I would really do or I would really do alone. Because sometimes I get the feeling I do things because there is Harvey, because he's pushing and I'm following. But I wanted to know that I can do it alone, and so I planned a route on an island. Actually, there's one bigger island, it's Yeu Island, and I thought it sounds perfect because people said there are a lot of cafes, it's beautiful, and I was like, ooh, a lot of cafes. This sounds like me. And I went for it. I had to take a bus to the ferry port, and the ferry was actually going at 2 a.m. And that's where I thought, okay, with Harvey, I would camp now in front of the ferry port or sit in front of the closed doors and wait. But since I was alone, I did not feel like waiting in a random city alone in the dark in front of closed doors. So I booked myself a hotel room and I thought, okay, this is only something I would do alone, but I'll do it. And in the end, it was the right decision because when I went there at 2 a.m., I realized that the ferry was cancelled. I was waiting there alone, nobody came, it was dark, and at some point I thought it might be cancelled. There is never a lot of information about ferries, so I just went back to the hotel room and I could sleep a bit more. But in the morning I took the ferry finally and went to the island. The weather was perfect, the sun was shining, there were almost no clouds, and when I got off the ferry, I was almost blown over by the wind. But I was so enthusiastic and motivated and positive that I thought, ah, it's an island, wind is normal, it will be fine, it's okay. And I started cycling, and immediately I knew it's not okay because it was such a strong headwind, side wind, wind from everywhere. And after I think five kilometers, I had to take my first break, but still I was motivated. I didn't want to realize that it might not be the perfect weather to cycle in. So I had a coffee, I ate something, and told myself, okay, maybe the 60 kilometers I planned, it's not possible, but maybe 30 or 40. And my plan was really open. So it was either cycling around the island, which I thought could take me two days, maximum free. And with this wind, probably free, or I would cycle half the island and then over a mountain range. And with this wind, I didn't know which way to take. So I found a cafe, I sat down, I ordered a hot chocolate and started crying because I just failed. I wasn't able to do anything on my own. And I had to carry on. I wanted to find a camping spot. And there I realized that normally when someone else tells me I'm cycling in the rain, I'm cycling in the wind, I'm camping in uncomfortable camping spots, I force myself to do really bad things in bad weather. I'm always the first one who says, Why would you do this? Why don't you take a hotel? Why don't you wait for better weather? Why don't you relax and just take the situation as it is and check on the weather tomorrow? Like, why just can't you enjoy your situation as it is? And there I found myself not being able to realize that reality is something different than my expectation. And I just couldn't put reality over expectation. I was unable to accept my situation and make the most out of it. And this was also something I was really mad about afterwards because it could have been so easy, because it was my decision. Nobody forced me to cycle in the wind. Nobody told me you have to do while camping on your own, otherwise, you are not brave. No, everyone said, Well, you're doing this alone, you're so brave, but I couldn't see this. I only saw failure. Luckily, there was a guest house right above the cafe where I was sitting in. And I thought, okay, I'll check out the room. If it's good, I'll stay. If not, I have to cycle further to look for another hotel. I went up to the guest house and there welcomed me the most kindest man ever. He offered me the room, he immediately turned the heat blanket on, he gave me the bigger bed, I had to pay less. And he immediately asked if I have some laundry to do. He showed me everything, he was really nice, and that's what I needed: someone who took care of me and where I felt comfortable. And later on, there were some more people in the guest house, and they translated what the man told the other people about me because he told everyone that I must be superwoman, because I cycled from Austria to South Korea, and this really made me smile because in this moment I did not feel like superwoman, but for other people I was, and it actually made my day. I could accept my situation, and also accept that if the weather doesn't get better, I just have to turn around, cycle back these 30 kilometers. I cycled and accept that it's not possible. I can't change the weather. So I went to bed, had a really good sleep, and the next day in the morning I set off and I thought, okay, I'll see for 5 kilometers now how the weather is, how the situation is, and then I'll decide what I will do. And I think at 10 a.m. or 11am, I already cycled for almost 50 kilometers because I had the strongest tailwind ever. With this tailwind, I sat down in a cafe, I had a really delicious coffee, cake, everything, the sun was shining, it was warm. Was just perfect, and that's how I imagined my solo trip to be. And actually, I reached a village earlier than expected, a village where I wanted to sleep, where I wanted to look for a hotel because I already gave up on while camping. And I was there already, I think it was 2 p.m. And my decision was to cycle over the mountain range. I do not really like coastal roads, also not with the wind forecast. And so I thought cycling over a mountain I would be safe. And I knew it's a long climb and a very steep climb. And I was looking for some camping spots on the map. I tried to look for parking lots or parks, and I thought, okay, I'll start cycling, I take enough food, and then the next day I will carry on. But then in the end, I was so fast cycling up, and it was so cool because it was proved to me that I can do hard things on my own. It's not Javi who is pushing me up the mountain. I cycled up the whole mountain. It was, I think, a thousand meters of elevation gain. And I did it in only a few hours before the sunset. And I was really proud of myself. But I had to do it because all the camping spots I looked up weren't as I imagined. I didn't feel good when I looked at them. It was a bit dark, the forest was very dense. Looking at these camping spots or passing by, I didn't feel safe. And it's everywhere safe in South Korea, but it was just not right. So on top of the mountain, I actually had to descend really, really fast because the sun was going down and it was going dark. And on some point I missed the right way. I think I did a wrong turn, and I ended up in a huge parking lot with an abundant restaurant, and it already was dark. So this was the point where I knew I had to camp actually where I was. And since it was a big parking lot, and also with the house, it was perfect because I could hide. So no car would see me. And this was really important to me because there weren't a lot of cars, and I just did not want it to be seen. So I put up the tent. Alone, and I always knew if there is something going wrong or I do not feel safe, I will cycle in the dark because the city is just 15 kilometers away and I would be fine. So this helped a lot. Then there were some cars coming to the parking lot. They were far away, they weren't actually close to my tent, but still I didn't want it to be seen. But I knew if they won't come close, they won't see me. Also, because they do not expect a tent here. And if you do not expect to see a tent, you do not see it. That's what I always told myself. And if they would see the tent and the bike, they would never ever expect a woman to be in there. And that's what I kept telling myself the whole time. And then I heard the people from the parking lot, and I heard a family with small kids, and it was such a relief because I thought, okay, people come up here to to see the stars for stargazing. And with every car I heard, I thought, okay, another one wanting to see the stars. And then I felt really comfortable and really safe, and I actually was able to sleep. I didn't expect to sleep, it was very comfortable. So the next morning I woke up, it was really rainy and gray, and I was really happy that I took the decision to go over the mountain range. So I had perfect weather for cycling, and I just had to go down to the ferry port in this gray weather, and that's how my trip ended. I was able to do wild camping on my own. I pushed up a mountain range, I cycled a lot in one day. I organized everything I had to organize on my own. And at the end of the day, I was really proud of myself, and I proved to myself that I am able to do a bikepacking adventure on my own. Although it was very little, it was safe, it was not a huge adventure, and there are solo female bikepackers out there who do way more than me, but it was a good start and a good feeling to know I can do things on my own and I do not rely on other people. But I also learned that I enjoy cycling together, to share moments together, to share hard moments together, to make decisions not on my own, to have someone to talk to. But I also did enjoy it on my own and being able to have a coffee whenever I want, to have a break whenever I want. It was a really, really good experience.

SPEAKER_00 29:30

Thank you so much, Rebecca. Oh my gosh, I absolutely love, love, love this update. The first thing I need to get out there is just how much this journey has changed you since leaving at the start of this year in March. I remember when we first connected, one of the things you told me was that you were such a planner. That planning was your thing, that you needed to know and have that routine sort of set there. And it's just amazing for me to reflect, and I'm sure you're the same, on just how much you have been comfortable with being much more flexible on taking every day as it comes, deciding different routes and everything like that as well. You mentioned there how you know Mongolia was never part of the plan, China was never the part of the plan, neither was Tibet, and and South Korea and Japan are very much the same there. Just leaving the rigid structure of having a defined start and finish point behind has led to having so many adventures. The next thing I will say is, yeah, I'm with you. I think the Four Rivers route in South Korea, from what I've heard, I imagine it is the most amazing cycling infrastructure possible. Uh and if you want a route that requires no thinking and it's purely safe and fantastically set up for bikes, that's awesome. But yeah, I don't know that it's my deal either. I feel like I need something that's yeah, I don't know, a bit more adventurous. And something that else that you sort of pointed out there was it was a bit more detached from nature. Now I know personally I need to see nature to feel energized on my bike trips. In fact, quite often that's why I take my own adventures is to get out there in nature. So you are very, very much the same. I know that mountains give you energy. So I imagine there was also this unbalance there of being on such a structured bike path without thinking, which was maybe not a bad thing. Sometimes not having to think is great. But then on the other side, just feeling detached from the things that give you energy on your bike travels. So I imagine that took a lot of adjusting. And then want to get to Japan because that is a country that I definitely do want to adventure to. Uh I love the food, the culture, the outdoors there. Oh my gosh, the on sends. They sound absolutely mega. I've heard about them, but it's never actually occurred to me just that they're part of everyday Japanese life. Listeners, I know saying that out loud might sound silly, but yeah, I've I've I don't know. For some reason my Australian head always just viewed them as like a type of day spa, but it sounds like it's not like that at all. And I love that you started planning your roots based on where the onsens would be. And knowing what I know about Japan and how cool it would have been there in late autumn, I'm sure that it was really amazing to finish a ride and then get into a nice hot onsen as well. The coffee in Japan is meant to be really good, as is the food. And wow, Mount Fuji, I have actually seen it from the air. Flying from Australia over to Europe, we flew by Japan once and I looked out the window and actually could see that quintessential Mount Fuji Mountain in the landscape, and it's quite something, so I cannot wait to see it for myself. The way you describe it, it just sounds like it would be one of those moments of awe, just stood in front of it with nature, making you feel the size of a tiny, tiny ant. And it sounds like Japan was a really, really good place for you to sort of just enjoy getting back to nature there as well. But now we really need to get into the crux of the episode, and that is all about your own little bit of adventure travel. And there were two things that I loved about this. The first one was that you decided to take the opportunity to do a solo adventure in the first place. And then how in the midst of it, when you felt like maybe you'd failed, hearing someone else actually s describe what you were doing in their perspective gave you that kickstart and boost of confidence to reframe your own perspective in your mind. It reframed you to go, wow, I have actually done all this and I do have the capability. And then when you went on and you successfully wild camped and you were able to tell yourself, Oh my gosh, I'm doing the thing, I'm the reason that I can ride through the miserable weather, through all the terrain, uphill, downhill, through all of this, you found yourself a wild camp spot, and the best thing was that you even had a great night's sleep. I feel like this adventure gave it all to you, and perhaps, like, you know, if we want to get really philosophical, Rebecca, maybe maybe the adventure gods, fate dealt you the hardship at the start of it so that you could see that you could get through the struggle and get to the other side. I don't know. Either way, I am so super proud of you, and it has been such an honour to be actually tracking your adventure all along this year. I don't want it to end. And listeners, be sure to keep your eyes out on this midweek episode for Rebecca's next update to come. And uh I can tell you right now that she and Harvey just a few days ago landed in New Zealand on the North Island, and they'll be making their way through the land of the long white cloud. Thank you so much, Rebecca. Okay, listeners, it's time for my favourite part of the show where I get to say thank you to you, my dead set super fans, for being legends and buying me some virtual coffees. I'd like to give a shout out to all right girl Slauger, previous guest of the show. You have said every time I listen to a new episode, my to-go list is getting longer. Thank you for that, Bella. This podcast is giving me so much motivation, ideas, but also great trips. Also, I've learnt through listening to it that you don't need to be a pro cyclist or rich or super experienced bike traveller to fulfil your dreams. And just like that, that's how I cycle to Nordcap Zero Experience all by myself. So please let me buy your coffee, but let's also drink it virtually together as well. Oh, thank you so much, Slauka. I loved being able to feature your story on the podcast. It has me absolutely pumped to take a trip to Norway and go there. I think we've promised each other we would try and do it together as well. And uh yeah, I share that thought with you. You definitely don't need to be a cycling pro to take an awesome, enriching bike experience. And uh yeah, just pick yourself a place on a map and say, I'd like to see this area. Go as far or as little as you want each day and soak it all up. And next I have got benches I have sat on. Sharon, I have met you. I met you at my London live shows. You're a Dead Set Legends, and you have said, Hi Bella, I am so grateful for the time and energy that you put into making your podcast. Congratulations on reaching 150 full episodes. That is definitely worth celebrating. I've learnt so much from listening to you and your guests, and it's all helping me plan my own future adventure. It's a highlight of my week and a joy to listen to on a Saturday afternoon after a week of dealing with four and five year old children in the classroom. Please keep it going for as long as you can. Oh, thank you so much, Sharon. It was so awesome when I could when I met you and to be able to put your face to this message as well. I love that you're still tuning in and that it's inspiring you for your own adventures. So you need to keep in touch with me and let me know where those adventures are going to take you. And listeners, if you want to be like Sharon and Slauka and also support this podcaster out, simply head to buymeacoffee.com forward slash seek travel ride. Buy me some virtual coffees, but more importantly, let me know what is it that you love about this podcast and where is your next bike adventure going to take you until the next episode. I'm Bella Malloy. Thanks for listening.