{"id":145047,"date":"2016-11-22T10:05:35","date_gmt":"2016-11-22T10:05:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=145047"},"modified":"2016-11-22T10:05:35","modified_gmt":"2016-11-22T10:05:35","slug":"travelling-world-hera-van-willick-shocked-inspired-crossing-border","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2016\/11\/22\/travelling-world-hera-van-willick-shocked-inspired-crossing-border\/","title":{"rendered":"Travelling the World with Hera van Willick: Shocked and Inspired and Crossing the Border"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s 4 p.m. when I arrive at the (closed) campground in Yahk. Yahk, as I was told, is a village of about 40 people scattered over three gas stations, two closed hotels, two closed privately owned campgrounds and a few houses. As I\u2019m pitching my tent the rain sets in, it\u2019d been foggy all day. Quickly I toss my panniers into the tent and dive in there myself. Through the open \u2018door\u2019 I cook my dinner of lentils with lots of garlic and olive oil and as the sun sets at 5 p.m. I\u2019m eating my lentils while reading \u2018the Kiterunner\u2019 by the shine of my headlight.\u00a0Where would I be without books? (and a headlight..) I read till I fall asleep.<\/strong>
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The next morning I wake up to the sound of raindrops on my tent. It\u2019s raining still. Still, I know that because as I woke up several times during the night I heard the rain falling down nonstop. The pot that I placed outside the tent collected about 3cm of rainwater. From inside my tent I cook porridge and I take down my camp in the rain and get on my bike to head to the United States border.<\/p>\n

A last video in Canada.<\/p>\n<\/lite-youtube>\n

WILL THEY LET ME IN?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The rules on entering the U.S.A. under the \u2018Visa Waiver Program\u2018 are vague, to say the least, and the embassy just point you to their online articles explaining those vague rules in an inconceivable way.\u00a0The German cyclist Holger told me that they gave him a hard time at the border, asking tons of questions and also Shaun, who flew to (American state) Hawaii this week didn\u2019t make a smooth crossing.<\/p>\n

As I see the border crossing appear I put on my most innocent, friendly and obedient (wet) look. I answer all the guard\u2019s questions short and clear, omitting my usual smart-ass answers like \u2018I-live-where-I-bike\u2019 and \u2018I-have-no-clue-how-long-I\u2019ll-be-staying\u2019.\u00a0The guard tells me proudly that he walked the Nijmeegse 4 Days Marches in the Netherlands, carrying a +10kg backpack. He gladly provides me with another stamp, good for 90 days in the States and tells his colleagues and everyone else around that I\u2019m cycling to Argentina.\u00a0HOORAY for this cool border guard.\u00a0WELCOME TO THE UNITED STATES!<\/p>\n

(and now quickly towards Mexico before they put up that wall..)<\/p>\n

Back to Banff. In my last blog I wrote about the first few days at the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival. In the days that followed I saw dozens of films and got to meet some participants of the \u2018Adventure Filmmaking Workshop\u2019. They were given the assignment to make a 2-minute video in one day time. One of the foursomes decided to make it about me. We shot at several locations around Banff and the next day all the videos were presented and judged and some of them (ours included) were shown on the big screen on Saturday during one of the full day film screenings. As soon as it\u2019s online, I will post a link to it.<\/p>\n

As was predicted, the festival became more fun, busy and inspiring as the week went on. The wrap party for volunteers, staff and filmmakers was a great way to end the week and unwind after 9 epic and intense days. After the festival I had to tear myself loose from Banff to get back on my bicycle and resume my solitaire life on the road.<\/p>\n