Bicycle Love

Prior to leaving for a monstrous bike trip around France, Brianne Godspeed questions her reasoning for setting out on such an intimidating journey in Bicycle Love. "I didn't see this as a vacation so much as a trial. But I didn't even know what I was trying to prove, or to whom." This quote set the scene for a story of the internal motivation one must have in order to travel without a destination in mind. However, a chance encounter with an old man gave her the answer for which she was looking: she was on a pilgrimage. Godspeed's life took an unexpected turn shortly before she left to bike around France which left her lost, unsure of how to get back to a person she could recognize. In order to do so, she delves deeper into the unknown in the hopes of finding a "new normal" or a lifestyle that will make her comfortable. Godspeed experienced a role reversal when she returned to Massachusetts, and a woman on an impressive hike made the same realization that her impromptu trip was a pilgrimage. "I felt that her journey was also my own," Godspeed writes, which proves that the idea of taking a few steps backwards in order to eventually move forward is universal. One person may experience a breakup as Godspeed did, or maybe it is a death in the family or a job loss, but everyone will feel lost at some point and must venture to find a new and satisfying landing place.