and mindfulness, words he’ d heard thrown around so often they sometimes felt meaningless.
“ Anxiety exists in almost every situation,” he said.“ The word’ s overused. Mindfulness is just seeing things for yourself and not listening to naysayers. And resilience? That’ s not complaining and getting on with it. You have to experience life to build it.”
When he finally reached the point where the loop began to close and the long, protracted, circle around Australia became a full stop, Jayde felt changed. Not dramatically. Not in some cinematic way. But in the subtle, sturdy way that comes from doing exactly what you set out to do.
He didn’ t finish the year with answers. He finished with more roads.
“ I’ ve got a huge list of tracks now,” he said.“ The Canning Stock Route. The Tanami. The Simpson. Big desert trips. There’ s so much I want to do.”
He paused, the way someone does when the future feels like a wide-open map.
“ I just love riding,” he said simply.“ And Australia’ s full of beautiful things. I reckon not enough people see their own country first.” TRAVERSE