On the ferry to Holland with Andre

I arrived at the ferry terminal at 1:30pm without a ticket to cross over to Holland. For some reason I was hoping to find somebody I could share a cabin with. To save money.

10 minutes later a man walked over and said he was also cycle touring, he was French and he'd been in Scotland for 5 weeks. We chatted for a while then I asked him where he was going to, he replied to Holland.

Once the booking office opened we agreed to share the cost of a ticket. After handing in our passports the lady then said she needs to give them to the police to be checked. I thought this was strange so I asked Andre where had he been?
This then led him to tell me he had cycled from China to France, from Alaska to Peru and from New York to San Francisco via New Orleans. All with his wife. 
Eventually the police returned the passports, asking my friend about his various travels. We were issued boarding passes and got on the ferry.

In the cabin we chatted some more about our travels. His bike trip from New York was down to New Orleans on to Los Angeles then up to San Francisco. He then told me he went to Idaho and bought 4 horses and he and his wife then spent 6 months riding to New Mexico where he then sold the horses to a local guy.

I found out he had been a farmer for 30 years, using his goats to make cheese and growing wheat so he could make and sell bread.

He is going on to Norway after the ferry lands. He has no phone or computer, he said he will use an Internet cafe to send his son an email.

Really interesting guy, doesn't judge people, he just likes to travel and see the world.

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