[Audio Transcript]

For this interlude, I would like to invite you to come with me to two different outdoor activities. The first one is a trail running route close to my home.

[Running steps on a gravel ground. Breathing]

So, today is 15^th of September and I want to invite you to join me in one of the most common trail running routes that I have done the past year and a half. It’s a round route that starts from my house and it’s about 8.5 km. The first half goes uphill the whole time, and the second half goes downhill. Now, I’m by the walnut tree because…now, in one or two weeks the walnuts will fall and I will be able to pick them. Now I’m finishing the walnuts that I picked up from this tree last autumn. So, I’m looking forward to picking new ones because they were really good. Yeah, let’s continue a little bit.

[Running steps on a gravel ground]

[Silence]

There is something that I really like about this route. Well, there are many things that I like about this route. First of all, it goes almost the whole time through the forest, so there is shadow. Today it’s about 25 degrees and sunny, so it’s pretty hot. And then…[silence] I like the silence of nature in this forest. [Silence]

[Running steps on a gravel ground]

[Sound of water running, it is not heavy water. You can hear Bart drinking and breathing heavily]

This little water fountain is surrounded by rocks, and it always has water; throughout the whole summer, it had water. And it’s kind of almost halfway. It’s only about 300 or 400 more meters up. So almost half of the route and it’s perfect for these hotter, warmer days in the summer.

[Running steps on a gravel ground]

I’m already going downhill and now I arrived to a spot that I really like. In German it’s called Wildtalereck, and it’s a point between two valleys. On one side is the valley where I live and on the other side is a valley called Glottertal. And in this point, there is a bench and a very, very big and old chestnut tree. And the chestnuts that this tree gives, they are also possible to eat. But they will be ready in about…also one month more or less. One of the other reasons that I really like this route is because in days where I’m really lucky I don’t meet anybody at all. Some days you might meet some people that are either hiking or mountain biking [Sound of a bird in the background]. But you never see many people.

I actually started to trail run, so to run in the forest, in the mountains, in nature…actually, more or less, when I started to write the Ph.D. thesis. Before, I had tried to run many times in the city, always with headphones. But I never really liked it or enjoyed it. And then when I started to run in the mountains or in nature, I never ran with headphones. I always like to listen to the animals and the sounds around me. And I also really like that there is a lot less people. And that the people that there are or that I meet, they are always doing some kind of activity. They are not just sitting, but they are actually doing one activity. Let’s keep running a little bit more.

[Running steps on a gravel ground]

So now I’m almost done. It’s more or less 7.5 km now. So, in this part, the path becomes very narrow. And there are a lot of plants on the sides, so the plants hit my arms. And then, on the left side, there is a wine yard. Now it’s full of black, red grapes. And on the right side is the black forest. But also, at the beginning of the summer, in May-June, there are a lot of wild strawberries in this path. And then, a little bit later, in July-August, there are many blackberries, when it’s wet. So, last year it was very very dry and there weren’t any blackberries. But this year, in July, it has rained a lot, and there has been a lot of blackberries. And also, I can see the valley. I can see the farm and the cows where I started to run. And then, up in the mountains, there are four windmills for wind energy. So now it’s just a little bit more and we are home.

[Running steps on a gravel ground]

[Sound of water]

This is the little creek that surrounds the garden by my house. This means that I’m done with the run today. But I wanted to tell you one last thing. And the reason why I chose to bring you with me in this run is because during the past months, when I’ve written the last chapters that you have just read or listened to, many of the things that are there were thought while running this route. So many of the ideas and many of the knowledges that I have aimed to put together in these last three chapters were thought in the same forest, in the same path. I hope you enjoyed this little run.

[Silence and there a feeling of change of setting]

For the second outdoor activity, we’re going to travel a little bit in time and space. I’m going to read you a diary entry from back in 2017. Then, I did a six-month bike trip through Europe, alone. And this entry diary is from a day in Greece. For listening to it, I would like to invite you to think that you’re crawling inside the tent and laying facing up.

[Bart’s voice changes in quality, sounding more like a narrator. It sounds a little more intimate, as they are speaking closer to the microphone. There are some very faint background sounds throughout.]

It was my fifth day in Greece and it was the Easter week. I could feel that the mood in the air was special: a big holiday feeling. After having some rough days, emotionally and physically exhausting, I was starting to feel expectant and happy about it.

[Spinning wheels and chain of a bike, which blends into a sound reminiscent of the seaside sound as Bart continues]

This day, I was cycling along the beach the whole day on a road directly next to the sea.

It was a sunny and warm day. I took a few breaks to lay in the sun.

[Wooden or bamboo wind chimes]

At lunch, I stopped at Platanos Beach. I had some potato chips with me. It was something special – I didn’t buy this often. On the other side of the sea, I could see big mountains with snow. The contrast between me, laying on a beach, and the mountains with snow was really beautiful.

After a few days camping, I decided to arrange a couch surfing place. Because of the holiday, my contact is with her family in the village she grew up, Xylokastro. When I get there in the afternoon, I realised that there is a big family and friends reunion.

[Faint background chatter fades in]

I ate some of the food that is still left over from lunch: salad, potatoes, chickpeas. They also have a local mastica [mastiha] liqueur, which is made out of mastic, a resin gathered from the mastic tree, a small evergreen tree native to the Mediterranean region. And that they tell me that it is very traditional. It is really nice.

The mood is very relaxed and happy. It has been a long time since I laughed so much. The mother puts on music. There’s also a friend of her, who used to be a teacher of Joana. She’s so much fun. The three of them start dancing. We are all laughing. They even somehow convince me to dance – I really suck at dancing, but I am so happy here and now. I also talk with the mum quite a lot about travelling by bike. She’s interested on doing a bike trip around the Peloponnesus Islands.

In this house, I will have a small independent room, with its own bathroom. I take a nice, warm shower. It feels so fresh. After the shower, I change my clothes from my cycling t-shirt to a clean one for the evening.

[Very faint background breeze]

For the sunset in the early evening, I am going with Joana and some friends to her grandfather’s field. It is a bit outside, so we go there by car. The field has a small house with no electricity, a couple of big trees and grass. Joana and I are talking around a tree. The sun is slowly setting, the atmosphere is very special. We gather around, sitting on some tree logs. After talking for a while, some of them have brought instruments and start playing and singing some traditional Greek songs.

[Guitar, hand drum, and a number of people singing. We hear a couple of verses, and the music fades down under Bart’s voiceover]

Now, we’re in the darkness. Just with the stars and some music.

[Quiet, atmospheric sounds – faint birdcall and insects]

It feels so magical. I am there, we are there, in the moment. It has been a long time since I have been enjoying time with a group of people, being so present.

Around 11pm, we go back. The tradition is that on this day they have dinner at midnight. We are going to the grandparents’ house. They have prepared the traditional food for this holiday. I feel so humble to be able to join them on this special moment. There is a kind of Greek spinach pie, lots of fetta cheese, and a soup. The soup has some green vegetables and meat pieces. We are eating and talking. Even though the grandparents don’t speak English, they are asking me many things and Joana is translating.

While I’m eating the food I realise that the meat has a different texture. Meanwhile I am actually biting on a piece, they tell me it is made of the inner parts of the animal. I try not to make any weird facial expression and just keep eating it. I don’t eat meat on my day to day life, but during this trip I have decided not to reject any food that people offer me, whatever it is! I am happy that there is a lot of spinach pie and fetta cheese. The fetta cheese tastes SO good in Greece. When they ask me if I want more soup, I say that it was really nice, but that I am full. It was my first time eating bowels.

After dinner, I go to the terrace with Joana.

[Faint sound of fireworks echoing in the mid-distance]

We are sitting on a swing bench and there are fireworks happening. She has made Greek coffee for us, which we take in cups. We both feel very comfortable, and we are talking about our views around life, about our own experiences. We were opening ourselves. We talk about travelling alone when you are perceived or read as a woman, and how it differs now for me that people read me as a man, though I still fear being discovered in situations where I might not feel safe.

[Birdcall]

I didn’t see the village of Xylokastro at all, but I feel like I know this place so well, and that it is one of the most beautiful places I have been during the whole six months travelling. Tomorrow, I will continue cycling. It is a bit sad, because I like it here so much. But Athens is also waiting for me.

[Change in atmosphere, as Bart begins some concluding comments recorded at a different time]

So, this was one of my days, a day that I hold in a special place in my memory – but there were a lot of amazing days. After this day, I kept cycling and I arrived one day later to Athens, where I met some queer activists and I had some relaxing days – with not so much cycling!

There were many reasons for doing this trip, but one of them was that Athens – and Greece – has a lot of history regarding sports and the Olympic Games. And for me, as a trans person, cycling for three months from the south of Spain until Athens, it was my way of telling them it doesn’t matter that they don’t want us in sport, it doesn’t matter that they don’t li- let us, we will keep doing sports, we will keep going out and we’re doing it really good.

I hope you enjoyed today these two little pieces of outdoor adventures and… see you outdoors!