I cycled from the Netherlands to Turkey – and learned to live in the moment

On this epic slow ride to Istanbul, following the Rhine and Danube rivers, our writer ‘turned the pedals and waited for the world to unfold’

I emerged from the belly of the ferry in Rotterdam, blinking like a newborn. I wobbled off on my bicycle with my teenage son, unused to the weight of my panniers – unused to cycling at all, actually – and definitely not fit. My end goal was Istanbul, more than 3,000 miles away, and I wondered if I would ever make it. But I had a cunning plan: I would cycle the flat river valleys of the Rhine and Danube, and by the time I reached the Balkans, I’d have cycled myself into fitness. Or so I hoped.