Imagine you saw your future house in a dream. Not only that – imagine you saw your future house in a dream and decided to build it. This is exactly what Maria Ponce, an elderly lady living near Usulután, El Salvador, did in 2005.

Tangon takaa is a podcast series done in collaboration with Radio Helsinki and Pelago Bicycles. Fedja Kamari and I had a chat in Finland in April 2018 about cycling in South America. Listen to the podcast here (in Finnish). Now me and Madalina are already in Nicaragua, ready to reach Honduras in a few days.

Featured picture: ©Pelago Bicycles/Radio Helsinki

The journey through Central America with my friend Madalina has started. We’ve now been on the road for two weeks and have had very few internet time. Also, the cycling has taken up all my energy after such a long break off the saddle. I will update the blog as soon as possible, yet for now you can follow the trip on my Facebook page where I post short videos nearly every day. Welcome to follow!

On January 1st 2018, I landed in Helsinki, Finland, after two years of life in South America. I left my bicycle in Cali, Colombia, and took up a 100-day job in an NGO for people living with hiv in this winter wonderland I occasionally have the privilege of calling home. On the 30th of April I will fly to Panama and continue my cultural exploration of Latin America, by cycling through Central America. In the meanwhile, my blog will occasionally hibernate.

Many of you may already know Zoluart — the wonderful woman behind the dudes in the header of my blog. Karolina Zolubak is my soul sister and a lady who has made her dreams become reality. In one year, she has gone from doing her first drawing into being a professional illustrator. In this guest post, Karolina gives her recount on a year full of personal achievements and changes.  

This beautiful drawing was sent to me one night at 5AM by Argentinian Enrique Demarchi (who I’ve never met) as a recognition for my solo female cycling. “Not everyone would get on a bicycle and pedal through South America, especially as a woman”, he said and added that it’s something remarkable. As I know I’m not the only one, I want to dedicate this drawing on to all solo female cyclists, especially those eight who have inspired and keep on inspiring me along my way. Here’s who they are!

Accredited writing gigs don’t always go as planned. Not because an event in itself wasn’t perfect, but because right on that day all other conditions fail you big time. This happened to me at River Sounds music festival in Asunción, Paraguay. Therefore, although I was supposed to write an article about the attendees of the event and about the experience of a foreigner at an asunceno festival, I decided to try and go gonzo and pretend I’m Hunter S. Thompson just for a little while.

Sometimes it seems extremely difficult for men to realize that even though you travel alone, you do not sell sex. To some men, a solo female cyclist seems to be the perfect example of someone in desperate need of money and physical pleasures. So much so, that these men take the initiative to stop by the road and offer their charitable employer services to female cyclists. But how can you know a woman does not sell sex? Read these easy guidelines to find out.