A fellow RTW Biker - Ronnie Borrageiro at www.motogypsybiker.com

Our new friend and fellow biker, Ronnie from South Africa!  Out for a 3 year trip around the world, riding his GS1200 BMW as well!                  Arn't they cute in their matching suits!!

We were out for a walk in Palmyra when Trevor spotted a BMW under a grey vinyl cover!! Then there sitting in the window of the hotel was Ronnie, we spend the next two days chatting about our travels so far and ones still to come, what fun!  As we were chatting that night and I was listening to Ronnie tell us about why he decided to go on this journey, I was thinking about bikers and what they all have in common, its like they are all in search of something, something they have not been able to find in their daily lives,  yet they still know to be there in their hearts, they can feel it and it constantly knocks at their door.  Then I was reading my new book "The Witch of Portobello" last night it struck me what it was, it is said that there were two traditions, one that makes us repeat the same thing for centuries at a time, and another that opens the door into the unknown.  However, the second tradition is difficult, uncomfortable and dangerous, and if it attracted too many followers it would end up destroying the society which took so long to build.  And so the second tradition went underground and has only managed to survive over so many centuries because its followers created a secret language of signs. It is those signs that are being recognised today, doubt slips in and then the thoughts of,  ``Im afraid of taking steps that are not on the map, but by taking those steps despite my fears, i have a much more interesting life``.  In other words when the time comes in your life that you grow tired of being what you're not, go and have fun and celebrate life.  In time, you'll discover that it will give you more than pleasure, it will give you meaning, it is this meaning that we are all in search of.

When we dare to see things differently, life opens up our eyes.  When i get scared, its at such moments that I discover a wisdom that is beyond me and I go forward.

What is a sin - it is a sin to prevent love from showing itself, we are entering into a new world in which we can choose to follow our own steps, not those that society forces us to step.  So I say to my new friend, go out into the world with new eyes, take a deep breath and jump into the unknown to rediscover the great guy you are.  There is enough light from  the full moon even if its obscured by clouds, train your eyes, they were made to see more than you think, in order to liberate our strength, our weakness must first have a chance to reveal itself.  Remember it is not as important that love be recipricated but it is more important that we loved! 

So,I say to you one day our eyes will open, the different forms of love will be made manifest, and then suffering will disappear from the face of the Earth. It wont be long now, I think.  Many of us are returning from a long journey during which we were forced to search for things that were of no interest to us.  Now we realise that they were false. But this return cannot be made without pain, because we have been away for a long time and feel that we are strangers in our own land.  It will take some time to find the friends who also left, and the places where are roots and our treasures lie, but this will happen and you have surely found some of those lost friends in us!

When we are naked, when we die to the world  and are reborn to ourselves, this is our most important journey and the one I believe the 3 of us are on, this is what I believe bikers have in common, the desire to be true to ourselves no matter what! God bless them.

``There is only one difference between the teacher and disciple`: the former is slightly less afraid than the latter.  The true teacher gives the disciple the courage to throw his or her world off balance, even though the disciple is afraid of things already encountered and even more afraid still of what might be around the next corner`` but this is life and what makes us feel so alive, arnt we the lucky ones!

We will see you again for sure,  as I watched you ride off into the distance I said to Trevor, Im sad that he is on his own but I also know that our paths are mapped out for us and when on our journeys it requires us to do this alone, see you on the road Ronnie and remember what I said, one day you will see this as a gift!  PS Thanks for my new neckies, the orange one looks particularly good on me!

As my dad always used to say to me - Vios con dios