It's a little bit funny

I earn more money than I can spend. So, when I applied for a job three years ago I focussed more on atmosphere and free time than on the height of the salary. Strangely enough it's exactly the people who went for the money who envy me. In the remainder of the 2009 I can still take about 55 days off, and my boss is extremely flexible: I take days off literally last-minute if I'd want to, and up to three months in a row.

Now that I bought a motorbike (see Sworn to be mild), I can enjoy this freedom even more and go wherever I want to go. Of course, I could have bought a car years ago, but that's just not the same thing. Moreover, I've never been on a trip all alone: in the last half of my life all of my trips have been with one, and only one, companion. Therefore, I wanted to go on a longer trip alone for once.

The last 48 hours I have ridden a little over a thousand kilometres. On Wednesday I just put a toothbrush, a pair of shoes, and a summer jacket in my case, and left with only a vague plan. This way I could get accustomed to my bike in the mountains, on crowded highways, and in overcrowded cities, while at the same time I could get used to travelling alone.

It was just great. Although it was not that far from home, the landscape and culture were quite different. Most of it is so obvious it's hard not to notice, other examples are more subtle.

Walking an empty street at night in a strange city I was just behind some local adolescent. He wore jeans and a black T-shirt with some macabre print and his hair screamed for scissors and shampoo. I bet you know the type. In his right hand he casually carried a boom box that filled the whole street with music. Where I live, teens play music on their cell phones nowadays, which have far more limited volume level -- sometimes new technology is good for everyone.

Still, something else wasn't right and it took me a few seconds to realise that it was the music itself. The boom box wasn't booming much: it played Elton John's first pop hit song 'Your song'. I expected him to fast forward to the next song or change channel, but he didn't. He actually seemed to like this ballad that was almost twice as old as he himself. I couldn't help smiling.

After he -- or actually I -- was out of sight I still heard the music. The next song I heard was Billy Joel's first pop hit 'Piano man' -- almost as old as the previous ballad. I wonder if he knew the importance of these two songs for these two heroes of piano pop.

The contrast between his appearance and his choice of music was perplexing. Even Elton and Billy would have been surprised to be broadcast through the streets by this kid. Little things like these can make my day.