Gearing up for our cycle ride. How come Jonathan gets the electric bike?
The cooling breeze as we cycled north along the Kamo River that bisects Kyoto was a welcome relief compared to the days we’ve hoofed around in the heat. It was a Sunday and the banks of the river were populated with a slices of Kyoto life — families having picnics, senior citizens painting, children playing sports, men fishing, tourists napping…
Kyoto is a sprawling city, with hidden gems waiting to be discovered in every neighborhood. And, as much as we tried to explore on foot, a month was not enough and we left many areas unexplored. The bus system is comprehensive, but we discovered that cycling is loads more fun.
We rented two bikes from our local bike store (which are ubiquitous), one an electric hybrid with a rear child seat large enough to fit Zara (something that would be rare in the US) and a regular city bike for me. Although Zara rides a bike well, it’s been nearly a year since she’s been on a bike and we didn’t want her to have to relearn the rules of the road while navigating the crowded city streets and sidewalks. It wasn’t a tough sell, she was more than happy to ride along as passenger. She found it a welcome relief from pounding the pavement for miles each day.
Princess passenger
Cycling in Kyoto is easy because it’s the norm to ride on the sidewalks–thus, risk of serious accidents are minimized (unless you are a pedestrian, in which case this practice leads to much higher risk from walking). Nobody wears helmets, but again, the risk seems acceptable when riding primarily on sidewalks or down quiet alleys. The feel of the wind through my hair brought back fond memories of the years before bike helmets were mandated…
We headed north along the river banks until the urban noise quieted as we hit the northern suburbs and then circled back and towards the west to join up with the Philosopher’s Path. We’d done that walk the week before, but this time we seized the opportunity to get a tasty snack at a cafe situated on the famous path. Nothing like a 20+ mile bike ride to assuage feelings of guilt while eating a matcha cake.
Sojourneyers - One family's adventure 
I read of your family adventures in the Stevenson Alumni magazine. I graduated from RLS in 1969 and my wife and I embarked on a similar adventure with our only son. When he completed sixth grade (age 12) we took him out of school in Santa Barbara where we were living, and embarked on a two stage, round- the- world living experience.
I wanted to go around the world twice: east to west and then west to east; first the southern hemisphere and then the northern hemisphere. (This was done to keep a simpler wardrobe when traveling). When we announced our idea to family and friends – everyone thought we had lost our minds!! Our son was in a top private school – why would we take him out – knowing how difficult it was to get in?? We of course didn’t listen and continued on with our plans.
We left in October 2000 and returned in August of 2001. We hit every continent (except Antarctica). He studied math and wrote a journal but other than that it was on site learning – studying Chinese history when sitting on the Great Wall, discovering marine biology when diving on the Great Barrier Reef, learning about family coalitions and survival of the fittest in the African bush. It was the most amazing experience for all of us and we loved every minute. In fact as the end of the second RTW loomed large… none of us wanted to go home…so we didn’t!
I work in PE and VC and I decided to take advantage of an opportunity to move to Switzerland for a year. My wife is French – so living in Switzerland would give our son the opportunity to experience an international bilingual school. We settled in Gstaad where he attended the JFK International School – small class size and skiing every afternoon from 1:30-4:30 in winter. Though he had to give up baseball and golf, he soon acquired great skiing and ice skating skills.
His second day of class was 9/11 – and we quickly realized how the world had immediately changed, and were thankful that we had had the opportunity to visit so many countries before that tragic day.
Long story short – the one year in Switzerland ended up becoming five… and our son graduated from the International School of Geneva with a bilingual IB. His graduating class was 130, representing 65 nations! He returned to the US for university and the transition was seamless – he’s a very adaptable, open minded young man.
As you recounted in your Spotlight, this trip profoundly changed our lives. We relied on each other during the year experience, and almost thirteen years later we speak of experiences we shared on an almost daily basis. The time in the African veld led to our son developing a passion for the cheetah and he has returned many times since, volunteering for a Cheetah Research Center. He has now gone into Global Finance and he is doing business with many people he met during our time in Switzerland and in Asia.
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Stepping out of the box was the best thing we could have done. It gave our son a global perspective and he feels as comfortable here in the states as he does abroad.
I will always look upon this experience as the greatest thing that I ever did!
Congratulations – you’ve given your daughter a great gift.
Thanks, Mark, for sharing your story! It’s so inspiring to hear what a difference it made to your lives. I have met a few other couples on the road who have also said what a difference traveling with their children and/or living abroad made.
hi Mark,
Thanks for the lovely writeup. I am planning to go Kyoto in Nov this year with my family. My daughter is 7 years old and she has not learnt how to ride yet. So i am wondering if there are tandem bicycles for rent? Or is the back child seat big enough for a 7 year old?
cheers, Tony
Hi Tony,
We didn’t see any tandem bikes in use and I think I read that they are not allowed in Kyoto. In any event, the back child seat is quite large–my daughter (6 1/2) and 4 feet tall) fit without any problem. Thus, you should be able to find something that works. (Many bikes even have two child seats!)
Have a wonderful time in Kyoto–it’s a magical place.
Cheers,
Jen
hi Jen,
Thanks for helpful reply. So glad my family can go cycling in Kyoto afterall… :+))
cheers, Tony